It is good to hear that Councillor. Jan French is showing concern about both the existing sewage problems in March and the impact that an additional 4,200 homes, as planned in the Core Strategy, will have on the sewage system.

The question I ask is why did Cllr. Jan French not raise her concerns during the formation on the Core Strategy? I attended two council meetings when the proposals for March were discussed and not only did Cllr. French not raise any concerns; neither did any other councillor at those meetings.

I spoke at both meetings, on behalf of hundreds of residents, raising this sewage issue along with issues relating to traffic problems that would come about as a result of an additional 4,200 homes in the town.

There was no debate by councillors about our concerns, apart from one Wisbech councillor who stated “you do not know what traffic problems are, you should come and live in south London”.

As residents of North East March, we are pleased that the Planning Inspector acknowledged our concerns about the former North East Housing Allocation and the adverse impact such development would have on this part of the town and that she decided it was correct that this area should not be included in the Core Strategy.

At one of the meetings held by the Planning Inspector I heard officers from Cambridgeshire County Council state that their council had no finance to support any improvements to education and highway infrastructure that would be needed to cope with an additional 4,200 homes.

It seems to me that the town cannot support such a vast increase in housing development and while the developers could contribute towards improvements, the major part would have to come from the public purse, which as we all know is “empty”.

Perhaps when we get a new leader for FDC, we might just get some commonsense into how big our town can grow without destroying it.

TREVOR WATSON

The Laurels

March