In a valiant attempt to put an even greater burden on dwindling water supplies, busy bureaucrats have come up with a scheme to build another 200,000 new houses in the South East by 2020, with government white-coats showing their dry wit by claiming that the new builds will only need an increase of 0.1% of water usage. Either way this plan is madness considering there are currently 84,000 empty properties in the South East, and almost 730,000 nationally.

But such senseless decision making becomes much easier to understand after a few backhanders from corporate cronies like Tescopoloy. Over in Titnore Woods, Sussex, where there is currently a protest camp to stop road and housing building developments (See SchNEWS 546), Tescos couldn’t resist the money making opportunity that is a plan to build 875 homes, trashing some ancient woodland along the way. Apparently the existing superstore which is plonked right in the midde of the adjacent estates just isn’t big enough for the Tescopoly investors who make their money by the square metre.

One third of the consortium building these new houses in West Durrington is Persimmon Homes. They offer a ‘pragmatic approach’ to corporate social responsibility and shares are up 34% since last August! Persimmon have their mucky paws in more than 250 development sites across the UK and their website actively requests that you give them a shout if you’ve got a greenfield site that you want to sell ( land@persimmonhomes.com). Company bosses have been wheeling and dealing with likes of Bryant Homes, who say their “not just interested in building new homes - we’re creating sustainable places to live, with a real community spirit”, which is news to the hundreds of local residents opposed to the scheme,

The campaign to stop this destruction has been going strong since 2002, with a series of actions and demonstrations (see www.schnews.org.uk/sotw/titnore.htm). But now with bureaucratic means of defending the site exhausted, the camp has been set up with tree-house construction currently in full swing (literally). And the camp is enjoying good local support, with one of the many locals on-site lending a hand telling SchNEWS “All different kinds of people in Worthing are thinking and talking about it - people are really determined.”

The proposed Titnore road and house building works would plough through rare ancient woodland as old as the ice age - but this doesn’t seem to bother the bods in The South Coast Multi Modal Transport study who were commissioned by the government to come up with a ‘radical’ plan to prevent gridlock. Guess what answer they came up with? Err… you guessed it, build more roads!
STAMMERING FIT

But even more profit can be extracted when the words ‘luxury’ and ‘housebuilding’ come together. That agenda, however, is currently being interrupted over at Home Farm in Stanmer Park, Brighton. Local renegades, known as Brighton Community Resource (BCR), had been running a community open house since squatting the building last month. The house had been empty for over a year, but now the council has leased it to the newly formed Brighton and Hove Estates Conservation Trust in another round of dodgy council dealings and nice little earners. According to the council’s own report it met its ‘consultation’ commitment by consulting with the leader of the council and leader of the opposition! Democracy in action!
The Estates Conservation Trust is formed of two local councillors and four members of the ‘local community’ who happen to include the relative of a councillor, the council’s Kent based lawyers and the agricultural estate agents for the council! The trust was created under the council’s remit to open up the South Downs for public access, and its stated aim is “to promote the conservation and enhancement of the natural and built environment of South Downs”. In reality, however, the trust is a front organisation which allows the council to utilise an asset protection loophole and charitable status to (in the council’s words) “maximise income whilst at the same time avoiding the creation of secure tenancies with a right to buy”.

Council and Trust spokespeople (not that there’s much difference between the two) have repeatedly lied to the media, claiming that plans for the building were at an advanced stage, with planning and listed-building applications already lodged yet it is a matter of public record that no planning applications for Home Farm had been lodged, and work on its conversion into two (very profitable) ‘cottages’ due to begin in July. BCR fixed up the building, resumed gardening, hosted an art exhibition and managed to resist an earlier eviction attempt on Monday as 50 community members and a manikin made a ‘Home Alone’ style barricade. Not such good news later this week though, as the house was evicted early on Thursday (8th June) morning. But the fight’s not over and campaigners are expecting more support to come from local community groups, such as the Friends of Stanmer Park, over the next few days. Where will BCR will pop up next?

* The Titnore Woods protest camp needs your help now... food, polyprop rope, building gear and most importantly - people. For directions to the camp see SchNEWS 546. See also www.protectourwoodland.co.uk

* For more on South Coast road building programmes see www.scar-uk.co.uk

* Camp Bling at Priory Crescent (A1159), Essex, is stopping a road expansion which would destroy over 100 trees and the burial site of a Saxon King. see SchNEWS 514 and www.dragonnetwork.org/campaigns/bling site phone 07817 182394

* Stansted Airport Expansion – also in Essex, where evil Govt plans would see it grow larger than Heathrow is today, there has been a long running campaign helped along by well-heeled nimby’s. This Saturday (10th) get along to the 5th Annual Runway Ramble covering a 5 mile route around the proposed site. 10.30am at The Old Vicarage, Church End, Broxted. For more call 01279 870558, web www.stopstanstedexpansion.com

Check out  http://www.schnews.org.uk/archive/news547.htm for the rest of this weeks issue for articles on Egypt, the World Naked Bike Ride and more.