I note that Test Valley Borough Council is calling for public consultation on the local area plan, covering the period to 2040.

The Government requires sites for 11,000 new houses across the borough. Having been born just after the Second World War, in the intervening years to date, every government has had 'developing the economy' and 'housing' as a top priority, and no doubt it will be the same story at the next election.

The 11,000 new houses for north Hampshire are just a continuation of 70 years of 'development', and this policy has been going on throughout the world, and where has it got us? Global warming, with many poor countries being flooded by too much rain or having their crops destroyed by too little rain and too much heat. 

The population of the world continues to rise at an alarming rate including here in the UK where the population continues to outstrip our ability to build houses. But each of these houses contributes to global warming and destroys a little bit more of the countryside.  Each one requires food, energy, and consumer goods and creates waste. 

Our seas and rivers are being polluted and we continue to increase CO2 emissions. 

I think we all accept these arguments but can do little to make a real difference since politicians shy away from discussing the underlying problem of population, other than to say we need more people to fill the jobs! Mad isn't it.

Ed Treadwell

Meadow View

Chilbolton

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