Think again John

Think again John, From Herts and Essex Mercury, Nigel Clark

THERE are just five days left to save East Herts from irreversible damage.
Vast Government housing plans dubbed 'Prescottshire' by the Mercury will not only lead to the destruction of countryside and wildlife, they could cripple public services.
Today, we urge all our readers to respond to a public consultation on these ill-formed plans before it closes at 5pm on Wednesday.
The fight against the proposals was described by Hertford and Stortford's MP Mark Prisk this week as "the greatest challenge in a generation to my constituents' environment and quality of life".
He warned that plans to build 20,800 extra homes in the district by 2021 would result in an urban sprawl linking Hertford and Ware with Harlow and Sawbridgeworth and would lead to thousands of acres of Green Belt land being lost FOREVER.
Schools, health services, water supplies and transport networks which are already overheated will FAIL to cope with a predicted population surge of 47,000 people in the next 16 years.
In a House of Commons debate on Tuesday, Tory MP Mr Prisk spelled out what the housing plans would mean to his constituency. There will be:
* 28,000 more cars on the roads;
* 2,500 more peak-time commuters on the railways;
* 300 more pupils at EVERY school; and
* a need for 300 more doctors.
Pressure groups, countryside campaigners and anxious residents have joined local authorities across Hertfordshire in condemning the proposals, part of a super-plan for 79,600 extra homes in the county by 2021.
No-one doubts that new homes especially affordable homes are needed in Hertfordshire.
But why not let the elected representatives in Hertfordshire have a proper say in where these should go?
And why ignore the studies conducted by our local authorities into how many homes the county can support?
These proposals have been tabled by the UNELECTED East of England Regional Assembly (EERA) in response to Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott's vision of creating so-called 'sustainable communities' in the South East.
Independent consultants, a cross-party panel of MPs and even the Government's own Environment Agency have all poured scorn on the draft East of England plan, which has been described as "an environmental time bomb".
In a farcical twist to the tale, even EERA withdrew its support from its own plan in December.
Mr Prisk fumed: "We have a nonsense of a plan being promoted by a body that does not support it to a community that does not want it."
The district and county councils and Stop Harlow North which is campaigning against 10,000 homes swallowing up 3,000 acres of East Herts countryside north of Harlow were finalising their strongly-worded objections this week.
But worrying statistics issued by Herts County Council on Wednesday revealed that only 19 per cent of East Herts residents who are aware of the consultation had submitted their views.
Just 1,000 of Hertfordshire's 1m-plus population have contacted EERA since the process began on December 15.
Herts North East Tory MP Oliver Heald issued a rallying cry during the Commons debate. Coining the Mercury's phrase, he said: "Say 'No' to Prescottshire!"
The clock is ticking.