The village involved being called ‘Hambridge’ is a reference to ‘Ambridge’ in long-running British radio soap-opera ‘The Archers’, as are the villagers’ spokesman having the surname ‘Bowyer’ [of course…] and the bit about "everyday farming folk".
I think that the name ‘Farmer Giles’ (as used by Tolkien in his story 'Farmer Giles of Ham'...) used to be a traditional nickname for a generic farmer, like ‘Jack Tar’ for a sailor or ‘Tommy Atkins’ for a soldier.
Yes, some of the speakers might be a bit long-winded for some people’s tastes: That’s still well within realistic limits, I think, and to help show the differences between them.
I think that having the bells be just in a belfry, rather than a church, means that no religion-based validity should be needed.
Third Draft
The Bells! The Bells!
[description]@@CAPITAL@@ media personality @@RANDOMNAME_1@@ bought a cottage in the rustic village of Hambridge, recently, for use as a holiday home. After actually spending their first weekend there, however, they complained that "noise" of bell-ringing from the village’s famous belfry was spoiling the peace and quiet that they had expected to find, and was legally a 'nuisance' that must be ended. The legal situation is actually unclear, and both sides in the dispute are asking you for suitable legislation in their own favour.
[validity]The nation must have Capitalism, and enough Income Inequality for wealthy people to buy second homes like that; the nation must have has law-courts.
[option]"It's simple, daahling," says @@RANDOMNAME_1@@. "When I invested in that little refuge away from the hustle and bustle of the city, nothing was said about the scenic belfry being still in use, so I shouldn't have to put up with that racket. The nuisance laws need to be tightened up… and then maybe we can get a few other problems with the village fixed, too.”
[validity]unrestricted
[effect]chicken farmers must rise before the sun every day to gag their cockerels
[option]"Tis proper preposterous," argues villager Giles Bowyer, whose family has farmed there for generations. “Us everyday farming folk in Hambridge have been ringing Changes on our bells here regular since time afore memory. Why should we have to stop now, just-a-cause some danged incomer doesn't like themusicsweet sound? Let they get they's way over this, and they'd be after us to stop spreading muck on the fields nextly, or even to keep our cocks from cock-a-doodling in the marnings, rot my turnips if they wouldn’t!"
[validity]unrestricted
[effect]families must live in a village for a century before they get any say in how it runs
[option]"I have an alternative solution for this," announces @@RANDOMNAME_2@@, your Minister for Science & Gadgetry. "A team in my department recently came up with a new system for screening buildings from unwanted external sound by generating frequencies internally that cancel it out. We only need a few more — well, okay, better make that quite a few more — @@CURRENCYPLURAL@@ in our budget for the R&D."
[validity]Scientific Advancement must be at a reasonably high level
[effect]new houses' External Noise Suppression Systems cost more than all other aspects of those properties put together
[option]"The real problem here isn't just this town-and-country clash of expectations, though." Communities Minister @@RANDOMNAME_3@@ comments, "It's the whole business of well-off city-dwellers people buying extra homes for themselves in places where there isn't even enough new housing available for the younger generations of the local population themselves. We should forbid that."
[validity]unrestricted
[effect]urbanites can only buy rural properties when country-dwellers move into the cities
Changes from second draft
@@RANDOMNAME" replaced by @@RANDOMNAME_1@@, so that it gives the same name in both places where it occurs. Other occurrences of the Macro [re]numbered accordingly, in case using both numbered and un-numbered forms of the Macro in a single issue doesn't work.
"@@HE@@ & "@@HIS@@" replaced by "they" & "their".
Wording & phrasing modified in option 2, which now refers explicitly to ringing Changes" on those bells, and for its effect line.
In option 3, the amounts of funding needed have been changed from rough numbers to he even vaguer "a few more" & "quite a few more".
Effect line for option 3 re-written.
For option 4, change of approach in the speakers' wordings and a new effect line to fit this.
Changes from first draft
Introduction and first option both shortened slightly.
New effect line for option three.