As I left for work this morning, I glanced at the front page of the Brentwood Weekly News which had dropped on my doorstep, and is usually more interesting reading than the Somerfields offers which make up much of the pool of leaflets around the front door.
They are reporting that the Brentwood, Billericay and Wickford Primary Care Trust has classified the village of Doddinghurst as "urban", not "rural".
Doddinghurst is a pretty village - but you have to get through about two miles of country side to get there, and it's relative remoteness (and long distance from the train stations in the borough) is the reason why it was never on our radar as a suitable location when we decided to move. The decision has an impact on pharmacy services, at least as I understand it - I didn't read the article in full.
I do wonder about the use of English in bureacracies though. If Doddinghurst, at least two miles from the edge of the Brentwood sprawl, doesn't count as rural, then what exactly does?
The County Council call the (rather oddly shaped) ward Brentwood Rural for a reason.
EDIT: By happy chance, I actually discovered the Brentwood Weekly News is online. The full story is here. According to the report, the PCT did actually reverse the decision to classify Doddinghurst as urban back to rural. This has now been been appealed by the Essex Local Pharmaceutical Committee. What an appalling waste of our taxes.
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Not as pretty as Blackmore - where I grew up....
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