What a Bryanston pickle!
Lord Rothermere , Issue 1578
Puzzled locals say there's already a surplus of refugee accommodation on offer from householders in North Dorset. They also doubt that isolating refugees in a trailer-park on the edge of town is the best way to integrate them into the community. They note, however, that a proposed housing development on the same site – the old Deer Park – was rejected in 2014 following a 6,000-signature petition and strong opposition from Historic England. The Environment Agency also objected, not least because the land lies on a flood plain of the River Stour.
Rothermere's planning application to Dorset county council, which is open for public comment until 12 August, seeks a five-year "temporary" permission for his Ukrainian caravan park. But, as has often been observed, nothing endures like the temporary. Suspicious locals point out that after five years the green-field site will have become a brown-field site, with all the necessary infrastructure (including access roads) for future development.
'Subterfuge'
The theme runs through many of the objections already lodged with the council. "This is simply an attempt to obtain planning for a wider development through the back door… If Lord Rothermere genuinely wishes to help refugees, he must surely have alternative accommodation resources/developments that could more readily be used…
"This new application submitted by the owners of the Bryanston Estate is a barefaced attempt to obtain permission by subterfuge… On the surface the proposed development appears to be a noble gesture to help the unfortunate Ukrainian refugees, but delve a little deeper and it smells rotten."
Could the owner of the Daily Mail really be associated with anything malodorous? Perish the thought.
More top stories in the latest issue:
HOW DEMOCRACY WORKS
The PM's ousting is "deeply anti-democratic", says big Tory donor Lord Cruddas – whose controversial peerage was pushed through by one B. Johnson.
CHEQUERS MATES
Mail titles say nothing when the PM skips an emergency Cobra meeting to host a jolly at Chequers – but then the VIP partygoers did include one Paul Dacre.
TRUSS FUNDS
Prime ministerial hopeful Liz Truss's plan to raise borrowing to pay for £30bn or so in tax cuts would break the 2019 election manifesto she so often invokes.
PORTING OF THE WAYS
Wannabe PM Rishi Sunak bigs up his freeports project as a way to create jobs and attract investment – citing one big company that's, er, just pulled out!
BURN IN HULL
Found the heatwave tough? Be thankful you don't work on P&O's cross-Channel ferry the Pride of Canterbury, whose air-con broke three weeks ago.
AMBULANCE CHASING
NHS England tells hospital trusts to raise bed numbers and ease the ambulance queues – yet a number of them have also been warned about their spending.
FOAM COMFORTS
A company whose core business is to make foam put a stonking 55 percent profit margin on a pandemic contract to supply hospitals with plastic visors.
CHINESE WALLS
Rishi Sunak takes a hard line on China – but, if given the chance, may find it very hard to close all 31 Confucius Institutes within British universities.
TICKED OFF
As results day approaches, strikes loom over pay at exam board AQA, where some of those marking GCSE papers haven't been paid at all.
FULL OF BEANS
PwC, which made hay in the pandemic, gives its beancounters and consultants a generous 9% pay rise and increases the bonus pot by 7%.
To read these stories and more in full, buy the latest edition of Private Eye or subscribe and have the magazine delivered to your home every fortnight.
Next issue on sale: 10th August 2022
