They've let me have a go at the Editor's column again this month in the Derby Telegraph! (I could have put that better, but you know what I mean)
It doesn't look as if this will ever be posted on the DT website, so here's the content for those who can't read it on the photo above:
I'm a NIMBY!
There, I've said it. For those who don't know this particular
acronym, it stands for Not In My Back Yard and refers to those who object to
any development in their neighbourhood.
Governments, both national and
local, tend to refer to NIMBYs rather sneeringly, on the grounds that, if we
had our way, there would be no development at all and, therefore, no new
housing stock and industry in which our young people can live and work. I entirely accept this argument but it
doesn't change my position one iota.
You see, in my opinion, to be a
NIMBY is a perfectly economically rational position to hold. Why should we be expected to welcome any
development which brings considerable short and medium term negative
consequences, such as; loss of landscape or natural amenities, increased
traffic, the noise and atmospheric pollution of building work, when the
development typically confers little or no positive outcomes for those who
already live in the area?
'Ah yes,' our political leaders would no doubt
say, 'but that it is a selfish attitude.
We need to think of the greater good of society.' Well, I would quite like to see what the
reaction of Messrs. Cameron, Corbyn or Farron would be if you proposed to knock
up a few starter homes on their respective back lawns. I doubt they would be quite so sanguine about
it.
I'm particularly exercised about
this at the moment for two reasons.
Firstly, because our village is currently under siege by property
developers. Apparently, our lack of a
local plan (because of some bureaucratic nonsense) means that we are virtually
powerless to stop any available land in the vicinity being concreted over in
the near future. Currently, it looks like
the population of our small village may well double.
Secondly, a Bygones article I
wrote recently (April article) featured a picture of the offices of a company I worked for back
in the 1970s. These had previously been
the home of the Crescent Brewery in Burton upon Trent and were a fine example
of brewery architecture. Yet the picture
had been taken just before this building was demolished to make way for an
anonymous and featureless warehouse. I
had forgotten just how striking the original building was, until I saw the
photograph, and I wondered how any planning authority worthy of the name could
have allowed this piece of architectural vandalism to have taken place?
You might say that we should put
our trust in the planning authorities, and I would say that you should consider
taking more water with it. If you stop
for a moment, in any reasonably sized town or city, and look at the range of
buildings surrounding you, I think it's instructive to reflect that the mess
before you hasn't grown organically, or happened by accident. It was actually planned to look like this. Highly
qualified and well-trained people brought all of their expertise to bear to
create this environment in which you are to live and work.
Equally, if your town centre is
currently a wasteland of charity shops and pawnbrokers (and most are), remember
that this is the result of a long term policy to encourage out of town
development and discourage parking in town centres (or to earn as much money
from it as possible). It isn't the
result of forces beyond our elected leaders' control; it is the direct outcome
of their policies down the years.
Tourists don't flock to admire
the modern and clinical planning of places like Milton Keynes, they head to
those places like York, Oxford and Cambridge which have retained their
architectural heritage and the nooks and crannies of haphazard development over
the centuries. Perhaps they know
something our planners don't?
So, I'm a NIMBY. I don't want anything else in my immediate
vicinity concreted over, thank you, and, even if I did, I would have no faith
in the result being any improvement whatsoever on what has been lost in the
process.
I think I'll go and lie down in a
darkened room now. Can you shut the door
and not make any noise please? I may be
some time.
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