Should have thought of this before, but 'Ouses 'ouses 'ouses on The Imagined Village is pretty relevant. Not so much of a song as a reading, but none the worse for it.

Going off at even more of a tangent I'd recommend reading Edward Abbey's "The Monkey Wrench Gang".

Housing and development are thorny issues, and as I don't know the issues around the area concerned I'll not pass judgment. But one thing I'd like to know about this (UK) government's housing projections is how much of it is down to actual need for housing (i.e. as somewhere to live) and how much is down to making money?

Pete.