Councillor responds to housing challenge

Dear Sir, In last weeks letters page the "protesters" of Anston challanged individual Anston Parish councillors to state thier views regarding the Local Development Frameworks housing issues.

My individual view is as follows:

1 The number of "new" houses to be built in North Anston is based on Labour Government targets and not on actual need.

2 The greenbelt in North Anston should not be used for housing, brownfield sites are available in Rotherham and should be used.

3 In the Anston Parish Plan, the public said the main reason for living in Anston is for "the open countryside", so why is the parish council not listening to the public?

4 RMBC offered 3 options on housing plans, they forgot to mention that a fourth option of no housing in North Anston could also be considered.

5 The overwhelming "silence" of the parish council could be down to the fact that the majority of Councillors live in South Anston or Dinnington, not in North Anston where the houses will be built.

6 The two biggest supporters of "ripping up" the greenbelt in North Anston are both Rotherham Councillors and do not live in Anston Parish. The housing plans are suspect, the consultation proccess is suspect and "forcing" RMBC views on local people without face to face public meetings is not democratic.

Cllr S Thornton Independent Anston Parish Council