Chapter 8
MEMO FROM THE CHIEF OFFICER
Peter Robottom
Review
Brighton is an authority where there is a high level of deprivation, although
we get no assistance under the Urban Programme, despite ranking 37th of Local
Authorities in England and Wales in the deprivation table. We have also in 1986
joined the select band of rate-capped authorities. From that context we have
many of the same issues as Islington, and similar strategies to address them.
One of the key differences is that
as the Sub-Regional Centre we do have the central business district within our
authority, so we provide many jobs not just for our own local people, but for a
very wide hinterland as well. That changes our perspective on subjects such as
offices, but generally the strategies and issues are very similar.
I want to come back to the opening
theme of this session and consider whether there is a specifically Christian
vision which might avoid this pragmatism of which we have been talking. We
should also want to avoid the converse, which might arise with a thoroughly up
to date development plan and a Secretary of State prepared to take notice of
it. That could give rise to a kind of legalism, coming in by slavishly
following a certain number of policies. (I very much agree that councillors do
need to keep officers on their toes, so that they look at all the
policies rather than selecting one or two that might be relevant.)
I also want to avoid the depression
that was hinted at in the papers at the earlier Seminar, whereby practitioners
might feel their failure to ensure that a new Jerusalem has descended on their
patch and are getting very downcast as a result. My answer to the question as
to whether there is a specifically Christian vision would be an emphatic
'Yes!'
Rebellion
Firstly, then REBELLION.
'Why is planning needed?' Because humankind is in rebellion against God. The
world was created by God and it was good, but we have disobeyed God's commands
and as a result the world is in the mess that it is in now.
Because of our selfishness we fail
to think out the consequences of our own actions, others fail likewise, and so
the riches of the world are not shared out as they ought to be. The goodness of
the world is destroyed by pollution. People know that there is no need for
famine in the world, but there are people starving. We are all tainted by it.
So clearly there is a need to
restrain humankind's tendency to selfishness, and if we think about the whole
purpose of Town Planning and Development Control in that context, it does help
us to see the task in which we are involved. If the whole spectrum of creation
can be redeemed, we are co-operating as God's fellow workers in that task.
Redemption
Secondly, REDEMPTION. Can a
specifically Christian Planner be better able to do that task than a humanist
Planner? The answer to that should be 'yes', because we should have a greater
grasp of the reality of the situation we are working in. The reality of our own
limitations, our own simpleness - albeit we trust now being eliminated by the
Spirit of Christ in our hearts.
Seeing the situation that the whole
of the world is in, and our own nature, we might well see that we need wisdom
and strength outside ourselves in order to undertake the task with which we are
faced, and of course we do have the Spirit of Christ promised to us to help us
in those tasks.
The conclusion of Chris Caddy's
paper (reproduced here as Chapter 6) to the last Seminar was that we can still
stand after the buffeting of this world (Ephesians 6), and indeed we should not
lose heart when we have the Spirit within us. We should not grow weary in well
doing, and the Lord will renew our strength as we wait upon him. Again, to pick
up the point of James 1:5, wisdom is available to us if we ask for it.
So, if we become so enmeshed in our
day-to-day Development Control activities that we are doing them purely by
routine, we will on some occasions be missing out on assistance that we could
have got if only we had laid some more of our problems before God and sought
his help and assistance.
Rules
Thirdly then to the RULES -
which of course are guidelines or policies or principles - but alliteration
demands the word 'Rules'! Where might one derive these from? We can derive a
significant number from the Word of God and that is where we can expect to find
assistance:-
To Think
1. We are encouraged in the Scriptures
very much to use our minds, so as professionals there can be no excuse for
not having thought out the implications of any proposal we are confronted with.
We see this right back in Genesis, where God is encouraging the man initially
to name all the animals. But we can see it coming through into the New
Testament, in phrases such as 'working out your own salvation with fear and
trembling'.
It is perhaps not quite the context
in which I am trying to apply it, but nevertheless I think we have to be prepared
to do our research, to do our thinking, to search the policies and to undertake
consultation to find out what people really think.
Conservation
2. Conservation is an ethic
which comes very much out of the Scriptures. The world was made as good. I don't
think this necessarily only means that we are involved in small issues - issues
of dormer windows, issues of tree preservation on the local planning scale, but
it can involve some of the broad issues that come only occasionally to the
Development Control scene (and probably very fortunately, as I don't think many
of us would want to sit through a Sizewell or Dounreay Nuclear Power Station
public enquiry very often!). Issues like that do involve conservation. I was
very much struck by observations which Joan Ruddock made at the Labour Party
Political Conference a week or so ago, saying basically that in the world today
we are borrowing from our children. That is an interesting perspective on
conservation.
