Forum topic: Introduce yourself

This website encourages us to introduce ourselves and discuss our interests, but so far nobody but me has taken the plunge. At first I too was reluctant, but in the end I decided that the possibility of being in contact with like-minded people is too good an opportunity to miss – together we can enjoy/achieve so much more than apart. So here goes.

On my Twitter account I describe myself thus: “I am a man whose mainspring is wonder at the beauty and complexities of my planet, and despair that so few share an interest in its future”, which is an accurate enough summary of what makes me tick. But in the end the actualities of life are what matters, so below is an indication of what I’ve done and would like to achieve.

I worked for more than 20 years in what is now called Human Resources in three local authority education departments, and hope I made a difference to equal opportunities because that’s an aspect of my approach to life which I’d like to emphasize. But in the end my feeling for the natural world, and a strong family tradition of head gardeners, rose to the top and I turned to garden design and installation until I retired. Now I garden for myself and others for the love of doing it, and the opportunity to bore people to death about the importance of biodiversity.

But in urban places from villages to major cities Britain has levered itself into the extraordinary position which will become untenable as populations grow: cars set the organisational principles rather than liveability. Trying to influence a change in this approach is now a major preoccupation, with a default 20mph speed limit in purely residential streets and social areas very much at the heart of change, followed by a shift towards walking, cycling and public transport as means of getting around.

Taken as a whole London has already moved a long way towards change with much greater use of public transport than in most places, and a marked growth in cycling. But by and large the outer London boroughs are proving slower to change with inevitable consequences on quality of life; notably for children, older people and people with disabilities. Equal opportunities arises here as in race, gender and sexual orientation.

I am contactable via the private messaging service of this site