But where? What is needed is proper homes in which a family can grow and lay down roots.Not Hong Kong or Mumbai style superdense blocks. The deep wounds of social damage caused by these still lingers as do the dreadful labyrinth housing estates of the 70s.The reality is that if this is what we want and to completely change the whole ethos of how we live in this country, then we have to accept that it will also completely change the fabric of society and our quality of life and existence.But it will simply increase the gap between the have and the have nots and the super rich will eat up more and more space for 'investment purposes'In effect the region is full and does not have the infrastructure to support it adequately. It's not just here it's right out to places like Camberley where traffic jams are worse than here.But good quality new towns are the only answer along with good transport links of all sorts and affordable. Coupled with quality of life infrastructure, parks, accessible for all leisure facilities, space to do stuff and not in an homogenised way which makes for boring clones.It's the little nooks and crannies that make places interesting to live. Johnson's Island, the boatyards, the decent tucked away pubs and unusual shops. Even 'run down Brentford' manages that.New towns have to be built that people will want to rather than have to live in. And that seems to be something we sadly seem to be incapable of managing.
Raymond Havelock ● 3069d