When governments speak warm words about consulting the public it is sensible to be wary. The word “choice” will not be far away and, as the Thatcher years proved, the apparently harmless idea of offering consumer choice can be the magic key that opens the door to deregulation and a financial free-for-all. It is big… Continue reading A protest worth making if you care about our landscape
Read moreIt is time for town-dwellers to be very brave. We are about to venture into the perilous unknown. There is a place, according to no less an authority than the director-general of the National Trust, which is “alien” and “full of unfamiliar, unexpected things”. Today’s generation, Dame Fiona Reynolds has warned, “runs the risk of… Continue reading The hidden terrors of the countryside
Read moreIt seems only minutes ago that it was a good and progressive thing to be local and active. Suddenly the wind has changed. A report on the energy industry, to be published next week, will reveal that the number of onshore wind farms to be granted planning permission dropped by a half in the 12… Continue reading At last, the wind of change is blowing in favour of local power
Read moreHas there ever in modern history been a sillier, yet also brutally effective, term of abuse than “nimby”? It is a word which might have been formulated by a brilliant but cynical advertising copywriter or perhaps one of the more cunning spin-doctors lurking evilly in the corridors of Whitehall. It squashes any debate around planning… Continue reading “NIMBY”: a byword for lazy-minded prejudice
Read moreHow much more mature and sensible our culture would be if primary school children were taught about the countryside, preferably with regular nature walks in the company of a well-informed teacher. It may sound-old fashioned, even Blytonesque, but, if children were occasionally taken outside the bubble of our cosseted, urbanised culture, the results in later… Continue reading It’s time we tackled people’s ignorance about rural life
Read moreIt was all wrong. The clear sunshine of a perfect early summer’s day, the Lakeland countryside at its most beautiful, half-term in a small rural community: again and again, among those interviewed as the full horror of the last day of Derrick Bird unfolded, the same question was asked. How could such a thing happen… Continue reading A challenge to notions of community
Read moreThe phrase “community consultation” has a warm and friendly feel to it. Politicians of all parties agree that local communities represent all that is good, noble and unsung about modern Britain. As for consultation, it is of course an essential part of a caring, 21st century democracy. But not always. Having just been on the… Continue reading How to put the ‘con’ into consultation: a five-point lesson from a wind energy firm (and its PR agency)
Read moreThere are many practical advantages to government by panic, as our politicians have recently discovered. Fear is an excellent way to cut through awkward questions. In a pessimistic, timorous world, emotion beats reason into a cocked hat. Right now, government by panic is propelling a series of appalling planning decisions in the name of energy… Continue reading A land despoiled by pylons
Read moreAn odd, apparently light-hearted conversation from the weekend has been bothering me. At a dinner, a bright, opinionated woman from London, on a weekend in the country, had been amused to see roadside signs objecting to a wind turbine development outside the village. What was wrong with these people? She wondered. She put up with… Continue reading The cheerful prejudice of the town-dweller
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