FINALLY, it seems, local politicians and regeneration 'gurus' have had to admit "abandon hope all ye who enter here" when it comes to Cinderford. Innovative as their plans for the Cinderford Arc appear to be it is an out of town development on a massive scale.
Why bother trying to solve problems in Cinderford proper when you can just move on and have another go at getting it right somewhere else? Why bother dealing with drug abuse, unemployment, crime, empty shops, poor transport links etc when you can build a nice new 'Milton Keynes' outside town? Thank goodness there will be some nice log cabins (very much a local architectural style I don't think) so that the tourists will be able to avoid going into crummy old Cinderford.
Does regeneration have to mean building things? Surely regeneration should be about revitalising what we already have – buildings, environment and people? Many a banana republic has used aid money to build a dam – destroying homes, depriving farms of irrigation, providing electricity no one needs – when what the people really want is better education, healthcare, and improvements to existing housing.
It's always going to be much easier for 'El Presidente' to build stuff just so it looks like he's doing something.
This is our Forest of Dean. Yes, we want affordable housing; affordable housing for people who already live here, not massive housing expansion to soak up ex-urbanites looking for – what is for them – a cheap house in the country. Yes, we want jobs; let's use the Rank Xerox and former SCA sites first for start-up units. Yes, we want good education; let's get the basics right first though. Yes, we want tourists; let them stay in our local pubs and inns refurbished, traditionally welcoming but with a new service ethos, or help local people develop good bed and breakfast accommodation.
Let's improve what we have already before giving up and starting all over again and destroying some more Forest while we're at it.
Cinderford Arc: five out of ten for some innovative thinking, but must do better! – Jason Griffiths, The Bourts, Lydbrook.