At the risk of stating the obvious, the management of available land for housing and other developments is one of the greatest challenges this country faces.

Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott recently outlined the current government thinking and addressed the needs for new affordable homes, especially south of Watford Gap.

The current examination of the local UDP is rightly consuming the thoughts of politicians, businesses, developers and concerned members of the public.

There is a golden opportunity to get things right with a balanced mixture of using our most precious resource - land - in a way to gain maximum benefit for all.

However, clarity of thought on such issues must become clouded, verging on a red mist, when barmy issues such as a recent planning application at Steeton come to the fore.

Permission was sought to build five homes in the substantial grounds of Longlands, as it leaves Skipton Road.

But because of new guidance, aimed at avoiding inefficient use of land and encouraging new housing developments with a specific density, the applicants were told to build nine homes.

That has been done by adding a block of two bedroomed flats at the front of the site. Planning chairman Cllr Chris Greaves thinks we are going totally and utterly bonkers. He is so right.

The Chambers dictionary definition of guidance is direction; leadership. Surely in a case such as this the elected members have the right to show leadership, keeping in mind the guidance, and be able to exercise common-sense and accept the original plan.

If it is a case of them not having any choice then the jobsworths behind the guidance and recommendation seem to have made a special effort to stage a public demonstration of bureaucratic madness.

Just how daft can it get? They'll be telling us next how many people have to live in each house to meet a minimum quota.