'Yes, I'm a Nimby. And proud of it!': JANET STREET-PORTER cheers on the Not In My Backyard brigade and snubs wind farms
Our ruling classes have a new term of abuse - Nimby. The Not In My Backyard brigade - anyone brave enough to stand up and shout they don't want a pylon, a smelly pig farm, a waste disposal unit, a travellers' encampment or a high-speed rail link in their neighbourhood.
Nimbys are not small-minded petty bigots but normal voters and taxpayers. They wave home-made placards, march on town halls to fight ugly estates springing up around their small towns, organise sit-ins to keep cottage hospitals and maternity wards open and who don't want gorgeous views blighted by windfarms.
Far from being celebrated for protecting everything we value about Britain, Nimbys are trashed by politicians as selfish irritants, objects of derision.
Last week, Planning Minister Nick Boles - a man determined to concrete over as much of our green and pleasant land as possible in the name of 'progress' - finally admitted he would never be able to defeat Nimbys. This in spite of pushing through radical changes to the planning laws which could see disused barns being turned into cafes and shops, and huge new housing schemes going ahead on farmland no matter what residents say.
Boles had the cheek to say Nimbys should 'channel' their anger, stop objecting and 'get involved' with developers to 'create an environment'. That's like asking us to shake hands with the devil. We need new homes, but not at the expense of our precious countryside.
Developers are sitting on huge banks of land they have been stockpiling for decades, and there are enough brownfield sites to fill most of our housing needs. There is no need for councils to greenlight new projects permitted by Mr Boles's new laws until developers build on sites they already own.
I'm proud to be a Nimby. I signed a petition against a huge electrical sub-station for an offshore windfarm being built on the edge of Graveney marshes in Kent - but John Prescott (who claims he cares about the environment), Planning Minister at the time, gave it the go-ahead, and now ugly concrete bunkers desecrate this lovely spot.
Janet Street-Porter has signed petitions to stop wind farms being built since she feels they ruin the landscapeOn-shore windfarms are not cost-efficient and when the technology has been superseded, who is going to go around the UK digging up the ugly concrete pads these things sit on and put the soil back?
Windfarms are to be built on Crown Estate farmland near Rye in East Sussex, destroying a view that inspired painters for centuries.
In Scotland, the Crown Estates granted rights to Scottish and Southern Energy for an offshore windfarm which would have desecrated beautiful Kintyre - thanks to Nimbys, those plans were eventually abandoned.
More from Janet Street Porter... JANET STREET-PORTER: I despise the nanny state - but it's the only cure for Fat Slob UK 02/06/13 Wrinklies, rise up! Attacked for stealing the young's jobs and patronised by politicians. We oldies, says JANET STREET-PORTER, unveiling her Grey Power Manifesto, need to fight back... 31/05/13 JANET STREET-PORTER: Watch out... soon GPs will ban patients altogether! 27/05/13 Janet Street-Porter: 'Experts say I'm common but I'm just not bovvered! It hasn't held back David Beckham or Adele' 19/05/13 Janet Street-Poter: We'll all have to cough up for Dave's betrayal on booze 'n' fags 05/05/13 How many of us ever thank those who shaped our lives? In these witty yet surprisingly tender letters, JANET STREET PORTER says: Thank you for making me the nation's favourite big mouth 03/05/13 JANET STREET-PORTER: Hand back our bus passes and TV licences?! You must be joking, Iain Duncan Smith 28/04/13 As Sharon Osbourne leaves Ozzy behind, Janet Street-Porter says there are four words a wife should never trust: 'I promise I'll change' 21/04/13 VIEW FULL ARCHIVEAnother Nimby victory saw Eric Pickles rethink ludicrous plans to allow neighbours to build giant extensions (up to 26ft long) without planning permission - twice the current limit.
The proposed HS2 high-speed rail link between Birmingham and London was foisted on us as if it's going to save the British economy singlehanded, when we already have a rail network that doesn't work properly and needs upgrading.
