Local Politics at its worst

Funding for the first phase of the proposed Eco Town will only amount to £9.55M and not the £28M that was originally requested. Does this mean that the ratepayers will have to fund the balance just like they will to complete the circumvention of the NDR?

It is a know fact that Barrett Developments PLC are experiencing financial hardships as are most of the established building firms. Once again there doesn't seem to be a Plan B to cope with a developer withdrawing or going bust.  We have already seen that number of  affordable homes at the proposed Rackheath site fall to 30% as profit driven developers realise that they will not be able to sustain the original 40%. This reduction is right on the edge of the criteria for an Eco Town and any further erosion will jeopardise the whole project and the forthcoming additional funding will cease. None of the proposed housing stock will be available for rent through any of the Housing Associations but will only be available to purchase on the open market.

If there is a change of Government that sees a Conservative administration that has publicly stated their opposition to Eco Towns. What happens then?

It seems that Broadland District Council are hell bent on pushing through the development of a large portion of the North East triangle despite the reservations of the majority of residents. It is almost as though Officers and Members want to be able to secure their futures by saying that they were the first people to build an Eco Town in England. Are they doing this to improve their chances of securing alternative employment when the Unitary happens?

Does this behaviour smack of good local government where local democracy seems to have been ignored and best practice gone out of the window? How does it look to ratepayers of BDC when the Head of Planning at BDC has one of the key stakeholders as his guest at a Black Tie dinner hosted by BDC? How do these ratepayers feel when front line services are being cut yet there is at least £1m being set aside to fight any public enquiries?

What about developers who use bully boy tactics to secure the purchase of an old lady’s bungalow on the falsehood that construction on the NDR will start at the bottom of her garden in October last year!