Development, NIMBY-ism and the enviroment ..Oh my!

This Saturday there is a "consultation" at our village hall about a proposed housing development in the village.
As with many things like this I am sure it is already a done deal and this is just the planners/ architects way of making soothing noises while ignoring us.

The development will be taking over approximately 20 acres of agricultural land between the village and our croft.

Now I must admit that when we first found out about this we were not happy bunnies. We like our privacy, we relish the break we have between us and the rest of the community and we didn't want houses backing onto our property.
But...and there is always a but isn't there, I could see the advantages.
The plan shows lots of trees, lots of green space and also a small shop and local business complex, which would all be gratefully received by the community, our own village shop having folded nearly five years ago.

Over the last few months I've been giving this a lot of thought.
You see,when people think of agricultural land they think of this......

When in actually fact alot of them are like this........


No hedges, no trees, no natural habitats at all for wildlife and wild fauna.

The country has been turned into a huge outdoor factory and the fields and animals are only the raw materials.
I posted a while ago about the barrenness of the fields next to me HERE.
The truth is this field, although classified as agricultural land, is little more than a brown site.
It is blasted several times a year with toxic chemicals (which incidentally end up in MY garden and on MY vegetable and breathed in by MY children) then a sparse crop (always the same crop, no rotation here!) is harvested and its sprayed again. NOTHING grows on it.
No weeds or grass.
NOTHING.
There is no wildlife.

When we first moved in and the field was set aside for a couple of years, we used to get ground nesting birds on it, arctic turns, night jars. There were rabbits and mice and butterflies and all sorts of other birds and insects, but now its like a sterile petrie dish, waiting for the next batch of chemicals.

Maybe houses aren't such a bad idea.

Every house will have a garden, ample opportunity for bird feeders, hedgehog habitats, butterfly and bee friendly flowers and best of all little to no industrial chemical sprays throughout the year.
Its a controversial thought in a village where more development is not wanted.
In fact a site being developed now I was very sad about.
A small acreage that had layed fallow for as long as we've been here and hosted wildflowers and all the wildlife that came with it.

But the field next to me?
I can't get worked up about it, not when I consider the environmental benefits.