Nimbys recently won an important victory with a High court ruling that plans for compensation were unfair so the Government must go through the consultation process all over again.
Attacking the brave Nimbys, Ministers accused homeowners of 'putting family interests ahead of national interests'. Could this be the same bunch of politicians who complain if any new roads and factory farming units might be sited near their second homes in the country?
Why shouldn't homeowners demand the full value of their home and damages if forced to leave their neighbours and decamp somewhere fresh so a train can whizz through the beautiful Chilterns and Warwickshire, delivering businessmen to Manchester a little bit quicker?
By the time the railway is built, business will be conducted via the internet and this 'need' for intercity commuting will have evaporated!
Last week, a Commons Committee decided that instead of building a new airport in the Thames, Heathrow should be allowed two more runways further to the West.
These MPs assumed that we need more airport capacity in the London area, when there is plenty of evidence we have enough airports all over the country to take more flights.
Expect Nimbys living west of London to start marshalling their opposition - and that will include all the MPs whose constituencies these extra 'essential' flights will be polluting with fumes and noise from early morning to late at night.
Some planning reforms are long-overdue - allowing offices, hotels and leisure facilities to be turned into housing and schools, for example. Anything which breathes life back into our High Streets is to be welcomed. But asking Nimbys to stop protesting and cosy up to developers - whose agenda is pure profit - is nothing more than wishful thinking.
I will go to my grave a Nimby - and I'm not going to be told I'm unpatriotic or small-minded.
STILL TRYING TO BE A REBEL REBEL...
Ageing pop star needs publicity to promote his new album. How to shock? Pose as a Christ-like figure singing in a basement bar frequented by priests, a boozy cardinal and some gorgeous semi-clad hookers.
David Bowie's embarrassing video for his new single The Next Day was removed from YouTube for 'violating the terms of service' - in other words for causing offence.
'David Bowie's embarrassing video for his new single The Next Day was removed from YouTube for "violating the terms of service" - in other words for causing offence'Later - when the ban made news - it was reinstated with a warning about 'adult content'.
We're told Bowie 'wrote and conceived' the video - but he's no Baz Luhrmann.
In this parade of hackneyed imagery, the gorgeous Marion Cotillard writhes around in a corset spouting blood from stigmata in her hands, while Gary Oldman does a feeble impersonation of a priest. It is about as subversive as a cup of cocoa.
The Christian church has huge problems, from allegations that abuse has been routinely ignored to the Church of England's refusal to accept women as bishops, but would Bowie have had the guts to attack Islam in the same way?
BLOW THE WHISTLE ON FERGIE FEVER
Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson arrives on the pitch at Old Trafford for the last time before retiringYou'd think Britain was mourning the loss of a monarch - the retirement of a football manager has been elevated to an event of national importance.
Sir Alex Ferguson has been touted as one of the great-est businessmen this cen-tury - but, please let's get his achievements in perspective.
Fergie didn't discover a cure for cancer, or find a crop that would feed starving farmers in Africa.
As for his wife Cathy - do we need to worry how she will 'adjust' to life with her irascible husband hanging around the house?
Football might give pleasure to millions, but during Fergie's reign, the players were vastly over-rewarded, while the poor, loyal fans paid through the nose.
A VOTE FOR GREY POWER
Thanks to the hundreds of you that wrote and emailed after I told Iain Duncan Smith off for his patronising suggestion that 'wealthy' pensioners should hand back their winter fuel allowances.
IDS has done an excellent job of alienating voters - many of you suggested we form the Grey Party and I stand for Parliament. Removing our entitlements like bus passes seems to be a sure-fire way of committing political suicide - especially as MPs enjoy subsidised food and drink in their many in-house hostelries.
As you point out, free bus passes keep rural services running during the day and we use them to visit town centres, shop (even if it's in Poundland!) and meet mates for coffee or 'two for one' lunches.
I'm not sure I want to stand for Parliament - being a dictator is more my style.
