Ian Liddell-Grainger is MP for Bridgwater and is one of 70 MPs supporting the National Housing Federation’s Save our Villages campaign.
I often boast about the beauty of my constituency. I live in it, I work in it and I love it to bits. Bridgwater and West Somerset is predominantly rural. Agriculture and tourism are the two prime industries. So the economy is fragile and linked to the weather and the seasons.
But the very facets that make this political stamping ground so desirable – the lush pastures on the Somerset levels, the views, the hills, the wide open spaces, and Exmoor - also generate considerable problems.
It is an absolutely stunning place to live, but only the rich can afford to live here.
To say we have a shortage of affordable housing is a gross understatement. Affordable homes are like fairies at the bottom of the garden. We would love to believe in them, but very few of us are ever likely to spot one.
Yet without decent accommodation at fair prices the work-force will simply melt away and the character of the entire region will slowly erode. It is already happening. Cherished pubs have shut their door, because there weren’t enough customers to cherish them. Friendly local shops have vanished for lack of custom. The populations grow older and, sometimes, grumpier. Picturesque villages are gradually being starved of life itself.
And we only have ourselves to blame.
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