LAND VALUATION AND LAND BEAUTY.
On this question, which vitally affects our " green and pleasant land," I may perhaps be allowed a prophecy. Before very long every county will possess its own town and regional planning scheme. Now, until this desirable consummation is reached, no one can tell in the least what the value of land will be. It is clear that if one area is scheduled as agricultural and another as available for close building and another as available for limited building, the respective values of the three will be permanently affected by the regulation. A good many landowners are willing to follow the example of Lord Astor and Lord Desborough, and welcome the perpetual depreciation of the cash value of their acres in return for the conservation of its beauty. It is likely—to return to pro- gnostication—that a scheme will be made effective by which those whose lands get accrued value from the planning scheme will compensate those whose land is cheapened. The principle is that successfully applied to public houses : those that are allowed to remain open pay compensation to those com- pulsorily closed.
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