Country Diary

And behold, a prophet came down from the North, giving us sustainable communities and we took sustainable communities. But suddenly Brother Prescott was called away to the land of the parliamentary golden handshake, beyond Bulimia, and he was gone. In his wake from the country of Blairbabe, came one Caroline of Flint giving us even greater hope for our green and pleasant land. She smiled, and gave us, without a frown, that great idea, the carbon-neutral "eco-town": "The Brown Town." Oh dear, if it wasn't so serious it would be funny, but the arrival of the much threatened 15 "eco-towns" is not only a threat to our countryside, but also to our democracy. There is no recognisable democratic process in place; there is no accountability; there is no logic. The Government, after a series of phoney "consultations", is going to... [read full story]