WE’RE PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE

LOCAL PLANNING PROCEDURE

First of all, there should not be more than two major applications held on one day. Members of the public should be able to speak within reason, as long as it takes to explain the issues they have with the application. Councillors on the planning committee should be able to ask the public speaker questions regarding the points one has raised. Developers should not have to pay for an application if it is refused. Often individuals cannot risk putting in an application, if it is lost. This would allow other options to be considered. This may mean those applications that get through would have to pay any shortfall from those lost. But one needs to remember most do go through eventually.

Thousands in our communities are living with rent arrears, some facing eviction, sleeping on streets or in temporary housing with parents struggling to find food for their children Ground rents and leases are often unfair to the lower-paid and developers do not prioritize affordable housing.

These conditions have led to depression and mental health issues in families often resulting in a family breakup.

HOUSING & CARE WITH A COMMUNITY LAND TRUST

This new way for housing ourselves would give people more money in their pockets to spend on healthier food & consumer goods. And save the depression & health issues we are seeing with debt often because most of our wages go to the cost of rent/mortgages. See summing up below.

WHY A COOPERATIVE?

If inventing something, a useful product then requires capital and labour to produce it. The company then can issue shares. In the event there is a profit, the management decides how much to hold back for future investment and shares the rest between those who put the money up as a dividend.

We have seen in the past, when the company is making god profit, unions push for pay rises and sometimes strike. That puts up running costs, resulting in the company making less and the business suffering.

I would say to funders (share holders), and employees, that they are equally important.

So, as a co-operative, we would look for a 5% dividend to each share, and pay £8-50 an hour for labour costs.

At the end of the financial year, any surplus would be divided between the shareholders and workers. But one would hope there would be enough to have a reserve account for future requirements.

That would stop the union power, and be fair to the shareholders and workforce. Management would not be awarding themselves massive bonuses as everyone would be able to vote on it.

PLANNING AHEAD

FINANCE, HOUSING & RETIREMENT

For example, buying a house for £120,000 and paying off @ £600 a month over 20 years, then for another 20 years £300 a month into a pension plan, one would have at age 65, £72,000 in the bank and a house paid for. That could mean, in the event that one needed to go into care, one could then sell the house, having the capital in hand plus the £72,000, also the state pension. Any unspent capital could be transferred to another family pension pot without being taxed, in order to swell other family members' Care plan. If the capital is drawn, the receiver, for use other than a pension plan, would have to pay capital gains tax.

NEW WORK UNITS

We should build industrial units for people to have affordable places to produce their goods. To give an example: an investor bought a site 20 years ago for £100,000. There were three units. Each tenant has paid £100,000 in rent over the 20 years. Now the owner wants to close it down to get brownfield site development.

My vision would be that the building site would become a Trust. Each unit would have been sold for £33,333 each (one third each).

This development would not be for renting or selling on the market.

We should not be relying on imports from China, but make things at home, thus creating better air quality for the environment. We can produce cheaper goods if we don't go for a high wage economy (some of us will remember earning £8 a week, not £8 an hour). We need to create a system where one can live on the minimum wage, then offer bonuses from the profits of the company.

We should create co-operatives for shareholders and workers to share the profits.

A high wage, low tax economy does not exist; it can't be done.

Agriculture is another industry that is not often considered. But we need to grow more of our food at home.