THE various powers-that-be have gone to great lengths to persuade everyone that the planned expansion of Worcester is nothing to worry about.

Councillors and officials stress that it's early days and there's plenty of water that has yet to run under the Severn Bridge before the earthmovers advance across those green acres.

This is all so reminiscent of Corporal Jones' exhortation not to panic. Actually, there was every cause to panic back in 1940 - the bumbling butcher was correct in his assessment of the situation every time he uttered these immortal words in most episodes of Dad's Army. The same is true regarding the 10,000 homes planned for the city's periphery. It will happen - it's just that the authorities don't want us to make a fuss. And, if by any chance we become resigned to the inevitability of it all, then all well and good.

The question, though, is one of sustainablity. You don't have to be Einstein to realise that this country cannot go on covering its land mass at the current rate. That is why we will have to sit down and talk rationally about population growth, the thousands of houses that lie unoccupied and the proliferation of second homes. There will also have to be a calm, non-racially motivated debate on levels of immigration, too.

While some areas of discussion must be the job of central government, one vital agenda must be marked out-of-bounds as far as Whitehall is concerned - and that is this whole issue of central planning. If local authorities such as Worcester are to decide their own fates, then all decision-making must be transferred from London to the provinces. The problem with Labour is that the doctrine is wedded to Soviet-style plans that have no place in a progressive and modern democratic society.

So if the calls not to panic are ever to be more than weasel words, much more ground - in a metaphorical sense, of course - needs to be covered.