I can remember when half this place were fields.

A government report has been published saying that the UK’s housing supply lags behind demand. It points to two main problems. Developers who sit on their investments in land without going ahead and building, and planning authorities who fail to allow building on green field sites.

Many brown field sites aren’t however all that brown. A brown field site is one that has previously been built on. Many council estates in, say Manchester enjoy landscaped green embankments, breaking up the brick and concrete, where once were Victorian terraces and factories. These green areas are surely more precious than any outside towns and cities where greenery is in abundance.

Apparently not. Tameside council(Labour) seems hell bent on developing any green space it has within its boundary, against protests by residents and the local (Labour) MPs, increasing the crowding and decreasing amenity. And I’m sure it’s not alone in going for treating green in-town areas as brown field sites.

We should value our green spaces, even more than we value green fields.