England from the 1750s into the early 1800s saw the introduction of the enclosures. For each enclosure a bill had to go before Parliament to pass to statute. Enclosures were exactly what it states; arable land which was ‘enclosed’ by wealthy landowners. Whilst each enclosure required a bill before Parliament, in Surrey for instance there was a high incidence of nearly as much as 50% being turned down as a result of counter-petitions. That said, thousands of poor had toiled the land for generations. Prior to enclosure, no matter how poor people were most had a degree of economic independence. Most of them owned a few strips of land, which they grew food on. Even squatters had rights to use common land. Here they could graze animals, cut turf and collect wood for fuel. Commoners’ rights allowed the poor to survive and to feed their families.
Steadily more land was enclosed by landowners, forcing the people whose livlihood had depended on it away and into cities to work in the mills and pits owned by some of these landowners!
How does this affect you, us now?
1). We all live in densely packed villages towns and cities defined by settlement boundaries outside of which development is nearly impossible.
2). Approximately 10% of all land in the UK is urbanized.
3). Approximately 13% of land is classified Greenbelt by Local Plans. (Don’t make the mistake that all countryside is Greenbelt. It can also be classified Greenfield and Arable etc).
4). The rest is arable, downland, heathland, mountain, river, lake etc.
5). Approximately 30% of arable land in the UK lays fallow.
6). Who benefits from not being allowed to build a house in the countryside with half an acre, an acre or more to it? The big landowners? Not us urbanites or townies as we are called. We’re kept in our place, out of the countryside and into urban ghettos in some cases.
7). Who is led to believe building in the countryside is sacrosanct? Yes, us! The urbanites and townies! We are told it is bad to build in the countryside. Newspapers scream the southeast is being concreted over. What total rubbish. These headlines appeal to those of us who drive along the M25 and look 100 metres each side of it and think “Look at what’s happening to the countryside, there isn’t much left”.
Do yourselves a favour this Christmas. Take the car out for a drive, go off the motorways, the A roads and get out into the countryside and look at how much space there is. Enough for people to have a sizeable piece for themselves. Not everyone wants an acre of land; some would be happy with a tenth of an acre or a fifth of an acre but not squeezed into an urban metropolis. Travellers have been widely abused by the British Press for setting up sites without planning consent. Whilst it hasn’t always been an easy ride there are numerous small encampments of an acre or so which have no real impact at all on the countryside. How long before renegade youngsters, fed up with the stuffed shirt conservative planners and busy-body Parish Councillors go out into the countryside and build their houses without planning consent? With modular and prefabricated units the possibility of being moved off land owned by them or even rented isn’t so much a worry. Look at the
M-House for instance. It’s classified a caravan. You wouldn’t want to tow it though. The authorities won’t stop everyone who wants a house building one….would they? Either Parliament comes up with a total reform of the Town & Country planning Act 1948 administered by planners in town halls employed on £30,000+ p.a. with a vested interest in the current status quo or I see big problems ahead. Nothing short of a total overhall will do. Prior to 1948 landowners could build houses on their land with little hinderance. The problem occurred with ribbon development, building along country lanes and not off and into the countryside which would cost more with the requirement to put in new roads.
Save the Greenbelt? You’ve all been conned and the big landowners continue to fool you. There is plenty out there for everyone and more than enough for wildlife and arable operations. Now anyone heard anything about plans concerning Residential Park Estates?
Happy Christmas.
