There’s been much discussion in the press and elsewhere of late about changes in local government, particularly the inclusion of Horsham into a wider remit covering both counties of Sussex. The WSCT carried an article on the issue by our M.P. on the 2nd January, so getting the new year off with a vigorous debate.
Questions of governance invite attention on the reflections and schematics of the ancients. Sir Ernest Barker’s work ‘The Political Thought of Plato and Aristotle’, a volume of 500 pages dating from 1906, suggests perhaps that this is too encyclopaedic a canvas to help much in Horsham matters. Though it does remind us that the subject has been long pondered throughout the centuries without yielding a definite answer to satisfy all, as Panama and Greenland have recently discovered.
A volume half as old as Barker’s is ‘The Death and Life of Great American Cities’ by Jane Jacobs. A cursory reflection on the instances of decline and regeneration of famous cities since the publication date of 1961 shows the pressing need for her humane outlook when designing townscapes. Looking at the fortunes of Baltimore and Detroit in the last fifty years, marred by spasmodic spasms of growth and decay, the consequences of social change are clear to see.
What should be done and how do we apply better principles to Sussex are fundamental questions which we must answer somehow and soon.
The keystone to our deliberations is the appropriate size of governments relative to the size of the task in hand. It has often been remarked that there is an apparent gap in Horsham’s planning, for example, where the social consequences of recurring development applications are not given sufficient prominence. The wider questions of transport, education, health and wellbeing appear to be ignored, or slip between the remits of HDC and WSCC
Decisions appear to be made by osmosis, rather than deliberate reflection. Are local consultations publicity exercises for decisions already made and consequences already cast aside?
There is a plan for 1.5 million new homes in England during the life of this Parliament. While no one welcomes development on their favoured countryside there is a need for clarity in these aims. If we agree there is a lack of adequate housing then we must admit the consequence of development, and press for the wider social issues of planning to be incorporated into the overall strategy.
We can learn from examples elsewhere. Tainan is one of Taiwan’s oldest cities and a new community hub there is a circular city with zero carbon emissions. It has an integrated social structure built in. Multilevel landscaping and participating communities construct a community, not just a suburb.
We could follow similar examples to produce our own integrated communities, a direct result of participative planning, based on sober assessments of national needs and genuine local concerns.
For more information see www.horshamsociety.org