COMMUNITY FIRST IN KINGSBRIDGE, DEVON

The people who currently live in Kingsbridge have chosen to live here because they like it as it is – without the development known as “K5”. Our elected representatives on the councils have been appointed to represent the people of Kingsbridge and the clear message coming to them is that the people they represent do not want K5 to proceed. Representatives, please listen and act.

My particular view is that the current Kingsbridge is a great place in which to live. I was born here, went to school here but I did not see that gave me divine right to live the rest of my life here, I had to earn that right. In order to find a good job when I left school I had to move several hundred miles away from Kingsbridge. When the time came for me to own my own house I could only afford one 40 miles away from where I worked. This experience did me good and eventually led to me being able to buy a house in Kingsbridge. I value this greatly as a result. Today’s young people should be given the same opportunity to earn the right to live here rather than rely on others to hand them subsidised housing on a plate. If this view is accepted the development should not proceed.

The above is my view based on my experience. This might not be accepted by all. There may be some who feel they should be subsidised and therefore require “affordable housing”. This leads to two questions:
1 The subsidy will be provided by current residents. Have they been given the opportunity to say whether they are willing to provide the subsidy?
2 Is there a list of actual people who currently live in Kingsbridge who are waiting to live in the K5 houses and who have jobs which will enable them to actually purchase each of the houses to be built?

If the answer to either of the above questions is “No” the development should not proceed.