Learning from the Charlie and Megan saga.
Charlie and Megan who are trying to keep the home they built on the family farm are not unusual. Many of our young people would love to live where they belong, where they have work and an extended family and land to provide the ideal upbringing for their children. The hundreds of local young people I know also aspire to live sustainably and simply, to have home grown food and energy and self built homes.
These are the very people we should be encouraging to stay, not driving away. An ageing county banishing its young people is not only inhumane, it is killing itself.
Our planning is an arrogant anachronism. We have a dysfunctional affordable housing requirement (is it designed so as to fail?), a dwindling supply of social housing and a cranky one planet policy, Better these than nothing I suppose, but why outlaw the simple obvious affordable sustainable solution demonstrated by Charlie and Megan?
We now have a law which could change this. It is unique to Wales and called The Future Generations Act.
Anyone interested in finding ways to make all levels of government comply with it is invited to a meeting on 28th May in Newport hall, 7pm, or to get in touch. vickymoller@ btinternet.com
VICKY MOLLER
Newport
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