Since my wife's lung transplant we have discovered that respiratory patients, immunocompromised patients or indeed any vulnerable humans have no automatic protection in UK Planning Law when development is considered. Considering the amount of new homes planned for 2016 alone, many people with serious health issues are going to be affected. This is wrong and needs to change as Bats and other selective animals species are protected. Surely a human's health should also have equal, if not more protection?
So please read more and sign and share the e-petition I have created below. Also remember in any petition, children also count as there is no age requirement. So ask all your family and friends and share wherever you like on social media please as we need to get this to hit the thousands for me to take it to Parliament. Please also ask those that you have asked to sign to forward it in the same manner and so on...like a daisy chain effect! You can use the same email address for different people in your household by the way, if some do not have email addresses.
Please help to try and make this a domino effect as momentum has just begun today and if we all ask say 5 people to sign and each of those to ask another 5 to sign and so on, we could get some serious numbers on this.
All Uk Citizens can sign, that includes children on the family as there is no lower age on petitioning.
And you can use the same email address for family members who do not have their own email address.
Thanks so much for your support.
Feel free to share it on any other groups or social media/websites etc.
What are the solutions to this problem though Wayne and how much will they cost ? This has to be the most important factor in bringing new health and safety legislation to cover this issue.
How many people are potentially at risk in the population.
Everything has a cost sadly and it would be unfair to prevent development work because the costs were deemed prohibitive.
What would happen if your neighbour was to build a new extension and lots of dust was created in the process ? How much would you expect him to pay to reduce down the level of dust ? Would it be fair to add £10k to the cost of a £20k extension. I don't think it would be fair.
Do you not think one person's health is worth whatever the cost is? Approx 10000 people in the UK are affected by Cystic Fibrosis. That is just one disease. Many more thousands are vulnerable due to other conditions.
If there can be legislation that protects the safe removal of wildlife then there should also be legislation that protects human beings. You cannot expect someone who has suffered for many years to then have thousands of pounds invested in them by the NHS/taxpayer to prolong their life, to then be subject to any risk of affecting their health.
In my eyes it is quite simple... Someone who will be adversely affected by any proposal should be a factor of the deliberations of an application by relevant authorities before permission is granted. Therefore placing the responsibility upon the developer to resolve the situation before any works begin.
With regard to a neighbouring extension, that is a very small scale project. But when you are talking about complete new estates that are now appearing everywhere, the risk is significantly higher. I can qualify that with how my wife's health has been affected by a nearby site.
YES Marsaday - it would be fair to make the Developers do things properly and give up some of their profits - especially if it means human lives will be saved! This is why the housing market continues to rise and rise in terms of cost - to protect Developers financial interests. Here in France, properties pass through Generations of families. They still buy the same goods for their Homes have the same appliances and now their fitted kitchens etc etc. The U.K. Runs on the philosophy of always protecting the money makers and before you bite back at me, yes I am English, retired and only lived here 8 yrs since then
So I know what know what I'm talking about! Sorry I don't mean to be rude, by why do so many want to protect industry and not human lives?
I fail to see the connection with protected species, bats, frogs or whatever are easy to relocate away from any planned disturbance to their environment. Would you want affected people to be relocated ? how would "protection" be achieved ?
Sorry to say I cannot see how this could ever be a realistic addition to planning rules.
Bantam, with the inclusion of them in his write up, I think Wayne was pointing out that laws get changed for animals - therefore human beings also deserve the same consideration. Don't they?
I didn't say it was, merely that it is easy to move one but not the other. I wonder how many people would agree to be rehomed and where would they go, even where I live in a very rural village there are pollutants in the air be they from the farms or fields.
Yes there are many pollutants in the air around is. However someone who is immuno compromised or has a serious respiratory condition is severely more at risk from constant clouds of dust around their house. Just as an example, my wife is post double lung transplant and when they begun work on a nearby site that we thought would not affect us, our property was covered in dust every day. My wife then became ill and after various hopsital stays and investigations for organ rejection they finally discovered it was Aspergillus. There is a known link with construction and Aspergillus. Unfortunately for my wife within those few months she had lost just over a third of her lung function.
When the council tells you they cannot help you then take the fight on yourself. And if I can make it easier for people in similar situations in the future then I will be happy as it is very stressful.
Why are there pollutants in the air where you live? Laws came out years ago about pesticides etc., to prevent this happening! I also now live in a rural French countryside village surrounded. by fields, woodlands etc. and see one or more tractors pass my home on an almost daily basis - that does not mean the indigenous French generations are any healthier or not than others, but new builds have not presented a problem here, probably because there strict controls of many sorts in place here. The fact that old buildings are rife with damp and mould, like my rented one is, also presents health problems that Are NOT addressed as much - which they are in the UK!
But a human life cannot be at any cost. The NHS has to make these decisions on a daily basis. We as a population do not get access to certain expensive drugs, but they will prolong life and save lives. Why can't we access these drugs then ? Because if we did we couldn't afford to pay for basic drugs like insulin or thyroid hormones.
You haven't provided any solutions to this dust problem.
Ok so money is no object then ? Do you think people are going to be happy that they have to pay an extra £25k for a 3 bed semi on a new estate so someone with sensitive lungs in the local area can achieve a better quality of life for the duration of the build?
Many of us also campaign for the access to new drugs and on occasion with success.
At some point it was campaigned for the protection of ecology and wildlife and now that comes at a cost to developers if the area is of interest.
If you were to be effectively be a prisoner in your own home as your respiratory condition or illness meant you had to avoid construction sites, yet you were surrounded by them then you would surely want to reaolve the situation?
