BULLDOZING Mid Wales’ pristine countryside to house thousands of people from the south east of England sounds like the kind of madcap scheme dreamt up by unhinged planning officers – but more surprisingly that’s the vision of an apocalyptic future for Britain painted in a Government report.
The idea – which suggests building a new city in Powys – is contained in a scenario detailed in the report, Land Use Futures: Making the most of land in the 21st century.
The research, which has been branded ‘utter Stalinist madness’ by one County Times reader, was carried out by 300 scientists, economists and planners.
The scenarios are given as possible situations the UK may find itself facing in the near future, although it must be stressed that they are not recommendations, instead they are intended as discussion points ‘to stimulate debate’.
In one of the scenarios commissioned from contractors it talks about Dumfries and Galloway, Northumberland and Powys becoming ‘engines of innovation and growth at the centre of the United Kingdom’s land-based industries’.
The scenario says that pressure on the south east of England would be eased by dispersing citizens to the areas.
John Beddington, the government’s chief scientific advisor who directed the research said climate change and growing population would present Britain with difficult choices about how it uses its land.
He said: “Business as usual is not an option over the longer term. The effects of climate change and new pressures on land could escalate, seriously eroding quality of life.”
The report suggests a number of measures might have to be taken to combat the effects of an increasing population and a growing population.
The measures included in one scenario are greatly increased farm sizes, restrictions on flying and driving and possibly converting Heathrow to a giant reservoir.