Letter: House building not a solution to economic issues of region

Several thousand seems to be an exorbitant figure, and if correct where are these individuals housed this second?

Having been born in the town, I can tell you that in my experience almost 75 per cent of my generation have left the Shropshire area for the city.

Perhaps if you can quantify this demand you could also clarify if they are Shropshire natives.

Another point to be considered by the council are real measures of economic growth and sustainability.If we consider the Shropshire economy the housing will produce some very short term labour, some temporary sales boost passed down through that economy as a result.

However, as we know the building will cease and consequently any associated business. If we then take a step back and look at the building process as a whole in regards to the UK economy it actually represents a trade deficit. Well unfortunately the majority of materials including the energy required to build a house in the UK are exported and or owned by foreign businesses which equals a trade deficit. So building houses in Shropshire, unfortunately does not benefit the economy of the UK and certainly not locally.

In addition to this we have to consider what does bring in tangible gains to the Shropshire economy. The answer is agriculture, mineral extraction and tourism.

However, the proposed expansion serves none of the above. Why ?

Firstly the proposed developments are on some of the finest agricultural lands in the county, and while agriculture may have required labour in the past, technology has allowed us to reduce this requirement. Secondly the same technological advances have had the same impact on mineral extraction. Thirdly tourists don't visit the county to marvel at suburban sprawl.

Now you might be crying out that Shrewsbury is now a service economy, and that this requires consumers and therefore expansion. However, with regard to economic growth and sustainability, there are some issues to consider. To call this Economic Growth you have to make the following assumption, that the expansion of Shrewsbury will increase the quality of life, of the extant population.

Well I believe the reduced access to open countryside will be something many people, particularly in the Gains Park area of Shrewsbury will miss. Furthermore the already overburdened healthcare system, and highways will be put under more pressure. Also we have to assume service sector businesses actually trade in favour of "UK plc".

So in summary the building of houses makes no positive difference to our lives, it does serve to drag the economy into a deeper and more severe debt.

Edward Swain, Bicton