What price housing development?

Published on 25th January 2007 in Letters

Sir - Until recently, at the back of my house there was an area of waste ground covered by small trees and shrubs. It was home to many creatures including birds, hedgehogs and squirrels.

Last summer, because of the hot, dry weather, nature groups urged people to put out food and water for the wildlife, which I duly did. My garden was visited immediately by hedgehogs of every size, from fully-grown adults to tiny babies.

It's hard to put into words the pleasure I got from watching these beautiful creatures eating and socialising, as well as the feeling of satisfaction from doing my bit for local nature.

Last month I came home to find that a bulldozer had been working on the site all day and had flattened every piece of vegetation. The hedgehogs had no chance of escape, they were hibernating. All gone, all dead.

Thanks to the East Riding of Yorkshire Council's planning approval, 56 new houses are to be built on this small plot of land, land which is now covered in surface water and which is next to the Fairfield estate, notorious for flooding. So, around 150 people will join the 2,000 residents who already live between Fountayne Street and the Hook railway bridge.

There isn't a single shop in this area and there are no leisure facilities. At the same time, the East Riding of Yorkshire Council is trying to destroy 117 homes in Phoenix Street and Richard Cooper Street. Is any further proof needed of the East Riding of Yorkshire Council's incompetence?

This letter is for the hedgehogs and the pleasure they gave me. They didn't have a voice to justify their existence, whereas the East Riding of Yorkshire Council spends millions of pounds each year on public relations to justify theirs. A barrier exists between the people of Goole and the bureaucrats and councillors of the East Riding of Yorkshire Council.

It will take more than a day's work with a bulldozer to break this down.

Paul Thompson

Montrose Drive,

Goole