Thursday, August 27, 2009

The scorched earth policy continued...

Turned out nice again...
Minnosotta Bridge 2007- the result of poor infrastructure investment...


In his recent article ‘In My View’ (Echo 25 August) Alan Whitehead MP writes ‘Some significant and positive developments have just been announced regarding affordable homes in Southampton’ before listing some national (not local) policies that this Labour government has announced.
What Professor Whitehead does not mention is that housing growth money in Southampton, along with the wider South Hampshire area is to have its capital money to fund essential infrastructure like roads and vital flood defences to combat climate change by cut by a shocking 48%.
In correspondence, Labour ministers indicate that this cut is required to fund the so called Housing Pledge announced by Gordon Brown that is intended to supposedly deliver 20,000 houses over the next two years and that for Labour, this is a higher priority than infrastructure funding in the current economic circumstances.
Sadly, history tells us that to view housing in isolation from infrastructure, roads, jobs, public services and all the rest is the negation of proper town planning and can lead to social problems of the very worst sort.
Further more, Mr Whitehead omits to mention that these cuts are deeper than anywhere else in the UK. They are however just another example of why, despite having 2 Labour MPs, this Labour government offers an appalling deal to Southampton residents at the expense of the Scotland, the North East and North West of England as they attempt to prop up their crumbling political support.

NB Not for readers of a nervous dispisition granted, but the Institution of Civil Engineers would seem to agree!

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