This is not the place to review those two most
thoughtful books on regional planning • one for the. Bristol and Bath area, the other—the result of five years of thorough investiga- tion and enquiry—for North East Lancashire, which are published this week.; but there are one or two points that may be emphasized on behalf of all who love rural England. One of the troubles of deciding that this place may be used for buildings and that place may not, is the question of value. Agricultural land—so perverse is our civilization— is often as near as may be worthless, whereas building land assumes at once an almost superstitious value. It is sold per foot, and becomes worth its weight in gold from the moment it is decided that it shall not produce anything. Has a local council the right to insist that one man's land shall be dross, because it is beautiful, and the other's gold, because it is ugly ? * * * *
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