By . Sir Andrew Motion . PUBLISHED: . 19:30 EST, 31 December 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 04:33 EST, 1 January 2014 . As we reach 2014, we come to a fork in the road. In one direction runs a path to a greener, fairer and happier society, nourished by urban regeneration, energy efficiency, and proper protection of the environment. In the other direction runs a stony track surrounded by blighted landscapes, where inner cities and derelict sites are left to rot. Warning: Sir Andrew Motion warns the emerging political consensus, with its 'gung-ho emphasis on growth', promises a future of urban sprawl and exploitation of the natural world . Are we really prepared to head down that dismal route? To risk so much of what is precious to us and worth celebrating in our environment? To allow our appetite for economic success to create such pollution, such waste, such damage? Unhappily, it seems that we ordinary people may have no say in the matter. The emerging political consensus, with its gung-ho emphasis on growth, promises a future of urban sprawl and exploitation of the natural world, whichever leaders we elect. Awareness: The former Poet Laureate says politicans need to recognise the rising public anger about the loss of our green spaces . Unless, that is, our politicians think again and recognise the rising public anger about the loss of our green spaces. CPRE has warned repeatedly about the Coalition’s planning policies, arguing that they have made England’s countryside – our priceless national inheritance – more vulnerable than ever. But the situation is even more worrying now the Opposition has jumped on the same bandwagon: for their ‘right to grow’, read ‘right to sprawl’. The solution to our urgent housing needs is not to smear housing estates across open countryside, even if they are dolled up as ‘eco-towns’ or ‘garden cities’. Especially since they probably won’t be affordable to those most in need of a home. Only by concentrating a building programme on England’s 1.5 million brownfield sites can we meet our triple need: to save the countryside, revitalise our cities, and provide the necessary increase in new homes. Economic growth continues to be the politicians’ mantra, and fair enough. But we need green growth that respects the environment and our primal connection with the land. We can’t just go for growth and ignore the reality of climate change, attempting what a Treasury minister has called ‘the biggest programme of infrastructure development since the Victorian era’. The Victorians didn’t have to think about their carbon footprints. We do. And yet all our politicians’ stories about the growth of infrastructure depend on us consuming more fossil fuels, on building more roads and runways. Even farming is implicated in this, with wind and solar farms industrialising the countryside they set out to preserve. So often, this industrialisation simply isn’t necessary. The Energy Minister himself has pointed out that we can meet solar energy targets by installing panels on just 16 per cent of UK commercial and industrial roof-space. And we can dramatically reduce the amount of energy infrastructure we need – and improve our energy security – by focusing on energy efficiency. Driven by a dismaying short-termism, our leaders want to embark on a second industrial revolution in order to compete in ‘the global race’. But the difference in scale alone means we can never compete with the largest economies in the world. So let’s stop pretending we can, and instead make the most of our own particular, distinctive attributes and advantages. Maintaining our irreplaceable countryside must lie at the heart of that ambition. Not just for the sense of benefit and wellbeing that is essential to our humanity, but for good practical reasons as well: for the huge contribution that rural tourism and farming make to the Exchequer.
Former Poet Laureate condemns British government for 'gung-ho' policies .
Claims emerging political census promises a future of 'urban sprawl'
Says politicians need to recognise public anger over loss of green spaces .
By . Sir Andrew Motion . PUBLISHED: . 19:30 EST, 31 December 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 04:33 EST, 1 January 2014 . As we reach 2014, we come to a fork in the road. In one direction runs a path to a greener, fairer and happier society, nourished by urban regeneration, energy efficiency, and proper protection of the environment. In the other direction runs a stony track surrounded by blighted landscapes, where inner cities and derelict sites are left to rot. Warning: Sir Andrew Motion warns the emerging political consensus, with its 'gung-ho emphasis on growth', promises a future of urban sprawl and exploitation of the natural world . Are we really prepared to head down that dismal route? To risk so much of what is precious to us and worth celebrating in our environment? To allow our appetite for economic success to create such pollution, such waste, such damage? Unhappily, it seems that we ordinary people may have no say in the matter. The emerging political consensus, with its gung-ho emphasis on growth, promises a future of urban sprawl and exploitation of the natural world, whichever leaders we elect. Awareness: The former Poet Laureate says politicans need to recognise the rising public anger about the loss of our green spaces . Unless, that is, our politicians think again and recognise the rising public anger about the loss of our green spaces. CPRE has warned repeatedly about the Coalition’s planning policies, arguing that they have made England’s countryside – our priceless national inheritance – more vulnerable than ever. But the situation is even more worrying now the Opposition has jumped on the same bandwagon: for their ‘right to grow’, read ‘right to sprawl’. The solution to our urgent housing needs is not to smear housing estates across open countryside, even if they are dolled up as ‘eco-towns’ or ‘garden cities’. Especially since they probably won’t be affordable to those most in need of a home. Only by concentrating a building programme on England’s 1.5 million brownfield sites can we meet our triple need: to save the countryside, revitalise our cities, and provide the necessary increase in new homes. Economic growth continues to be the politicians’ mantra, and fair enough. But we need green growth that respects the environment and our primal connection with the land. We can’t just go for growth and ignore the reality of climate change, attempting what a Treasury minister has called ‘the biggest programme of infrastructure development since the Victorian era’. The Victorians didn’t have to think about their carbon footprints. We do. And yet all our politicians’ stories about the growth of infrastructure depend on us consuming more fossil fuels, on building more roads and runways. Even farming is implicated in this, with wind and solar farms industrialising the countryside they set out to preserve. So often, this industrialisation simply isn’t necessary. The Energy Minister himself has pointed out that we can meet solar energy targets by installing panels on just 16 per cent of UK commercial and industrial roof-space. And we can dramatically reduce the amount of energy infrastructure we need – and improve our energy security – by focusing on energy efficiency. Driven by a dismaying short-termism, our leaders want to embark on a second industrial revolution in order to compete in ‘the global race’. But the difference in scale alone means we can never compete with the largest economies in the world. So let’s stop pretending we can, and instead make the most of our own particular, distinctive attributes and advantages. Maintaining our irreplaceable countryside must lie at the heart of that ambition. Not just for the sense of benefit and wellbeing that is essential to our humanity, but for good practical reasons as well: for the huge contribution that rural tourism and farming make to the Exchequer.
promises a future of urban sprawl and the matter. The emerging political consensus, Awareness: The former Poet Laureate says politicans need to recognise the rising public anger about the loss of our green spaces . recognise the rising public anger about the loss