When I started this petition I did not think it would gain much traction, but it has. This is my point of view, but I can already see that many people share it and I thank you for doing so.

Wherever possible I try to keep things factual and concise, focusing on what I see as failures of the system, rather than attacking individuals who work within it.

I have deliberately kept party politics out of this. I am working on the simple premise that if you care about protecting this rural district, we can stand together, even if we disagree on other issues. If you share this view and want to help make a difference, please drop me a line at stopwychavontown@gmail.com

There is a lot of noise these days about Broken Britain. We hear endless rhetoric from parties insisting it is not, but I would rather people looked at what is in front of them and decided for themselves.

Homes England is a good example of why so many feel that Britain is broken. In my view it has become a brokerage created by a failing state, yet another faceless and unaccountable machine. It often feels too close to big business to care and too big to fail, so it keeps pushing its remit regardless of the damage. Councils then appear to fall in line like obedient servants.

Somewhere along the way we have forgotten that councils are there to represent the people, not the agenda. Their job is to be the voice of their district, to act in its best interests and to speak up when national policy is clearly wrong for the places they serve. Homes England should exist to support councils and communities, not to smooth the path for developers.

There is also a deeper human problem here. History is full of examples where people have gone along with harmful decisions and later said they were only doing what they were told. That mentality is as old as we are. Too many people hide behind it. They do not question, they fall in line, they follow orders and blame the system. This is exactly what I feel is happening here. The framework says one thing, the machine is already rolling, so everyone shrugs and passes responsibility upwards while the countryside is marked out for destruction.

If you know the history of Worcester, the city is closely tied to the Civil Wars and the upheavals of that era. Oliver Cromwell is a central figure in that history, a man who stood up for change, though a deeply flawed one. He played a key role in the Civil Wars and in the events that reinforced the principle that power must be answerable to law and to Parliament, even if his own rule later became authoritarian. Churchill himself described Cromwell as a military dictator, a man of intense conviction who stepped into a chaotic power vacuum, and whose actions, while brutal, helped shape the modern political settlement.

It is time that our elected officials dug deep and found the right parts of that spirit. We need representation, not a top down state that feels like it rules rather than serves. I believe this is why so many people feel disengaged from politics, because it often seems that your vote changes nothing, no one effects change and the gravy train keeps rolling.

Over a week ago I wrote to all local councillors listed on the Wychavon District Council website. So far the reply has been a deafening silence. Only two people have replied, my MP, whose tone suggests I am irritating him, and a Droitwich councillor. That silence speaks volumes. It tells us that far too many of our supposed representatives would rather keep their heads down and stare at their shoes than stand up and say openly that what is being done to this countryside, and to the communities in it, is wrong.

So the ask is simple. Perhaps they do not want to talk to me, but perhaps they will talk to you. Wychavon councillors and our MP's publish their contact details and, as public representatives, they should want to connect with the people they serve.

Please be polite. Do not hound or pester anyone. But do reach out and ask the questions yourself. If you want a simple script, use this.

1 -Do you support Wychavon Town, yes or no, and why

2 -What have you done to challenge the site selection and the consultation process, including brownfield first

As ever keep sharing, Your voice counts