Monday 30 July 2007

Wounded Soldiers v Nimbyism



You may be aware of the disgraceful behavior of some of the residents near the Army Rehabilitation Centre at Headley Court. SSAFA is attempting to provide a house for the visiting families of soldiers who are are being treated, and have run into substantial opposition from residents who are objecting on various selfish and spurious grounds.


Headley Court is the ONLY rehabilitation centre we have - why isn't there one in the North, to make it easier for families from Scotland and the North of England to visit badly injured relatives? - and it has been around for 60 years. Most residents stay months, some of them several years.


The letters of complaint have been sadly predictable: 'additional noise'; 'huge amount of additional traffic'. The families 'would not be welcome', they said, and their arrival could 'destroy the character' of the area.


What a bunch of abject wankers!


Tomorrow is D-Day on the planning appeal. More voices of support for SSAFA are needed, so please take a second to sign the petition to the Prime Minister , which is running in the tens of thousands. There is a campaign website as well.


Please do the necessary, chaps, and pass it on.

13 comments:

Tuscan Tony said...

Read this out to Mrs Tuscan yesterday, as her bone-head sister lives in Ashtead. I can still barely believe it. Can you imagine the reaction if Mole Valley District Council turned down the planning for a mini-mosque on the same site, for the same reasons as given for this usage. I think not, somehow. Seems the rest of the local populace are barely ahead of Mrs T's B-H-S nous-wise.

idle said...

If Mole Valley DC buggers this one up, I plan to exact revenge in unspeakable, childish fashion.

I think this has more to do with house price vanity than a careless attitude to the poor bloody infantry, but it is no less odious for that.

lilith said...

We lived in Ashtead for two years when we first came to England. My first school was there. It has absolutely nothing whatsoever to recommend it, much like the rest of Surrey.

lilith said...

What about a drug-rehab halfway house..or a nonce hostel? Jesus, this is exactly what is wrong with Surrey.

Tuscan Tony said...

Lilith, what road? Mrs Tuscan was at Parsons Mead school there, it closed last year to be developed as heggseguteef pwopewtees. It is truly a disgusting town replete with people with Lottery Number IQs.

Tuscan Tony said...

idle, old chap, sort out your Blogger Time if you don't mind! I posted that last one at 7.30pm MET (Midhurst Environs Time) and got a shock, thinking for a fleeting moment on reading my comment that I was already bladdered on Prosecco at 11.34am.

idle said...

And how, exactly, Tusan, do I do that? I only do automatic at the moment, gear-shifts and signalling are a whole new ballgame.

The Hitch said...

It is things like this that make me think "fuck it".
I shall sit back and await the inevitable collapse.

Tuscan Tony said...

Hells bloody teeth idle, I have no idea, fiddle about with it, man, its not an 88 Howitzer, you won't kill anyone!

Tuscan Tony said...

Hitch, I have made that call, wrongly, every year for the past 10 years.

lilith said...

I was at St Giles, Tuscan! I don't remember the name of the road but there were lots of yew trees in the playground. Ashtead is post apocalyptic and they haven't noticed.

Electro-Kevin said...

I was brought up in Surrey, it has a nice leafy feel to it.

Doubtless the residents are bothered about the lower ranks and their families - sounds like utter snobbery if you ask me.

lilith said...

Brilliant to see that permission for change of use has been granted.