Letters: Views On The Topic Of How Proud Are You?

Published on: 12 Jun, 2018
Updated on: 12 Jun, 2018

Two letters in response to Claire Dee’s latest business column…

From Fiona Curtis

I found this survey rather interesting as pride is one of the few characteristics that can be seen as both a positive and a negative trait. I used to be proud to live in Guildford but voted with my feet, by leaving although I still have business connections in the area.

In my mind, to be proud of something you need to feel part of it or at least be able to identify with it. I enjoyed being part of what made my village tick whether that was picking up litter, driving the train at the village fete or taking part in the many organisations that result from an active community.

Latterly pride was replaced with exasperation when serious problems that affected the quality of life in the area went unaddressed year after year, due in part to lack of funding but also a lack of will.

Matters were made worse by the possibility of the adoption of the current Local Plan, for despite the smoke and mirrors and vague promises of a better Guildford, I am one of a majority who does not believe this will be the case. (I conducted a survey in July 2017 that showed that 81% did not support the Local Plan – 88% in rural areas and 69% in urban).

It is hard to be proud of something that will make your own life and that of your fellow neighbours worse. A new department store in town or even a few new coffee shops will not compensate for the growing number of issues that affected my life and that of fellow residents, ie. congestion, lack of school places, deteriorating services and lack of truly affordable homes.

Guildford is not alone, many areas of the UK and the south of England, in particular, are being subjected to heavy growth plans which cannot fail but to change the character of the areas in question.

This, combined with a high influx of newcomers, means that many do not identify with the area they live in and those from the area no longer identify with what it has become.

Could this along with being disenfranchised by government policy be part of the reason for our lack of pride?

From Gordon Bridger

It is not a little surprising that so may are unaware of the huge contributions that Britain has made to the world.

Indeed, it can be claimed, as Nial Ferguson, one of our leading historians, has stated in his book on the British Empire, that Britain made the modern world.

This has not been due to any inherent superiority in genes, ability but due to circumstances. Resources, location, social structure institutions meant that Britain was at the forefront of the 18th-century enlightenment – and it was the Industrial Revolution which transformed the world.

Henry VIII and Thomas Cromwell ensuring that the the Church and the monarchy did not stand in the way of new ideas and new institutions.

World trade opened up new markets and allowed the emergence of the benefits of exchange and comparative advantage to transform the world.

Other countries and other people, no less able than ourselves, and many a good deal more energetic have benefited from a late start and are now catching up on us and indeed surpassing us as our comfortable and prosperous society development becomes a lower priority.

As far as Guildford is concerned, national surveys, for what they are worth, record us as one of the most prosperous and dynamic in the country (London apart). This is due almost entirely to a combination of location, highly educated labour force, good schools and a health service and an attractive environment.

Alas our council can claim little credit for this as it still battles to make Guildford the largest retail centre in the South East disregarding the economic survey which it commissioned in 2009 which shows retail providing for only 10% of jobs, all low skill.

Our success has been due to high-skilled jobs built around the University of Surrey and its research park with a gross value added three or four times that of retail.

Believe it or not, the GBC Local Plan proposes a 40% increase in retail – low-skilled jobs, high import propensity and a sector devastated by internet shopping.

This is planning incompetence of a high order, but I have not noticed anyone in the business community daring to criticise the council. Why not? What is their strategy? Big companies are now moving out, why ?

We need housing for skilled workers and a relocation of economic activity from an overcrowded town centre, which should take more housing.