Ally,
I, like you possibly, harbour deep scottish presbyterian sympathies. We are what we are born.
I agree with EVERY point you made in that post
BUT
the realities of development, TODAY, are economic, as much as they might be environmentally sympathetic, historically nostalgic or measurably tasteful.
Your comment re: 'seeing the land made the most of' must be one of the best things I've seen about what is actually DONE when development takes place. We have to temper 'best uses' with what a developer might see as profitable - both in an economic AND a SOCIAL sense.
Trumpety-trump is an EXPERT at self-congratulation, but we have to take the higher ground on these things and, accepting of the surrounding drivel, examine more closely what the SOCIAL benefits of such a development might be.
The 'Ground' is secondary to what the socio-economic changes might be and THE PUBLIC will always see jobs, cash in hand and social stability as much more important than contours, green sites and sensitive environmental integration.
Us taking a moral high ground about a 'furriner developer' abusing or otherwise our ground is important, but we have to see it in a MUCH broader context. I hope you agree (in principle, at least...!)
FBD.