Government housing plans questioned

The Thatcham Vision certainly isn't just about housing, but central government's plans to ramp-up the rate of house building in Southern England will - one way or another - have major consequences for many aspects of Thatcham's future. This is certainly a topic in which we're taking a close interest.

A new report from The Countryside Agency and English Nature raises fears about the environmental impact of the plans. See this story in today's Observer. A particular problem identified by the report relates to additional demands on already stretched water supplies. If the climate of Southern England becomes more and more like that of Southern Spain, this will cause some interesting problems.

No need to panic though. I'm sure that someone in central government has thought this all through very carefully.