The Challenge
“Communities in the UK are facing a number of challenges: from the impact of globalisation, economic recession and climate change to concerns about street crime, anti-social behaviour and the threat of terrorism. At the same time society is more diverse and more polarised in terms of wealth (and power) than it has been for many years.”
Since the 1950’s and the rapid rise of a consumer driven culture, people are spending less and less time with family, friends and neighbours, but more time working, commuting and shopping. Writing about the generation brought up in the 1980’s, psychologist Oliver James has said: ‘ They were soaked in the values of the winner-loser culture and brought up to believe that the pursuit of status and wealth was the root to fulfilment. This has turned out to be manifestly not true.
Happiness and Fullfillment Curve (Copyright: Tellus Institute. The Great Transition. Based on Dominguez and Robin (1992))
The modern UK lifestyle is generally one that aspires to living comfortably within one’s means. Having family, friends, access to good education, transport and health services, a pleasant social life and having an income that provides for today and puts some savings away for holidays and retirement. For many people long-term security of this future has been seriously undermined by the recent economic collapse. For others there is a question about whether this was the life they were actually leading, or the life they would like to be leading, it was the one they were working towards, but had little time to nurture. For others this is the lifestyle this exist on the periphery of, they are excluded through a lack of local acceptance of diversity, poverty, illiteracy or social difficulties.
The Community Plan drafted by Totnes and District Strategy group in 2003 and reviewed in 2005 identified a broad spectrum of issues that needed to be addressed and projects that would improve Community life in and around Totnes. To date many of these projects remain as plans awaiting investment and support. The lack of investment in sustaining the needs of the surrounding parishes and Totnes as a market town and tourist destination is visible. While there is a beautiful landscape in the backdrop, there is a lack of public transport services, sports facilities, public open spaces, public art, linked greenways, youth facilities, full access to public services etc. Totnes town suffers from a lot of through traffic, poor quality housing developments and a lot of the town centre has been neglected, the Civic square and hall are lacklustre and in need of imaginative rejuvenation and enhancement to reflect and attract the diverse and creative community in the district and boost civic pride. Large retail outlets and commercial parks have taken business activity away from the town and villages centres; post offices, small shops or pubs no longer exist in many of the villages, many small businesses in Totnes are struggling to survive.
Good citizenship is apparently going out of fashion, replaced by self-focused consumerism. What makes some people unsung heroes, astonishing carers, passionate community workers, self-less volunteers, people that change the lives of others? Volunteering has been declining in Europe since the 1970’s, so much so that in 2001 was declared the European Year of Volunteering to re-ignite interest and acknowledge the value of the work carried out by volunteers. Despite a growing chorus of voices from near and far about the lack of equity, justice and peace in the wider world, the natural world and closer to home in the UK, most of us in the UK have largely ignored our own role in this bigger picture and are willing to give time for free. In 2006 a Eurobarometer found that 3 in 10 people volunteer and that over 80% of respondents to their survey considered volunteering to be an important part of democratic life in Europe.
“Perceptions of the South Hams as an area of social and economic advantage can disguise problems such as lower than average wages, above average house prices, problems in accessing services and a decline in some traditional industries. The sparse nature of the District results in services being more costly to provide and an over-reliance on private transport. Small pockets of deprivation exist within larger areas of affluence” The migration of higher income earners and early retirees moving into Devon and the high number of second/ holiday homes in the area has inflated house prices and made it difficult for local first time buyers to buy a house often resulting in young local people not remaining in the area. Crime rates are low in South Hams but this could change if we are unprepared for austerity and difficult times.
Totnes and District is not a homogenous community. As noted elsewhere in this EDAP it contains, for historical reasons, a larger than usual proportion of residents who are artists, psychotherapists, spiritual seekers and “ex-hippies”. Partly due to early GM crop trials it has also attracted a number of committed environmental activists. However, these sub–communities co-exist with other very different ones. Local voters predominantly vote Conservative, although recently Green Party Councillors were elected to the County Council and Town Council. The area has a large number of affluent incomers attracted by the beauty and tranquillity of the area, and the low crime rate. This may account for the results of a survey a few years ago which found that, of all the Magistrates Courts in the area, Totnes magistrates handed out the harshest sentences. At the same time, rising house prices and falling manual employment opportunities contribute to a section of the local population living in deprivation, to the extent that the Bridgetown area of Totnes was deemed in need of a “Mini Surestart” project (a calculation based on various indices of deprivation) when other surrounding market towns were not. Thus, when we speak of “the community” we speak in fact of various sub-communities with probably little interaction between them.
The number of community groups and interest based organisations and social clubs in Totnes and District runs into the hundreds. Many are very active and engage their members in activities which benefit the local area and support community cohesion. However very few are actively preparing their members and local society for the coming challenges of peak oil and climate change. There is generally a lack of awareness and understanding of how these issues will impact on local society. Many of those who do understand that there may be a problem with these issues, are unsure how to tackle it and the relevance of strengthening community to be a meaningful response.
If we continue Business as Usual and pursue Plan A, by 2030 people living in Totnes and District will have a diminished sense of community, they will be living very austere and difficult lives, many will be very isolated especially poor, elderly or disabled people. Stories of people dying from hypothermia in large empty houses will increase and while the stories may shock, many will feel helpless to offer support. Initiatives and networks needed to operate as collectives and cooperatives for pulling together for food growing, car sharing etc. will experience difficulties as there is little insufficient local cohesiveness to support them. Rural areas will suffer as fuel for private transport becomes prohibitively expensive. Where in 2009 we have some thriving community spirit in Totnes town and some of the villages, this needs to be nurtured and more widely valued, supported and invested in by all sectors to provide a strong backbone for the coming changes and challenges. Communities in Totnes and District like further afield are vulnerable, unsupported, undervalued, and ill prepared for times of increased uncertainty.
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