'Apple Schnapps' Shapps at it again @ No 10

It is relatively quiet here at No 10 - also at No 11. The end of summer seems to be going out with a whimper and not with a bang! Not that we actually had a summer!

There are, however, little lads and some lasses of the political kind who cannot keep quiet and twiddle their toes in the cold sand. They hope to, as they say 'up their profile' during what is generally known as the 'silly season'. The 'Big Guns' are away on their fifth or sixth holiday of the year - topping up their tans and fighting the flab. But these little profile polishers are at it non stop.

One such profile polisher is Apple Schnapps - otherwise known to Parliament as the Minister for Housing - namely Mr Greg Shapps. He is so excited by his housing plans that he cannot stop talking about them.

You can be sure, of course, that such 'plans' are never quite what they seem. To the untrained eye - the promise of 170,000 new homes over the next four years, sounds truly amazing! Almost as mind-blowingly impressive as the PM's promise to lift 120,000 problem families out of their problems!

This promise means that he will oversee the building of 42,500 homes every year for the next four years. This will entail 3542 homes every month! Of course - if we have a winter like last year - then several months of building will be lost! So the rate will have to be 'upped' in the good weather months.

Still - I feel sure you are saying 'What a splendid fellow! Putting his resources towards solving the problems of those without homes'! But many who are far wiser than a mere under stairs cat, such as I am, are very, very unhappy with Mr 'Apple Schnapps' Shapps' policy and also with the Coaliton Governments proposals for Planning Reform.

The National Trust is still exercised by the possible results of such a policy. But they are not the only ones - indeed no! The Campaign to Protect Rural England is also against his policies as are : Friends of the Earth, The RSPB and Greenpeace. None of these could be called 'reactionary' forces. Rather, they are groups campaigning to keep the country and the planet safe from exploitation.

There are several other other countryside and environment organisations with a combined membership of more than 6 million people who told The Guardian newspaper today that

they fear communities will lose the ability to influence decision-making as planning is streamlined in favour of developers and as economic growth is prioritised over social and environmental concerns.

(http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/aug/30/planning-reform-undemocratic-green-groups)

In their haste to build new homes and - let's be frank - maximise revenue - the Government will allow developers to build what they like. The new policy will allow these developers to put up buildings in the 66% of England that is not formally protected by national park or other conservation status. Now that is a real worry. The UK is very small! It is already over-crowded. It has lost huge swathes of woodland, wetlands and other crucial areas.

Do Mr 'Apple Schnapps' Shapps, Greg Clark, the Planning Minister and 'Bagpuss' Pickles really think that we don't notice what's going on?

The Guardian reported the anxieties and fears of organisations and people who really do know exactly what such policies will entail. These include:

Plans for giant incinerators and factory farms becoming impossible to refuse
Airport expansions, new roads and giant business parks on motorways
Polluting developments imposed on the poorest communities.

To be fair - if one must!! Other groups - including the British Property Federation and the Country Land and Business Association - are keen on the policies.   But as the saying goes: 'They would, wouldn't they?'

Arturo and I like our admittedly few and far between country walks. We like the thought of small villages staying small. We like the Green Belt and don't see why other small towns can't keep their own undeveloped land - undeveloped!

When the new session of Parliament returns - Arturo and I hope that these planning and housing policies will be vigorously scrutinised.

Oh! By the way, Mr 'Apple Schnapps' Shapps - I hope your building programme has it's own countdown clock - you should have built almost 118 new homes today! Otherwise .... you're not going to meet your targets! And we all know what happens to naughty boys who don't meet their targets, don't we?

'Bye'