Friday, October 26

Tricorn Centre vs West of Waterlooville MDA

It is interesting to see how our competing government and local authorities can come up with ideas that environmentally misuse and abuse the land we have, producing the worst possible environmental results.

In the city of Portsmouth the old Tricorn Centre was knocked down so that a large commercial retail development could be built there. In the mean time a massive car park has been put in its place, encouraging people to use their cars. OK so far, this sounds typical and quite normal for todays poor eco standards.

But then at the same time plans are being made for fields near Waterlooville to be made into a suburban car junky housing estate, with all the people living their wanting to commute by car to their jobs.

See any obvious inconsistencies in the planning logic here?

OK, why not build high density housing on the old Tricorn land, eliminate the car park and build fewer or even no homes on the fields near Waterlooville?

Why would this be better? Well because living in the city centre would mean less need for a car. If you have the Cascades shopping mall next door, and Commercial road a stones throw away, why would you need a car!

Then of course the city railway station is within walking distance and the existing retailers will get more business from those that occupy the homes.

At the same time, the remaining fields just outside Waterlooville would remain as fields or at least less of them would be taken up by the creeping suburbia that is called Waterlooville.

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