That people object to council plans for selfish and uninformed reasons

[Bamboozle123]

I live in a village which has doubled in size over the last 5 years (still pretty small tbh).

It is well located, 5 miles from a major town and has potentially good public transport links but with really low service levels (hourly trains, no buses on a Sunday sort of thing). There are few amenities here - no petrol garage, supermarket, pub, cafe but does have a few corner shops and a primary school. Loads and loads of countryside and good walking.

The council plans to create loads more houses along the main road here, probably doubling the village in size again.

I'm really surprised that so many locals are objecting for what seem to be really weak reasons - e.g. don't support compulsory purchase of farmland, the village is "already too big".

Perhaps they are just going through the change curve but I don't see how they can't see the benefits in improving the amenities and services, providing more affordable housing in an area that desperately needs it, whilst still retaining almost all the countryside.

So AIBU to think they are being blinkered / selfish and actually this is a scheme for the greater good whilst also benefitting us residents.

Are they adding amenities or just houses?

Perhaps they moved there because it was a small quiet village with few facilities, or love it for the way it is?

YANBU, unfortunately half the population are impacted by below average intelligence

YABU. If you’ve chosen a small village to live in you hardly want a load new houses building, do you?

A lot of it depends on wether they are just ‘improving’ the amenities or adding to them. So will they also build another primary school and doctors? How will traffic be affected? If you can’t be selfish regarding your own home and day to day life then when can you.

The problem in my area is that no money is spent on infrastructure with these developments. I’m not inherently against new developments but in an area with too few school places, problems getting a GP and heavy traffic so poor air quality, minimal public transport they’ll put in a new estate and make things worse for everyone. The developers have to pay a levy that is supposed to fund infrastructure work but other than the odd roundabout I don’t know where that money goes. Our developers also produce maths that show they’re not making much money so don’t need to produce social housing.

It depends how the development is handled.

I've seen some places over-developed with limited or no improvement to the road network, no extra GP availablity, schools are already full locally but it's justified because there's space across town so technically there's school places.
Some developments also don't think about parking or the fact that people will have visitors. Other developments I know have been pushed through at a planning level above the local council, ignoring valid concerns from the local council. Some developments are on Greenfield sites when there are brownfield ones available, but the developers want to make more money.

One laughable development near me is an estate of 'executive homes' at prices far above the local housing stock. What's needed in that area are affordable houses for local people, not 4/5 bedroom executive homes. People objected but it went through and lots were still on the market.

In those situations I understand people objecting, but someone outside the situation might say they're being NIMBYs.

I have mixed views on this in that if you buy a house in a small village / hamlet you don't then expect to live in a town a few years and multiple builds later . I also realised housing is needed .

The village/town where I grew up had the same thing happen.
It has tripled in size.
It has the same doctors surgery, shops, and number of schools.
The local hospital has gone, the police station and the local manufacturing companies.
The bus service has been drastically reduced.
And school kids are being bussed in from the other larger villages where their secondary schools have shutdown.

Overall it hasn't been a good thing, it is now a large town with a small village infrastructure.

Where I live now there is a push to build new houses but no talk about the supporting infrastructure that goes with it.
I am not looking forward to the same things happening here,

People don't like or trust change. Particularly when the benefit is to someone else.

I work in housing, I can't stand NIMBYs but I do understand them.

If you've moved to a small village in the countryside maybe you aren't bothered about amenities on your doorstep but just want peace and quiet and countryside views/ walks?
Otherwise youd choose to live in a town not the country.
If they've doubled the size of the village already you can see why people are upset imo.

I wouldn't assume at all any amenities would be added

It won't be a town - according to Google even if they build all these extra houses it'll still be a village.

To address PPs regarding extra houses without amenities being enhanced - Having done a bit of work in transport & infrastructure previously I understand it's down to the council to ensure that they get that funding and commitment from the developers. My opinion is that the main way to get this to happen is to campaign for the council to do this, rather than outright objecting to the plans which will go through anyway.

I think many people hope and believe that owning a home brings a level of stability that it really doesn't. The extremal environment can change beyond their control and nobody likes being on the losing end of that, even if overall there are more winners than losers. Yes, that's inherently selfish and smacks of pulling up the ladder behind them, but on the other hand, some development proposals are ridiculously badly thought through.

You should never support compulsory purchases of viable farmland. Thats just foolish as we can never get it back. Covid and brexit should have taught us that we are too reliant on other countries for basic food.

As for your title, many people where I live didn't want a new hospital with limited parking despite the council saying that it was in an area with good bus links and cycle paths. Councils are notorious for being wrong and generally being twats to their constituents.

Is building more houses providing more amenities and are the houses going to provide affordable housing?

My parents village is getting built on, but not affordable housing or amenities- it is a retirement village (but no extra GP services so the GP is now unable to cope with a sudden influx of elderly people) and a load of million pound houses. There is still no bus service after 5pm and it is 2 hourly and unreliable.

I don't agree with building on farmland - the developers like it as it is so much cheaper to build on farmland than brownfield. Also developers are after the big bucks so love villages for the big executive houses.

I live in a very small village. I love living in a very small village. I know everyone, my dogs know everyone, I can walk around chatting if I want to or just wave and walk. This is why I chose this village. I do not want it to double in size because I chose to live in a very small village. Why is it selfish not to want this village to grow?

See I think this is a great example.

Why would anyone object to a new hospital and miss the point that it's very much needed, rather than focusing on working with the council to ensure there are sufficient transport links or parking?

It just feels like we are missing the opportunity to improve our services by focusing on the wrong thing.

Because we have a housing crisis affecting 100,000s of people ?

YABU. Is there work there? Senior school places? Sewage capacity? Sufficient water? Fragile eco-systems being damaged? There's a lot more to planning than just a few extra amenities.

The other issue is food security. We're in the middle of an energy crisis caused by the Russian invasion. If we build on any more good quality farmland, we could easily face a food security issue. Do you fancy going hungry.

The countryside isn't a pretty place for walking in. It's one huge factory that feeds us all, and if we build on any more land, we become more vulnerable (already at risk) of going hungry.

You should be able to see the proposed plans on the Planning Portal which will show if there are any additional amenities proposed and proposed upgrades to existing amenities.

In my experience, the main worries are that the infrastructure won’t support the new build, drs offices/schools etc will be oversubscribed and the character of the area will be lost. If it’s another Barrett Homes or similar cut and paste development I wouldn’t be happy.

Bamboozle123

Currently where I am the council allowed the builders to build as the builders promised a shopping area, with a dentist and doctors surgery and a new school.

What has appeared is a large build with a shopping area.

I don't know how the construction company got out of building the amenities.
But it has left locals (and the new locals) with a very bad taste in our mouths and a severe lack of trust in the council.

So why should the locals trust the council and construction company when they have already broken there word?

My town is going through massive development, of houses only. No extra local infrastructure is planned. The doctors surgeries are full already, there are no dentists taking on patients (either NHS or private patients), the schools are at capacity. The town can't cater for all these extra people.

So? You can’t just build houses and think that fixes everything. It doesn’t. It causes more problems when the infrastructure and amenities aren’t there too.

And quite honestly, the housing crisis isn’t Emily from Quiet Village’s problem or responsibility.

Why would anyone object to a new hospital

You didn't read it properly. It was the fact they didn't think car parking was needed as much and factor it into the planning. Apparently ill people should be travelling on a minimum of two buses each way or cycle. Which is stupid and impractical. They didn't think it through properly, rode roughshod over people putting their views and decades later admit its not fit for purpose as even the doctors and nurses struggle to park..but apparently they should cycle more 🙄