Breaking the Boundaries of Age

As I approach yet another landmark birthday later this month, I have taken the time to reflect on the rapidity of the changes that have occurred during my lifetime so far. Nowadays I might well be described, with a certain degree of accuracy, as a typical middle class, middle aged woman. It was not always the case, as my own upbringing was distinctly working class, although I did briefly benefit from the mixed blessing of a scholarship place at public school, before I ran away, and eventually left.

Certainly the values and morals of society today are very different from even 10 years ago. It is no longer possible, for example, for levels of abuse to remain uncovered and swept under the carpet in quite the same way, although I’d be the first to admit that we still have a very long way to go.

In our working lives jobs are no longer for life. It remains something of a surprise to me when I meet anyone who has held the same position in the same company for much longer than say 10 years. I’m on my fourth career myself, though admittedly not always by choice. There is of course the argument that change is good. We all know of the person who to all intents and purposes blocks any kind of progress, on the grounds that ‘we’ve always done it that way’. However, I would argue that new and different is not always necessarily better; the old cliché, ‘if it’s not broke, why fix it’ comes to mind.

Probably the key factor and facilitator of change has been the significant advances in technology. In tandem with this has been the need for me to adapt to these changes, not always very willingly I might add.

At a recent meeting of the Council of Governors at the RD&E NHS FT, where I represent Somerset, we discussed at some length the introduction of Electronic Patient Records, and both the benefits and drawbacks of such a move, and I have long since accepted that constant, relentless communication seems to be the order of the day, although I refuse to be a slave to my mobile phone, much to the annoyance of others.   

I strive not be typically representative of ‘middle England’, although my favoured activities and interests would fit nicely into that grouping.

With this in mind, I gave consideration to some meaningful way to celebrate my move from one decade to another. I admit that in the past I have always been quite ‘sniffy’ and snobbish about the dubious attractions of tattoos, until I carried out some research for an article on their history. It was with some trepidation therefore that I arrived for my appointment last week with Richard Sukeles, to have my first ever tattoo. I was very apprehensive, both in terms of the pain, and the risk that something so permanent might not be to my liking. I need not have worried, I have been delighted with the result and feel that in confronting my own prejudices I have made my point; that by remaining open minded and being receptive to new experiences the results can be quite surprising and liberating.  As for the design of my tattoo, suffice it to say it is something that perfectly capture the essence of me.

ETHNIC MINORITIES AS SPORTS COACHES

Headline news this week was the absence of ethnic minorities, and to a lesser degree, women, as sports coaches. It would seem that we have long since got over the issue of the nationality of those who play for our football teams across the country, as long as they play well enough to satisfy the fans’ lust for supremacy over rival teams. It would seem though, as all the fuss would lead us to believe, that when it comes to coaching activity the opportunities for these sporting heroes to show their mettle are very thin on the ground, if not virtually non-existent.

When it comes to selection there have naturally been calls, by the politically correct brigade, for quotas to be introduced

Were I in a position to influence, which thankfully I am not, the quota system is not something I would favour.

There are some who may think that this is a pretty poor analogy but I feel that the same applies to government, whether or at local or national level. We have for sometime seen similar cries for equity, particularly in relation to the balance of women in power.   

With next year’s elections just over the horizon each party will be battling it out for domination, although if early indicators are anything to go by it will be a close run thing. What is then likely to happen, is that keen to consolidate their tenuous hold on power, they will put their chums in place. In my experience of observing and challenging those in authority what tends to happen is that they surround themselves with sycophants to shore up their own egos.

I maintain my stance on this issue in much the same way; the only thing that should matter is that the best person for the job is chosen. We currently have a coalition government at national level and as we get closer to next May so we will begin to see the cosy pact they want us to believe previously existed unravel faster than you can pull at a loose thread on a sweater.

What should happen for whoever holds the balance of power is that those charged with holding high office, making key life changing decisions on behalf of those who voted them in, is that they should put their fears aside and go all out to find the very best person for the job regardless of their political allegiance. That way I believe we will get a better more equitable government. This is something that in the coming months we will all need to consider as we make up our minds about who will be best able to represent us.

At a local level there are already some authorities, albeit in the minority, that operate in this way; from the limited information I have gleaned it has had no adverse effect on their performance. Rather, were I in a position to take decisions about such appointments, I would fully expect to reap the rewards of having chosen well. Perhaps it is for this reason, when asked to participate in selection interviews for high ranking positions, I feel quite able to take some credit for the outcome. I may not be able to do their job, but I like to think that given the right assessment criteria, I can pick the best man, or woman, regardless of their ethnic origin.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING CRISIS

The protests relating to the lack of affordable housing in London made national news this week, as one might expect. Certainly there is considerable evidence to support the growing need for housing of all types across the country, which in itself does much to fuel the anti-immigration argument.

However, it would be taking a rather simplistic view of the current situation to blame it all on incomers, many of whom do much to contribute towards our economy in one way or another. 

Locally there has been much angst and arm wringing as South Somerset once again gets ready to submit its local plan to the inspector. It has certainly been a very lengthy, time consuming and expensive process for everyone involved.

I always find it interesting to observe the extent to which, by and large, as long as everything is going well, most of us go about our daily business without too much consideration for the wider world beyond. It is only when we feel that our way of life is under threat that we take to the streets to fight our cause, as in this case.

Certainly where local planning is concerned there is always the tricky dichotomy between  overworked planning officers doing their best to apply rules not of their making, whilst being all too aware of the presumption in favour of planning permission being granted, unless evidence can be provided to the contrary. Sadly, the burden for gathering this evidence is increasingly falling on the shoulders of those local residents who feel that they will be most affected by any development. Whether the concern relates to the capacity of basic infrastructure, highways, school placement, the environment, or in the case of Somerset, worries over the impact on flooding, it certainly pays to do your homework.

It is hardly surprising when I suddenly find that I’m the most popular person around, unless of course the application does not go the way they would wish. For significant developments, or those with the potential for a negative impact on the factors mentioned above, the decision will fall to the area committees to make.

Unfortunately, and my point in raising the subject at all, is that this not where it ends. We are increasingly seeing the situation, where having been granted permission for a development, with an agreed percentage of affordable housing included as a condition, the developer will some time later look to have this condition modified, or removed altogether, usually on grounds of the lack of viability of the project.

Thus we find ourselves in a catch 22 situation, with the developer saying that they cannot complete construction whilst the affordable housing condition remains. Despite great unease among both planning officers, and locally elected council representatives it would seem that there is little to be done. I know that we all need somewhere to live, but I don’t believe we should be held to ransom in such a way in order to satisfy greedy unscrupulous developers.

Likewise, there seems to be no mechanism in place at all to penalise those who go ahead with construction without gaining planning permission first. All the offenders need to do is to submit an application retrospectively; this doesn’t say much for the rest of us who do our best to be law abiding citizens. Personally I blame Eric Pickles for such nonsense.