Peter Bradwell
Researcher
Peter Bradwell is a researcher at Demos. He is interested in digital identity, technology and the ways that information and knowledge is shared...
at 12:00am
on Friday, 12th May 2006
Peter Pan - sorry, Ruth Kelly, in her new role as Secretary of State for Communities, said yesterday that she wanted to 'root out' the social culture that sees people being 'protective of their own space'.
I can't help but wonder if this is a curious attitude for someone with responsibility for communities. It certainly sits a little uncomfortably with the tone of nearly every planning policy statement to emerge from the ODPM over the past couple of years. (And apparently her record in Bolton.)
We need more affordable houses. But if we also want to realise the currently vague goal of 'engaging communities' in planning we should find ways of making wider concerns manifest in people's attitudes to their 'own' space - not continually pitting them against each other. Because a sure-fire way of riling a NIMBY is to tell them, with a curiously zealous personal vigour, that they're wrong.
Our Future Planners project is underway, looking at how planners can lead sustainable, responsively democratic planning. We'd love to hear from planner's on the front line ' so if you're a 'local hero' of the planning system, throw me an email.
Finally, and without wishing to add anything pejoratively personal ' or a whiff of triviality to such serious concerns ' does anyone else think Ruth Kelly is born to play Peter Pan?
Peter Pan - sorry, Ruth Kelly, in her new role as Secretary of State for Communities, said yesterday that she wanted to 'root out' the social culture that sees people being 'protective of their own space'.
I can't help but wonder if this is a curious attitude for someone with responsibility for communities. It certainly sits a little uncomfortably with the tone of nearly every planning policy statement to emerge from the ODPM over the past couple of years. (And apparently her record in Bolton.)
We need more affordable houses. But if we also want to realise the currently vague goal of 'engaging communities' in planning we should find ways of making wider concerns manifest in people's attitudes to their 'own' space - not continually pitting them against each other. Because a sure-fire way of riling a NIMBY is to tell them, with a curiously zealous personal vigour, that they're wrong.
Our Future Planners project is underway, looking at how planners can lead sustainable, responsively democratic planning. We'd love to hear from planner's on the front line ' so if you're a 'local hero' of the planning system, throw me an email.
Finally, and without wishing to add anything pejoratively personal ' or a whiff of triviality to such serious concerns ' does anyone else think Ruth Kelly is born to play Peter Pan?
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