We all know the profound effect the growth of housebuilding is having on communities and countryside, but do we really consider the broader consequences?
Water is a finite resource yet society seems blasé about it. Evidence shows Thanet is close to using up all available freshwater due to current demand.
Energy is constantly in the news and it’s clearly having impacts on house owners. Why do we not develop systems that allow longer term independence away from reliance on energy companies? Surely mandatory renewables on new housing, new commercial enterprises (rather than solar parks on countryside) and extensions to properties, should be paid by large energy company profits with no cost to the new buyer or house extender? This would reduce long term bills by producing quite a lot of our own energy needs. What do you think?
Similarly, insulation is key to reducing energy requirements and making people more comfortable in their homes. The nature of insulation should be truly eco compliant, for example, hempcrete as an alternative to toxic substance-based insulation that is often used at present. Otherwise, we are just replacing one problem with another, aren’t we?
Using the above approach, including straw bale modular builds (see for example:
strawbalebuildinguk.com;
Prefabricated EcoCocon Straw Panels) - Straw Works could create truly affordable housing. Most of the public are aware that current supposedly “affordable” housing is not affordable to many, particularly if you have been brought up locally. One hopes the government will enable councils to build genuine social housing, ideally using brownfield sites to achieve this aim. What do you think?
Increasing evidence shows the decline in biodiversity. For example, a 69% decline in Kent and 59% in most other UK counties of insect populations over the last 10 years. These insects are key to biodiversity health. The UK also has lost 97% of its wildflower meadows and has the lowest woodland cover in Europe: we have only 12% UK woodland cover and less than 2% of this is deemed semi natural or ancient woodland.
To help counter this serious loss, farmers are being encouraged to participate to reverse this whilst producing food. The Environmental Land Management Scheme, Landscape Recovery Scheme, Sustainable Farm Incentive, Country Stewardship and Countryside Stewardship Plus schemes are all aimed at replacing the Basic Payment Scheme over the next seven years. This could lead to a transformation of the countryside to both enable food production whilst increasingly working more with nature. The government should be congratulated on this approach, but it’s still early days. Confusion has been an issue so far. Farmers need to know what remuneration and government support they will receive to help their understanding of a different approach.
It is worth looking at the Innovative Farmers website too (
www.innovativefarmers.org) which outlines some great practical scientific experiments which can and are aiding farmers in this transition and understanding the processes. Society currently has encouraged many farmers to use intensive methods. Surely supporting them to make these important changes to land management and food production is key. It’s exciting what could happen if the will is there. Why not look at the evidence?