Unfortunately, I can't see any real alternatives to the current plans - no kids does unfortunately mean no schools, and with house prices being out of the range of anyone with kids, bang goes your local colour. Those that can afford it generally have their real interests elsewhere, commuting long distances to work and contributing nothing to the community as a whole. Of course, Avebury has the added problem of being somewhere quirky to buy a house and have friends round to go look at those quaint stones [that came out in an American accent when I read it...I do hope that's not a taste of the future].

The only villages that survive nowadays are those with an industrial past, with clusters of small two-bed millworkers' or quarrymen's cottages that are still cheap enough to buy.

I remember when you could rent a house...