I have offered solutions. The solution is quite simply that such a serious risk to a persons health should NOT be ignored in determining permission for a site. Currently that is how it functions.
If a prospective developer has to relocate wildlife at risk they should also be legally obliged to relocate vulnerable humans.
Oh Bantam - start thinking OUTSIDE THE BOX Please! This is about human beings and health, not animals, not protecting Developers, or anything like that. view the Petition from a different Persoective!
Every time something comes up that could protect health - what does the or any government do - they tax the public and make them pay.
Why? It's Developers, Manufacturers of products that too much sugar who should be legislated against - not the Public who should pay higher taxes or property prices.
The laŵ of the land is always about protecting invested interests of the companies that make moneŷ - it's not about protecting Health!
Then the Government says, it's a lot of Money we 'have' to put into the NHS - why? Because of vested financial interests continuing to make huge profits that they then invest overseas!
Wayne's petition is about making the Devlopers do things properly - and saving lives and health I to the Bargain!
Now you PROVE to me and others why he is Wrong and you are Right!
My answer below, answer to your scenario. Is why I was so angry! As I said if you thought outside the box a bit more you would hopefully have understood why Wayne made the comparison between what it's possible to do for animals but not Humans! I can understand his Logic but not the legislators! Especially as I also have respiratory problems, one of several conditions and this one was definitely AVOIDABLE if my landlady had not been so money grabbing to the extent that the health of her tenants doesnt matter! The tenants that follow me could be an older couple or a family with young children or babies!
Ok whoever will follow me eventually will be French, as the previous ones were, who I sometime later discovered, left quite rapidly, but to me they were and will be human beings! Again I say with Rights comes Responsibility!
Scenario, elderly lady ( or man) has lived in their home for 50 years, he/she has many health complaints one being a respiratory disease, the home is adapted to their specific needs to enable them to remain in their much loved home. Joe Blogs the builder plans to build a new estate behind said house. How practical is it to relocate our elderly person to a new home, would they even agree to move away from all they know, if they refuse does that mean Joe Blogs development is thrown out ?
I understand your motive for wanting change but is it really achievable, practically or financially.
Thank you Bantam - YOU HAVE JUST MADE MY DAY ECSTATIC!
You have given an example that fits my situation perfectly! I have developed respiratory and other health problems since moving into this particular rented house 2 years ago! It is riddled with damp (existing moisture and mould) that was not apparent the day I viewed it! It had been newly redecorated - wall paper and paint - by the landlady or her contractor!
There were a couple of things I Noticed on viewing and pointed out which although promising would be dealt with, were not which have totally exacerbated the problem! Now wallpaper ridden with mould has peeled off. Artexed walls in a small extension are full of mould spores! Have a good read of the effects of air pollution on respiratory systems and health!
All this here has made my health situation quite dangerous - life threatening even so I have now started legal action because she is obliged by law to have it sorted and me moved out and
rehoused at her expense for the duration of correct rectification of the problems. Mould spores permeate fabrics also, meaning my clothes and furnishings, then I am entitled to return here when it has been completed to the housing and Legal officers satisfaction. He has prepared a report which was served on her 2+ weeks ago, and she, by laŵ, must respond within 15 days with her proposals on how all the necessary works will be completed. I don't want to leave this village permanently, but yes will move for the duration!
There is no reason, why in the UK. in your Scenario above, the same type of laws could not be put in place, thereby allowing the elderly owners to be moved at Contractors expense for the duration! It would save the health of the elderly couple!
With rights come responsibilities!
If developers want the rights then the responsibilities are theirs.
Have a look at Mycobacterium with regard to mould!
Respiratory problems, however caused have the same effects on human life eventually! i've spent several months investigating/researching the reasons behind why my health has deteriorated so rapidly since I moved here!
I totally agree with that scenario and if a person does not wish to move that should be respected and yes the development refused.
There is plenty of land available and plenty of derelict brownfield sites within the UK. So like anything, you take a gamble on a possible permission but if it is not feasible, you move on.
I never expected everyone to agree with my campaign which is fine. If you do not agree Ido not ask you to sign. However change only ever occurs from the generosity of others. Being stuck here for two years nearly and unable to sell in the conventional manner due to changes to our parking as part of the application which has not been properly legally addressed wondering what our future holds, is the most awful situation. I would assume that we are not the first and will certainly not be the last.
The NHS's own figures for post double lung transplant recipients is that only 50% survive past 5 years. So with our plight ignored for the last two in our own personal situation is simply unacceptable. As we have a young family we should all be enjoying my wife's health rather than dealing with aggressive proposals.
I so absolutely agree with you Wayne, ok I confess, if I didn't have a respiratory problem here myself, I would still have signed. But not given your own situation as much thought - sorry I know that sounds horrible, yes it's my own health that made me relate to your post and why I became so political about it.
Now having read your last reply, yes it was and is politics playing with your wife's health and whole family situation and that is NOT correct or acceptable. I do hope you manage to,find some way of resolving things to help her and your family. as I seem to be able to here for me.
Like you I haven't succeeded yet, so must press on, as you are! My thoughts and prayers are with you all. S xx
Thanks Sambs. I will resolve our own personal situation. Although it may come at some considerable legal expense. I just will as I have to.
However I didn't want you to sign it for our personal circumstances. I wanted you to do it for the exact reason you did as it relates to you personally. I think there are many many many people that are either affected by similar scenarios or know someone that is. But for some reason a vast majority often remain silent, believing that there is nothing a person can do against the system. But the "system" evolves continually and this is only due to intervention.
In this case our situation and hopefully my determination will be the catalyst for such an intervention.
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