LETTER: UKIP are only ones to support anti-housing groups

These people are helping the groups because no-one else will. You talk about democracy but totally ignore public opinion in your patch. It does you no favours to be seen trying to undermine UKIP when they are the only support the anti-housing groups like CRAG have.

Indeed if the Conservatives were acting properly for their constituents, UKIP would never have got a foot in the door and you may not agree with all UKIP’s policies, but at least they stand by them and are not afraid to say so.

The people in the Ribble Valley voted for the Conservatives as they believed they would protect them; how wrong we all were. No-one voted in the Government we have now or the policies they force upon us. We see Liberal Democrat policies given priority when a minority of people voted for them. This is not democracy. We see a Government that changes its mind with the wind. First we are to be protected from the mass development planned by the Labour Party, then we see something worse in its place.

We are promised large sprawling estates will not be dumped on our doorstep, but then all planning controls are taken away. We are told brownfield sites will be developed before green fields, but there is no control in place to enforce this and we all know where developers prefer to build their housing estates. We are told all this building is necessary as we need affordable housing and yet now the requirement for developers to supply affordable housing has been removed.

Our Core Strategy has just been turned down as it does not deal properly with the need for affordable housing. We are already a long way towards our 20-year housing supply and it is only year five, but those developments passed and not yet built can build without offering a single affordable home and there is nothing we can do about it. I’m sure our planning officers are scratching their heads over that one. Localism disappeared a long time ago, it never really existed it was just a word bandied about to keep us quiet, while all our rights were destroyed.

You wonder why the people of the Ribble Valley are willing to accept help from UKIP? I’ll tell you Coun. Mirfin – it is because you and your unelected Government are deaf to your constituents, it’s because this Government quashed democratic dissent when it took power and the only democratic decision left to us is to not vote for you at the next election.

Your attack on UKIP shows you are worried, but the answer is in your hands and it’s not resorting to a smear campaign.

DAVID EARNSHAW,

Woodlands Drive

Whalley