I T MUST BE lovely to sit in an office somewhere and make wide sweeping plans for the future housing needs of a huge area such as North Devon.

Taking into consideration, of course, the need for embracing diversity. Appreciating, naturally, the role to be played in eliminating discrimination and promoting equality of opportunity. Acknowledging, as you would expect, the requirement for affordability and, most importantly, making sure there is restricted encroachment on the countryside, by building within the environs of existing conurbations.

Brown sites these have been described as by the planners, who hold our ultimate future in their hands. The thing is, have they taken a good look at places such as Ilfracombe, where just about every square foot is crammed with a mélange of higgledy-piggledy structures, in all shapes and sizes, with not enough room left to swing a cat.

Well, if the call by our council for volunteers in an attempt to control the doggy-doing business in the town is anything to go by we have plenty of "brown sites" about the place; but are they big enough to build a house on?

Apparently so, if you read the Joint Core Strategy — masterminded by North Devon Council and Torridge District Council as a planning vision up until 2026. Now, I am not a surveyor or an architect so when somebody tells me they are aiming for 40 dwellings per hectare I'm afraid it goes somewhat over my head. However, when I am told these houses will have no room for the benefit of a garden I start to draw a picture and not a very pretty one at that.

"Rabbit Hutches", they have been described as by our town council but even that isn't strong enough in my mind. Crikey, even a rabbit has a bit of grass to munch on somewhere down the line.

It's all very well packing as many houses as you can onto any one site. After all, private developers have been doing this for years, as have council inspired architectural geniuses. What you are left with is untenable ghettos full of rat-runs, which turn into slums in the merest hint of time. At this point I cannot help but mention the last plan I saw for the bus station site, which is a classic example of over-intensification in the worst possible sense of the word.

Then there is affordability to be considered and, as a matter of interest, just exactly what constitutes affordable housing? For example, David Beckham would find a house worth several millions easily affordable. Whereas, if you were down to your last couple of coppers you wouldn't even be able to afford the wet paper bag in a sewer as made famous by Monty Python. Not that he was a property developer of course; in fact I'm not entirely sure what he was.

It's all very well sitting in a comfortable headquarters somewhere making blueprints set in stone for everybody's ultimate destiny. Wouldn't it be a good idea though, if these faceless bureaucrats took some time out from their busy schedules to actually look around, smell the coffee and make individual case studies of the areas they control?

I mentioned diversity at the beginning and there is no doubt North Devon is just about as diverse as you can possibly get. To formulate an overall strategy and pin it to the wall as if it was the word of God is doing nobody any favours. It might be worth reminding planners they are not gods, but it is we frail and apparently inconsequential humans who have to live with their decisions.

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DOES anybody out there remember Kay Starr the great jazz singer? In 1953 she released a smash-hit single entitled "Side by Side". Now I don't remember this, it was just a little bit before my time. What I do remember, however, is Flanagan and Allen singing it at a Royal Variety Performance when I was nothing more than a tacker.

"Oh, we ain't got a barrel of money, maybe we're ragged and funny, but we'll travel along, singing a song, side by side."

Well, Ilfracombe certainly hasn't got a barrel of money and probably never will have if the people in charge of funding have anything to do with it. Not that we are ragged, of course, but you have to admit we must have a sense of humour to put up with some of the brickbats fate has thrown at us.

"Through all kinds of weather; what if the snow should fall? As long as we're together it really doesn't matter at all."

Even we have had our fair share of the white stuff just recently you must admit, and as a community we came up trumps and proved we can face every adversity as long as we do it together, just like the song suggests.

"Don't know what's coming tomorrow, maybe it's trouble and sorrow but we'll travel the road, sharing our load, side by side."

And that's it isn't it? We want prosperity and for people to appreciate just what Ilfracombe has to offer but who knows just what is around the corner. Still, we have been here for a thousand years and we'll still be here in another thousand.

"See that sun in the morning, peeking over the hill. I'll bet you're sure it always has and I guess it always will."

Well, hills we've got plenty of and when the sun shines don't they look just glorious? I do believe we live in one of the most beautiful spots on earth and nothing is beyond our reach. Providing, that is, we travel along, singing a song but do it together and side-by-side!