The council's regeneration boss Cllr Phil Riley said: "The housing market is a commercial market and developers pick the sites that they want. It would be completely invalid for us to turn this application down because there are a number of brownfield sites in the area."'Regeneration' is meant to be just that. Regenerating previously-disused areas, not parts of the green belt!
Cllr Slater said: "There are plenty of brownfield sites in Darwen that need filling. "There is no need to build here in this environment. There is deer there. I know that because I grew up there.
"The idea that the roundabout at the bottom will be able to take the increased amount of traffic is ludicrous.
"People will never get out of that junction. There are also other environmental concerns about flooding and the pits.
"It would cause all sorts of problems. We want to attract business people to this borough and attract executive housing but we are damaging the area as we do it."Precisely. It makes no sense to have to put all the infrastructure in place, when you already have underlying infrastructure in those brownfield site.
Anyone who has ever played a city-building sim will tell you that.
6 comments:
I wonder (and I could be wrong) if you redevelop brownfield sites you have to pay a lot of landfill tax - if so then this would make greenfield a lot more attractive.
Permit me to bring you up to speed on Local Government trends, JuliaM. Where would our council moguls be if they weren't pandering to the wishes of private developers? Very few brown envelope opportunities arise without some 'misunderstanding' of their roles.
There is also the potential cost of having to dispose of toxic materials in the ground from previous industries. Developers see their profits disappear if they have to cover this expense, hence the choice of Greenfield sites. What's a few Bambi and Brock casualties if there is a shedload of money at the end of it?
I must have a lie down, I'm beginning to agree with Melv!
Penseivat
To whom it may concern:
My unreserved apology is tendered for offence caused by a comment of mine which may have been misconstrued as plod-supportive.
Melv,
You kill me :-), but I am no longer plod. An ex Plod. I Plodnomore.
Penseivat
"...if so then this would make greenfield a lot more attractive."
Hmmm, it's possible. It might also have a lot to do with the attractiveness of the area itself, of course.
"There is also the potential cost of having to dispose of toxic materials in the ground from previous industries."
Another good point.
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