by Julia Green
The population in the UK is now at a historical high of 65.6 million people. According to the Office for national Statistics the UK population has increased by almost 10 million since the 1970s and is projected to reach 73 million in 20 years’ time and continue increasing after that.
England is now the most densely populated country in Europe, apart from the tiny island of Malta, at 395 people per square kilometre – double that of Germany and quadruple that of France. England’s density is among the highest in the world for major countries, ranked third in density after Bangladesh and South Korea, and predicted to rise to 464 people per square kilometre by 2031.
This huge increase has been fuelled by decades of high immigration, where up to four hundred thousand people net have been coming into this country each year to live, mainly from the EU. As an EU member, we have had to open our borders and allow anyone from the EU into the country, putting pressure on our infrastructure, such as schools and hospitals. It has resulted in having to build around 275,000 new homes every year and constructing and widening roads to cope with increased traffic.
It has also put huge pressure on our countryside, including the loss of prime agricultural land used to build new homes. Chancellor Philip Hammond, with Prime Minister Theresa May’s approval, is planning to promote renewed building on the greenbelt in his next budget.
Much of the countryside is owned by local authorities and since the 1930s has been protected from development as it was considered important to create a ring of greenbelt land around urban areas. But under the latest National Planning Policy framework (NPPF) Councils around the country are being encouraged by the government to review existing boundaries of such land in their areas and re-designate them to meet housing demand. Around 250,000 new homes are expected to be built each year for the foreseeable future, which is equivalent to an area the size of Liverpool.
The countryside sustains wildlife by providing important natural corridors which are crucial for wildlife populations to thrive. If these corridors are broken it leads to isolated pockets of habitat, which over time cause wildlife to die out from reduced genetic diversity. According to the Peoples Trust for Endangered Species almost two thirds of animal species have declined in the last 50 years due to loss of habitat and intensive farming practises.
Greenbelt land is important for people too. Studies have shown that walking in the countryside helps to reduce stress and provides a healthy environment for people to take physical exercise, keeping the mind and body healthy.
If the benefits that greenbelt land provides is taken away, it will have a detrimental effect on all living creatures in this country, including ourselves.
We have a population crisis rather than a housing crisis. If the government continues to encourage housing development in the countryside, what is now a ‘green and pleasant land’ will become a concrete sprawl. We are custodians of our planet to look after and protect for future generations. If the countryside is allowed to be destroyed at the current rate, there will soon be nothing left for wildlife and ourselves to enjoy.
3
Absolutely right. The housing crisis is a population crisis. The increasing demand is never ending, more and more of Britain’s rural areas will be concreted over…. leading to the eventual urbanisation of the entire expanse of Britain. It’s a dystopian nightmare that none of our ancestors could ever have imagined the powers that be allowing to happen.
In the capital we have a conveyor belt of lies regarding the housing crisis, much of it from the Evening Standard, now edited by George -10 ‘jobs’- Osborne. London Mayor Sadiq Khan also evades the root of the problem with the usual pc mantra. Corbyn wants to house half the world and his brother.
London is a clear example of how a growing population of dependants is leading to an epidemic of social disorder and lawlessness…the rest of the nation must avoid following this suicidal path at all costs. Crime in London has yet again risen by 5.6% -an extra 42,775 offences in the 12 months to the end of September…this is directly attributable to multiculturalism.
Is this what they want for all of Britain?
Both the article and JJM comment are ‘ spot on ‘. Typical British Democratic Party , telling it how it really is and totally ignored by Britain’s totally morally bankrupt media. Sainsbury’s , Tesco and many other companies say they work on the basis that Britain’s Population is ALREADY 76 MILLION. I believe this as , ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS DO NOT FILL IN GOVERNMENT FORMS but do , however , eat !
Mass immigration and over-population are deliberate tactics used by criminal Marxist politicians and media against Western societies, with the intention of fragmenting and destroying social cohesion. By so doing they aim to render us vulnerable to control and exploitation by the same community who were behind the notorious enemy Frankfurt School of the 1920s.
Their extremist successors are still engaged on the same agenda, now more than ever. Those promoting multiculturalism and mass immigration should be ashamed of themselves and should be vigorously opposed by patriots by every means possible. The survival of the cultural and ethnic identity of the whole of the West, not only Britain, depends on it.
Britain’s wildlife and all their natural habitats should be preserved. We also need to help farmers, invest in agriculture, and reduce pollution. It is not our duty to build homes in our green and pleasant land, so people can come here en-masse to live, this has gone on long enough and we cannot cope any longer.
An excellent letter that appeared in the Evening Standard:
Sir Mark Boleat’s suggestions on dealing with the housing situation beggar belief. How dare he suggest building on any green belt land. It is protected for a purpose. I worked all my life to move to outer London to enjoy more green space. For him to encourage council planners to use this land is abhorrent.
Maybe the answer is for people to stop having so many children and selfishly taking away any benefits that we enjoy at the moment. The world is over-populated – this is the reason for the chronic shortage of housing, overcrowding and pressure on services.
PJ
Whoever PJ is, very well said !
The HOUSES ARE FOR WHITE FLIGHT.