Dominic Buckwell
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Re:Phoenix Action - 2006/04/25 22:53
There are many English villages, towns and even Cities preserved in aspic. Locally I am thinking of places like Amberley, Ditchling and Alfriston, and further afield Laycock and Bath. In each case the high house prices relative to adjacent indicate that "aspic like" strict conservation is exactly what people want. I concer with the sentiment that a planning freeze can be the most positive thing, but it si usually only possible when a village is surrounded by one or two major landowners comfortable enough to be averse to any development eg Firle, Balcombe and Goodwood.
The down side (as Holly Long articulates in her postings on this thread) is that locals are priced out of the market, and you end up full of second home owners or London commuters (the latter includes myself admittedly), which populus tend to keep to themselves and shop elsewhere leading to closures of convenience shops, and less participation in the community.
Lewes is a long way off suffering these problems, indeed many young families are coming into Lewes (if they can afford to) often where one parent has grown up. These people have a long term interest in the town, its schools, community and shops. They already have a bond with the Town or quickly develop one, and are its future.
Of course the Phoenix Quarter presents a threat and an opportunity to this, but its likely impact should be measured against such things. I would urge readers to consider that the expansion of Tesco is a pure threat giving nothind back to the Town other than minimum wage dead ends jobs which no one really wants to be in. This thread has over 100 postings but the one concerning Tesco a handful. I am concerned that while so much energy is being directed at the Phoenix Quarter, the Tesco's proposal may sneak in with little vociforous opposition.
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