Just down my street a sign has gone up for the sale of 7.5 acres of what is essentially flood plain scrub land. Given that there is claimed to be a shortage of housing in this country I expect someone will buy this and plan to cram as many dwellings as possible onto it (no doubt all made of ticky-tacky). Watch out for planning objections and inquiries (not to mention Councillors mouthing vacuous sweet nothings) and in two or three years another hundred or so houses.
Speaking of land or in this case the lack of it, Hull Council is setting up an inquiry into taking over the neighbouring villages Cottingham, Anlaby, Hessle and so on from the East Riding. It claims people are living in these villages but using the facilities (???) of the city without paying anything for them. Hull, it is claimed, is being hemmed in and should be allowed to become much, much bigger spreading to Beverley according to one Hull Councillor. Given the track record of Hull Council in running what is in effect an overgrown town you can imagine the disdain with which this proposed expansion is being greeted in the villages concerned. This isn't the first time this quest for lebensraum has been put forward, back in the 1990's Hull was denied it and will no hopefully fail again.
There is a long history of city councils around the country subsuming offshot villages. The argument that such extra limbs belong essentially to the main urban body is a powerful one. Why should the East Riding be profiting from the financial input of residents who are primarily connected with Hull and its services? I am not with you on this one HAH.
ReplyDeleteWhy should the people of the East Riding be drowned with the sinking ship that is Hull?
DeleteThe problem is that the people in these borderlands hate Hull & avoid it when at all possible. And if they are subsumed against their will, they will take their Tory & UKIP votes & cast out the Labour councillors of Hull from their precious Guildhall for good & all. Only an idiot or a Hull Labour councillor would fail to see this. Only in Hull would the Council be stupid enough to gerrymander against its own interests.
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