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I'm proud to be a nimby. For the environment's sake, we all should be I'm proud to be a nimby. For the environment's sake, we all should be
(3 months later)
You hear about it happening to someone else and shrug your shoulders. Then it happens to you. All over rural or semi-rural England new houses and estates have mushroomed, as anyone can see; in 20 years driving regularly from Bath to Devizes I've watched a series of such mushroom beds sprouting from open country.You hear about it happening to someone else and shrug your shoulders. Then it happens to you. All over rural or semi-rural England new houses and estates have mushroomed, as anyone can see; in 20 years driving regularly from Bath to Devizes I've watched a series of such mushroom beds sprouting from open country.
There is undoubtedly a housing shortage, and for young people in particular affordable homes are hard to find. And so government policy is to encourage house-building – but where? Over and again a new development – the very word inspires dread – on farmland is opposed by local residents. They then find the odds stacked heavily against them and in favour of the builders. Adding insult to injury, the opponents are damned as "nimbys", selfish persons who may vaguely recognise the need for more housing, but "not in my back yard".There is undoubtedly a housing shortage, and for young people in particular affordable homes are hard to find. And so government policy is to encourage house-building – but where? Over and again a new development – the very word inspires dread – on farmland is opposed by local residents. They then find the odds stacked heavily against them and in favour of the builders. Adding insult to injury, the opponents are damned as "nimbys", selfish persons who may vaguely recognise the need for more housing, but "not in my back yard".
Now I find I'm a nimby myself. A mile or so beyond where we live on the southern edge of Bath is the village of Southstoke. Nikolaus Pevsner in his Buildings of England was delighted by this pleasant, authentic country village only two miles from a mainline station, though that's part of the problem: villages in the middle of nowhere are less promising for "development". Between village and city is Southstoke plateau. At present it's farmland, but a proposal to build 300 houses there was recently approved by Bath and North East Somerset Council (aka Banes, and sometimes the bane of our lives). The local residents (including us) are without exception opposed to this.Now I find I'm a nimby myself. A mile or so beyond where we live on the southern edge of Bath is the village of Southstoke. Nikolaus Pevsner in his Buildings of England was delighted by this pleasant, authentic country village only two miles from a mainline station, though that's part of the problem: villages in the middle of nowhere are less promising for "development". Between village and city is Southstoke plateau. At present it's farmland, but a proposal to build 300 houses there was recently approved by Bath and North East Somerset Council (aka Banes, and sometimes the bane of our lives). The local residents (including us) are without exception opposed to this.
And so comes the deadly accusation: I must be a wicked nimby. Well of course I bloody well am. Who isn't? And why should the charge be so grave? The truth is that when it comes to "the environment" we are all obliged to be nimbys, or hypocrites and humbugs. No one wants to live next to an airport or a power station or a sewage farm, and yet we all fly, we all use electricity, and we all… you take my point. Likewise we can recognise the need for renewable energy and for housing, but nobody normal who looks (as I do at this moment) out over a beguiling view of meadow and woodland wants to see it covered in wind turbines and new buildings.And so comes the deadly accusation: I must be a wicked nimby. Well of course I bloody well am. Who isn't? And why should the charge be so grave? The truth is that when it comes to "the environment" we are all obliged to be nimbys, or hypocrites and humbugs. No one wants to live next to an airport or a power station or a sewage farm, and yet we all fly, we all use electricity, and we all… you take my point. Likewise we can recognise the need for renewable energy and for housing, but nobody normal who looks (as I do at this moment) out over a beguiling view of meadow and woodland wants to see it covered in wind turbines and new buildings.
As it happens, in this case I can honestly reconcile personal feelings with a strong objective case. The proposed development contravenes just about every official planning guideline. It's on a greenfield site that is also green belt, not to mention an area of outstanding natural beauty that includes the historic Wansdyke path, a scheduled ancient monument. Building the infrastructure of electricity and sewers for the houses will in itself cause environmental havoc, and there will be a huge increase in traffic, to which Banes is in theory opposed.As it happens, in this case I can honestly reconcile personal feelings with a strong objective case. The proposed development contravenes just about every official planning guideline. It's on a greenfield site that is also green belt, not to mention an area of outstanding natural beauty that includes the historic Wansdyke path, a scheduled ancient monument. Building the infrastructure of electricity and sewers for the houses will in itself cause environmental havoc, and there will be a huge increase in traffic, to which Banes is in theory opposed.
Around 50 years ago I saw The Sack of Bath, as the title of Adam Fergusson's book described the appalling destruction of much of the beautiful old city, and it's not too lurid to foresee a Second Sack of Bath as all the open land around the city is built over. One dissident voice in BANES is Councillor Neil Butters, who represents the villages to the south of Bath. He has said of the proposed desecration of the Wansdyke, "would you build a block of flats in front of the Royal Crescent?" to which one fears the answer is that some people might well.Around 50 years ago I saw The Sack of Bath, as the title of Adam Fergusson's book described the appalling destruction of much of the beautiful old city, and it's not too lurid to foresee a Second Sack of Bath as all the open land around the city is built over. One dissident voice in BANES is Councillor Neil Butters, who represents the villages to the south of Bath. He has said of the proposed desecration of the Wansdyke, "would you build a block of flats in front of the Royal Crescent?" to which one fears the answer is that some people might well.
Bear in mind that this won't be inexpensive social housing in an area with many homeless poor. More of an explanation is provided by the estimable Bath Chronicle: the "land is owned by the Hignett family, who are keen to see it developed for housing" – well, they would be, wouldn't they? – while the site "was allocated after a government inspector questioned whether the authority had done enough to deal with predicted demand for new housing". That is a story now repeated weekly across the country, with the weasel words "predicted demand" actually meaning: central edict under intense pressure from the building lobby.Bear in mind that this won't be inexpensive social housing in an area with many homeless poor. More of an explanation is provided by the estimable Bath Chronicle: the "land is owned by the Hignett family, who are keen to see it developed for housing" – well, they would be, wouldn't they? – while the site "was allocated after a government inspector questioned whether the authority had done enough to deal with predicted demand for new housing". That is a story now repeated weekly across the country, with the weasel words "predicted demand" actually meaning: central edict under intense pressure from the building lobby.
"Nimbys of the world unite!" may not be the most inspiring of slogans. But unless we care for our backyards – and I care for yours, and you for mine – then in the land where two centuries ago the Romantic poets discovered nature there may soon be very little nature left."Nimbys of the world unite!" may not be the most inspiring of slogans. But unless we care for our backyards – and I care for yours, and you for mine – then in the land where two centuries ago the Romantic poets discovered nature there may soon be very little nature left.
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