I propose we contact these guys....

www.tanksforsale.co.uk

and drive through the town, line a breast.

Worried about the value of your house prices from the addition of 6 - 7 families going through hell (hardly the sort to kick of down town)?

I'd worry more when I've parked this fcuker in your georgian renaisance style summerhouse conservatory.



After donutting around your roses and bowling green like lawn.

Originally Posted by Speckled_Jim

It's an interesting bunch of people that live down there.
For example this man
http://www.barclays-private-equity.c...002e14480aRCRD
And his letter http://www.mole-valley.gov.uk/cwi/ge...Representation
By no means the worse of the letters but interesting to see how the top (in earning terms not character) think.

If they are in fact the one and the same person it is very interesting. Very interesting indeed to note, that this same man, who felt aggrieved enough to pen a two page objection to a charity using a nearby house as accommodation - Is himself on the board of a charity that just purchased a home in the Exeter suburbs to house people with special needs! Charity News on the Web

That has got to be a text book example of NIMBYism and double standards.
Perhaps the charity should question the suitability of such a person to hold a position on the board?

What would have happened if the local residents had had the same attitude in 1940, when the enemy were knocking on the door??
Sarcasm On - "Please stop flying those noisy Spitfires over my house, it's an environmental nuisance" - Sarcasm Off

Which is exactly the phone call an acquaintance of mine got, after running up a Spitfire at an Airfield off the M40.

"Who do I complain to, do you know it's Sunday, why are you making that dreadful racket??????"

"Madam, if it wasn't for that dreadful racket , I would be answering this phone in German. Good day"

He may have been a bit more graphic than that

I have to agree with PTP, as pissed off as I am, I realise that emailing them direct would be a shot in the foot so to speak. Lets wait and see what the official response is rather than going off half cocked, all be it, half cocked with the best intentions.

The answer becomes obvious.

SSAFA wouldn't need to spend £ 1.6 M if there was alternative accomodation available.

As many of the houses in the area seem to have a multitude of bedrooms, all that is required is for the locals to offer one of their spare rooms to a serviceman/woman's family for a week.

That should solve any worries about change of use and the devaluation of property.

N?*than E**tub writes "a serious detrimental effect on local residents"... He may care to ponder on the "serious detrimental effect" that the wounds received in Iraq and Afghanistan will have on the rest of the lives of the young men in Headley Court. They will not be collecting six and seven figure salaries from financial institutions in the City of London.

"This is just the wrong place and the wrong property," he said. "Some are concerned - in these awful days when these ghastly terrorists go after the softest targets - about the security situation."

Even if one were to accept this statement on its own merits - which I don't, it displays a remarkable degree of cowardice. Without going into a Neocon blather over the GWOT, I think that most of the people in that village would accept that we are engaged in a long struggle against an implacable and ruthless foe, in which we all might play a part, however small.
Is it asking too much of these people that they accept a tiny increase in risk to themselves in order that the girls and boys who really have suffered at the hands of "ghastly terrorists" enjoy the comfort of having their families around them?

PTP is spot on. We do not need to indulge in personal attacks on these people, all we need to do is calmy state the facts as they are. It is they who have to commission a public relations firm to make their case.

This appears to be a fairly straightforward change of use. It may not even go to Planning Committee depending on what powers are delegated to officers. I am trawling through the representations and the first couple are, to be blunt, inane and irrelevant in planning terms.

Even so, there is a risk. Planning committees vote in all sorts of ways and you get decisions made for all sorts of reasons, including local pressure, that fly in the face of what is material ie. what relates to the use of the land.

I think a counter-campaign would be very useful. Remember as well that Headley Court has a whole raft of conditions attatched to its occupancy and use arising from the original gift to the RAF (I think it was the RAF who were gifted it in the first instance). The building is a stunning Jacobean mansion in well-preserved grounds and an established part of the community and the landscape. If its continued use was not possible then it could fall into disrepair.

As for the NIMBYs, they should only be challenged in public forums and politely. This will probably be picked up by the wider media (as per the Pun VC campaign). Nevertheless, we should be robust in pointing out individual hypocricies when it comes to the NIMBYs.

I'm working through the objections at present to see if there are any serious grounds. These normally relate to traffic or visual impact. House prices are not material considerations. I'll post these later tonight.

Finally, if this does go to Planning Committee, then oral representation may be permitted. I am sure there are many thoughts on how this could be conducted to create maximum impact.

As an afterthought, how many of these NIMBYs may be upset at us former patients tramping along next to their golf course or using the local swimming pool? I did two stints in the Knees groups after an arthroscopy and owe something back.

Just read the thread absolutely appalling.

The families 'would not be welcome', they said, and their arrival could 'destroy the character' of the area.

One resident even objected on security grounds, claiming the house could become a terrorist target, while another suggested wheelchairs would present a fire hazard.



Imagine destroying the character by having worried parents with loved ones seriously injured after giving their life to protect this country. Its not as if there going to have a rave and p*ss up Im sure their minds will be on other things.

What kind of wheelchairs are SSAFA buying, has a procurement gone in for jet proppelled, Rardon Canon wheel chairs
Ill just tell all my lads not to drip blood on the paths if they get casevaced through the hospital

There was a time when the daughters of people like these would have been rolling bandages and falling over themselves to get involved and help. They need waking up to some of the realities of this world. Quite soon, really.