The United Nations will not step in to stop massive housing development in Silsden.

The UN's Commission for Sustainable Development (CSD) in New York has told parish councillor and environmentalist Keith Norris it has no power to deal with complaints.

Instead his letter has been passed on to Sir John Weston, the permanent representative to the UN, at the Mission of the United Kingdom.

Mr Norris had told the CSD that the land on which developers want to build is of the highest agricultural status in the area and produces hay and silage as well as supporting beef and dairy cattle during the summer and sheep in the winter. He also claims that local and central government have failed to recognise that:

building on this land will not address the needs of the poor and homeless

proposed development will incr-ease the dependence on the use of the car and create a need for a new road

there will be a loss of physical resources for future generations

they have failed to carry out environmental surveys on the sit

there will be destruction of habitats which support protected flora and fauna

there will be loss of landscape amenity.

He went on to say in his letter that: "The people of the world cannot think globally and act locally if our own government will not let us. The town of Silsden should be shown as an example of how the UK government is failing in the spirit of the Rio Earth Summit. The current unsustainable development proposals do not meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs."

Mr Norris believes that if the UN were to ask questions of the UK government regarding what appears to be an insignificant town in the north of England, then shock waves would run through the British government and all other governments who 'have been crying crocodile tears for the environment'.

Lowell Flanders, the assistant director for sustainable development, says in a letter: "Unfortunately the secretariat is not empowered to deal with complaints. The practice of the CSD is to forward letters to the permanent Mission of the UK to the UN and have requested them to respond directly to you through our offices."

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