We've been very fortunate in our village during the latest bout of flooding - as far as I can tell, we haven't been cut off at all. The buses are still struggling past the parked cars and no-one has commented on Facebook about flooding beyond the level crossing, which is where it usually happens, and did again just a few weeks ago. I have lots of sympathy with all those in Oxford and further afield where roads and houses have become one large extension of the nearest river.
So I was a little surprised to see that a government minister has said we need more housing built on green-field sites in this article. I'm not saying that we don't have a housing problem, because I don't know whether we do or not. I'm sure lots of builders would say that we need to build new houses and that it will help the economy in general. I question the idea that we have a 'moral right' to a house with a garden, but that's another matter.
I'm just surprised that at a time when towns are flooding in part because too many floodplains have been concreted over, Nick Boles sees fit to raise his head above the parapet and suggest we should concrete over a few more. Perhaps he would have been better off joining Nadine Dorries in Australia...
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