the credibility of politics

[Sarah Black]

hi,
i have been pondering for a long time the old theory that power corrupts. I have known Andrew for a long time, we worked together at WWF for a good while, and he always struck me as a hard working and throughly credible and morally strong person. I just wonder how hard he finds it to stick to those principles, what pressures are put upon people in his position? i know i have had some tough calls to make in my own role and compromises have to be made but it can be tough. anyone have any thoughts?

[Andrew Dakers]

A belated thank you Sarah for this kind and generous post. What a strange 13 months it has been since you posted this message. First the financial crisis, and then the MPs' expenses scandal. Both have kept me active, in my professional life, drafting Business in the Community's response to the financial crisis and then more recently organising local debates on the MPs' expenses scandal, the future of our democracy and implementation of the Sustainable Communities Act - see http://takebackpowerhounslow.org

As for the challenges of sticking to one's principles, I find perhaps the greatest challenge is one of mobilising enough capital to deliver the long term sustainable solution we are all after (so much capital seems to get frittered away on unsustainable consumption) ..and sometimes in a built-up urban area with growing population levels there is also insufficient land to deliver the low rise human-scale developments people would most enjoy.

Two good examples where my principles are being challenged are:
1) Building a new car park in Brentford town centre. Here I knew if I didn't work to secure the new car park (whilst a cyclist not a car owner myself) there would no longer be the small independent shops in the town centre to walk or cycle to. We had to start capturing more of the passing trade that was driving through and not stopping.
2) At St Georges site at Kew Bridge (now occupied by an eco-village) their proposals would hit Sustainable Homes level 3 - could they raise the additional capital and increase the sale price whilst still delivering a viable scheme if they went for Code level 5? What will the wider impact be on the local economy if we dont progress the scheme and hold out for something better? Will it deter other investors from the area?

At another local development site you will see I am arguing there should be no compromise: http://www.tinyurl.com/commerceroad Ultimately though more sustainable lifestyles are generally emerging by evolution rather than revolution, however frustrating that can be at times. What we must make sure however is that with a closing time window to get a handle on climate change we do not get the key strategic decisions wrong.