§ Mr. Jonathan Sayeed (Mid-Bedfordshire)The petition, from the residents of mid-Bedfordshire, is entitled "Save Our Countryside". It reads:
The petition of the residents of Mid-Bedfordshire declares that we are concerned about the decisions to sanction plans for new development throughout the countryside.The countryside and the rural way of life are threatened by this Labour Government. In just 10 months, they have set about destroying the livelihood of farmers. They have attacked traditional country pursuits, they have promoted the right to roam, and they appear determined to suburbanise wide, vast swathes of green belt and green-field land. Our countryside is not a playground for those who live in the city, but the shop floor of a world-beating agricultural industry. Unless the Government reverse their myopic urban perspective, what has been nurtured over centuries will be destroyed in a matter of years.The petitioners therefore request that the House of Commons urge the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions to ensure that more homes are built in city areas, instead of the countryside or Green Belt, to breathe new life into our cities and to protect valuable countryside for future generations.The petition has my whole-hearted support.
§ To lie upon the Table.