Justice
3. The concept of Justice.
We are all equal before God in creation, we are all equal in our need for
redemption and in the availability of salvation to us. If in Christ there is no
distinction between people of different races, between male and female, between
people of different classes, between slaves and freemen, then we must be trying
to ensure that there is justice in the application of development control. It
may be just between two neighbours or it may be over much greater issues - some
of the issues that have been so well presented to us this morning.
This is a recurring theme
throughout much of the Old Testament - the cause of the Prophets, be it Amos,
be it Isaiah. Remember that Christ Himself quoted from Isaiah 61 in announcing
His own ministry. There can be no excuse for seeing His ministry purely as a
spiritual ministry; it was a ministry to body, mind and spirit: the total
person.
So I think Development Control is
very much in the mainstream of such as the Faith in the City report, and
if we are going to be walking in Christ's shoes we will be very much concerned
with the ethics of justice.
At this point practitioners can get
themselves very unpopular with sections of the public and their own
councillors, if they stand out in support of the kinds of development that
might help justice. I had my most difficult time in Oxford when I was seeking
support for the Simon House Hostel proposed in the centre of the town, which I
think eventually got through on hair's-breadth voting figures with a split in
the controlling group, many voting with the opposition. That certainly didn't
add to my popularity with the Council. Similar situations have come up with day
centres for the homeless and issues like that in Brighton.
Simon House, Oxford
In an ideal world conservation and
justice would be always in harmony. However, we are not in an ideal world but
in a fallen one. Thus, if choices have to be made, perhaps they have to be made
in the direction of 'bias to the poor', even if that might conflict with other
principles one might want to pursue.
Participation
4. Participation is a
further principle which does ultimately come out of the Scriptures, and indeed
out of the work of Christ himself for us on the cross, and one that might help
us avoid danger of legalism. The self-giving love of Christ does force us to
look at every individual case, every individual circumstance, with a concern
for the people involved.
In Christian ethics, situations
will not always be black and white. If they were, life would be very easy, but
it is not! There may be a need to take decisions which may not adhere strictly
to policy in order to be really concerned that the real needs of people are
met.
Participation should also be
related to our own humility as servants of Christ. If we recognise our own
limitations, and see in all that we do on behalf of others that they are made
in the image of God, and are at least potentially our brothers and sisters in
Christ, we welcome the comments of the public and the widest possible
participation. We will recognise the rights of elected members to overrule our
judgement. They are accountable to their electorate, not to professional staff.
God gives us a free choice whether
we accept salvation; He also enables us to choose a king, even though that may
not be God's view as to how we should be best organised (1 Sam. 8). But if God
is prepared to accept us making our decisions - even though they are not always
the wisest - then we should welcome the opportunity for all people involved in
the Development Control process to be able to express their views.
I was very interested to hear about
the completely open committee system in Islington mentioned by Pete Broadbent
(Chapter 7 here) In my days in Oxford we did have a principle whereby, by prior
arrangement, the parties would be able to give views directly to Committee, but
it never got to more than one or two per committee meeting. I can see great
advantages if it can be manageable.
Principles, not pragmatism
None of the foregoing is going to
provide specific answers to any given Development Control situation. However,
if one tries to keep these principles constantly in mind when working on any particular
problem, even a domestic extension, we might avoid the danger set out in the
theme for today's session. We would not merely be comparing one application
with the next, or simple trying to muddle through each batch.
Clearly having clear policy
guidance and policies set down in a way that embodies these kind of
principles will be a tremendous benefit to any Development Control system.
Certainly I would look to my new Borough-wide Local Plan, which tackles many of
the issues we have been thinking about: a concern for minorities and for
equality, as well as dealing with the housing and jobs, and conservation of the
environment. If that then goes through the full consultation processes and then
becomes the point of reference for the Development Control staff, that must be
a great help.
But above all we have to remember
we are doing our work 'as unto the Lord', and if we are open to the leading of
his Spirit and his Word then perhaps we will put into practice the well
known maxim drummed into Planning students - that they are 'Planning for
People'. If we are serving God with all our heart, strength and soul, that will
enable us to serve our neighbours somewhat better than we would otherwise be
able to do.
We cannot plan people into the kingdom
of God. That will need re-creation of their hearts rather than the provision of
adequate recreation facilities, to play on words. Only God by the work of His
Spirit can do that, but if we are seeking to sustain, and have a constant
vision of, a fabric of society that would be the physical and social embodiment
of the Kingdom of God, then we will have a vision which will keep our
Development Control from becoming too narrow, too restrictive or too negative.
It will enable it to be truly serving Christ's Kingdom here upon earth.
Faith in the City - 1985 -
Report of the Archbishop of Canterbury's Commission on Urban Priority Areas.
From ACPA Newsletter No. 13
& 14, Winter 1988/89