Which makes me nervous about this evening. For our town has gone planning potty. There's a concerted land grab going on, with 1600 houses proposed in a number of developments throwing a concentric ring right around the town. And the last of these proposals, for 600 houses, is aimed squarely at where I live, swallowing us up entirely.
And tonight is the first of no doubt many meetings where this development is under consideration.
I have no idea what will transpire. Bullshit and lies from those after the pot of gold and incoherent rage from those affected, probably. I have no idea if I will speak and so doff the hat of nimbyism for the first time. Secretly, I'm hoping a falange of those professional busy-bodies I've previously been sniffy about will ride to the rescue. What's required is a gang of nimbys with plans and writs and iron will. And definitely not what happened when a bloke fenced off all the land around here – a load of passive-aggressive tutting and muttering behind backs and absolutely nothing by way of direct action.
Objectively, the development is a terrible idea. Prime agricultural green-belt land dug up to build crappy commuter-belt houses no-one local can afford, putting a ridiculous strain on the infrastructure of a small town, and guaranteeing traffic chaos that would make Wandsworth's look civilised. Subjectively, the development is like conker canker, killing us slowly.