Last Updated on 27 February 2017 by ianr
This model version in Babbacombe Devon gives endless pleasure to all who visit – but will the same be said for the real thing – the Government has recently announced the locations of 14 new Garden Village locations which could provide up to 48,000 new homes at various sites throughout the UK.
The concept of Garden Villages is nothing new Letchworth and Welwyn Garden City were first conceived in the 1920’s and respectively have current populations of circa 34,000 and 47,000 which somewhat dwarfs the Governments current expectations for the current fourteen sites.
The concept of Garden Villages (in advertising speak) is that somehow, they are separated from the existing towns and cities and create new and vibrant smaller communities – a wonderful if somewhat impractical claim – most areas of the UK have a “new town” of some description near them which were welcomed with similar claims – the same new towns that have developed into vast urban sprawls frequently with and inadequate infrastructure to support them.
We at Global Door are certainly not against the proposal of more housing for after all every new home means a new front door and a potential sale, however some of us in the GFD offices are old enough to recall Government announcements in the early “noughties” that the population growth rate had dipped below the sustainable population figure of 2.1 children per family and had fallen to the 1.6 – 1.9 range – there are numerous census available which suggest that World growth is now only at 1.0 and could fall to 0.50 by the 2040’s all due to changes in living habits. This fascinating article “The UK’s Population Problem by the Optimum Population Trust” makes for an interesting read.
Further, we are constantly reminded by the media that the “baby boomers of the late 40’s early 50’s are the ones putting the strain on the National Health Service (and everything else) because they are living longer? As many of those same “baby boomers” are now approaching seventy years of age even with medical science improving the odds are that within the next ten years they will significantly decline in number.
With a decline in the birth rate and the end of the “baby boom” generation what will become of all this new housing stock in the future? We are not “political” here at Global Door – we know that the contentious issue immigration has an impact, but we are bemused at the way the statistics fall – is there really a huge housing crisis – there are plenty of inner city properties standing vacant and where new construction is taking place developers seem intent on building the properties in the mid to higher ends of the market when “starter homes” are that which is needed.
Is this continuous destruction of our rural areas (which is increasingly magnified by the infrastructure required to service these homes) the correct way to go when “there are plenty of redundant inner city “brown field” sites available where a large proportion of the infrastructure already exists or could be adapted and modified?
Here at Global Door we are just simple “on line “door sales people we do not have any of the answers but we do have a range of exceedingly good doors, doors that would grace any home , new or old, rural or urban
Doors like this 2 panel 1 arch in red with side screens and top light a door that will bring the images of summer and sunshine into any home – although this door has the total “garden Village” feel we doubt that any of the proposed new properties would be able to accommodate it, but that’s no problem as our range covers doors for all occasions and situations – doors like our favourites
Why not visit our web site and decide for yourself which is your favourite and then finding a new door for your home will be only a few “clicks” away -it’s that simple to buy your new front door using our fully automated service – however if you have a query or need a little reassurance or just the personal touch of speaking to someone, our Sales team are ready and waiting for your phone call.