Building in the Green Belt
A major company owned substantial amounts of land in the green belt. This was historical but of little use to the firm, as they could not do much with it. It was highly unlikely that it would ever be anything but fields with minimal agricultural value.
This was an articulate middleclass area with strong opposition to further development of housing in the vicinity of the local village. For the land owner, this was near a lost cause. The company had operated previously in the area and as part of an audit of these operations (for a community relations programme) we were asked to review the company.
We began to speak to people in an informal way, and soon it became apparent that the village had no proper community facilities. The problem was not money, it was land. The village could not afford to buy land at commercial rates – almost 25,000 times the agricultural rate.
After some time, it became apparent to the village’s community leaders, including the parish council and the local councillor, that there was the possibility of a win–win deal. This would mean that land would be given for the community centre. However, the land owner would also be allowed to develop a small amount of land for housing.
The parish council and local residents and politicians immediately began to support this project. Naturally, they maintained their total opposition to ‘wide-scale’ development of the village into the green belt.
And because the local people were in favour, the green groups chose not to get involved. They are clever: there is little merit in fighting popular causes. Certainly, they tried to lobby behind the scenes, but in this case the strength of feeling on the ground neutralised their efforts.
Analysis:
This case history did not involve one public meeting, one press release or one bit of lobbying. However, this is a classic case of the use of third party advocates. There were those within the village who wanted something. People are very reasonable, almost everyone accepts that anything worthwhile in life cannot be free. There must be a price. If they believe that the price is worth paying then they will pay it – willingly. In fact, they will become advocates.
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