Letter - Teesdale 2008 Housing Need and Demand Study

Teesdale 2008 Housing Need and Demand Study

I WOULD NOT WANT MY NAME ATTACHED TO THIS!
I am told my views on the above are important-it says so on the cover letter signed by the councils Housing Strategy Manager and Cllr Dreda Forster also tells me this in the pages of the Mercury.
I have just filled in the questionnaire and find that my views are not important after all.Why? Because i have lived in my house for more than 5 years , i am not elderly and i(nor any member of my household) are thinking of moving in the next 12 months. The views of the vast majority of people i know in the dale are not therefore important either.
The results will therefore be worthless and a lot of money will have been wasted.
Obviously the questionnaire is designed to provide only one result - affordable housing is the new god.
I for one strongly disagree. Living in Teesdale is not a birth right. Times are changing and house prices will remain high. Any parent of school children in the dale must surely now realise that if their children want to live in Teesdale as adults , then a good education leading to a well salaried job is essential. That's the route i had to take.
If they wish to live on state benefits then they may have to live elsewhere. Its called life and its tough.
If my children grew up and wanted to , but couldn't afford to , live in Teesdale then i would have to downsize to release equity to assist them. Affordable housing would never enter the equation.
I think that many people in Teesdale would agree with this . We must not discourage young affluent families from setting up home in Teesdale.
NAME AND ADDRESS SUPPLIED -- or whatever-not my name!