A QUESTION OF TRUST AND CONFIDENCE IN PUBLIC HEALTH ADVICE

Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain?" Mr. Weasley to Ginney― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Monarchs, Presidents and Prime Ministers throughout the ages have always kept their trusted advisers close. Some rose to prominence, some plotted to usurp, but mostly they operated in the shadows. Citizens have always been aware of powerful forces 'behind the throne' ready to do their master's bidding or in more recent times 'spinning the message'. In recent times, few have stepped outside their designated role without risking their prestigious and privileged position or in earlier centuries losing their heads.

The Local Conservatives have recently been complaining about the number of houses being proposed, in the local plan, on some of the sites including Lea Castle Village and Naylors Field. It is very difficult to understand on what basis they could possibly complain about these sites being in the plan, given that these sites appeared in their Local Plan. If the Progressive Alliance tried to amend these issues, the local plan process would have to be re-started, which could take years. If a District Council does not have a local plan in place, it could be vulnerable to allowing property developers to build developments the local community would not want. Consequently, the Progressive Alliance Council has decided that we would go ahead with the number of houses proposed in the original Conservative local plan. The only way to get sites removed for the local plan now is through the local planning inspector, as only he can remove sites at this late stage.

The County Council objected to the original local plan, prepared by the Conservative District Council at the time, as the plan failed to provide parking at Blakedown Station. The County Council objected on the grounds that the local plan would not meet the requirements of the Local Transport Policy. It is necessary for a District Local Plan to be supported by the County Council. This left the Progressive alliance to amend the Local Plan, adding a car park, which would be hidden behind some new builds.

• Planting trees on the Welsh mountains and around streams and rivers that feed into the Severn will slow the flow of water running into the river. This works because where the tree roots have broken up the ground, the rainwater can penetrate deep into the soil, 60 times faster, than where there are none.
• By re-instating forest meadows we can have greater control over water management. A working water-meadow has no standing water (puddles), but by keeping the ground damp it allows the grass can grow several weeks earlier, than normal, and in times of long dry spells the water damp ground allows the grass to keep growing throughout the summer. It also absorbs the runoff fertilisers from farming. The grass can be used both for making hay and for grazing by livestock (usually cattle or sheep).
• By not building more houses on flood plains we can avoid more people getting flooded while also giving the rivers room to rise in the event of heavy rainfall.