The house has a fabulous view southwards, across fields and woods to the silver river and the sea beyond. This is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, which is also a Site of Special Scientific Interest, so it should be highly protected. However, the field immediately in front is owned by a farmer who wants planning permission to build six houses on it. He's tried several times before, and although he's on the local council himself, he's been turned down each time, so far.
I jest to the owner of our house: "Have you tried dropping a few rare species in the field?"
"There are rare species. The Authority wrote a letter to him saying that they would be conducting a field survey. When he got the letter, he mowed the whole field - right down to the ground. Then he sprayed it all over with weedkiller."
5 comments:
In each of our lives, little battles rage and some not so little.
This isn't my battle, but it seems ironic that someone so close to the land is happy to destroy it.
Dog in a manger.
Money makes the world go round
Farming land is precious Building houses on land like that is sacrilege
Henry - revealed preferences suggest otherwise. Check out the price of farmland and the price of building land*.
(* Yes I know it's an artificial situation due to planning absurdities, but nonetheless, farming land isn't all that precious in a developed economy - we can and do easily pay others to grow stuff for us)
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