Mr. Gavin Lawlor:

No, there are situations where people lose their front garden because a bus corridor has to go through or lose their back garden because a rail line has to go through. The key thing is to make sure they are properly informed and properly educated. We need to stop trying to pretend that we can be all things to all people all the time. In the political system, people have to win votes. How do they win votes? They have to please their voters and, therefore, they tell them what they want to hear. If they have bad news, they do not give it or they at least try to be the person who is not giving it. The point is that this is just human nature. The common good is not necessarily always commonly understood and it is up to us, as professionals, and up to politicians to communicate what the common good is and to advocate for it.

A classic example is the wind farm guidelines. The wind farm guidelines that are still in place are from the early 2000s. Here we are, in the mid-2020s, and we were promised the guidelines this summer but they have been delayed until after Christmas. That is just not right.