Comments on: The postcode lottery test: which answer do you pick? http://www.markpack.org.uk/the-postcode-lottery-test-which-answer-do-you-pick/ Mark's blog about politics, technology and history Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:21:47 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Top of the Blogs: The Golden Dozen #130 http://www.markpack.org.uk/the-postcode-lottery-test-which-answer-do-you-pick/comment-page-1/#comment-1890 Top of the Blogs: The Golden Dozen #130 Sun, 16 Aug 2009 19:01:36 +0000 http://www.markpack.org.uk/?p=3269#comment-1890 [...] The postcode lottery test: which answer do you pick? from Mark Pack’s blog. Why we need variation – for the right reasons: [...] [...] The postcode lottery test: which answer do you pick? from Mark Pack’s blog. Why we need variation – for the right reasons: [...]

]]> By: The Daley Dozen: Monday  http://www.markpack.org.uk/the-postcode-lottery-test-which-answer-do-you-pick/comment-page-1/#comment-1681 The Daley Dozen: Monday  Tue, 11 Aug 2009 00:18:24 +0000 http://www.markpack.org.uk/?p=3269#comment-1681 [...] discovers a recent murder by Lenin.2. Rob Fenwick has a brilliant review of the party websites.3. Mark Pack on the dilemma of postcode lotteries.4. O’Conall Street discovers a Sinn Fein time bomb.5. [...] [...] discovers a recent murder by Lenin.2. Rob Fenwick has a brilliant review of the party websites.3. Mark Pack on the dilemma of postcode lotteries.4. O’Conall Street discovers a Sinn Fein time bomb.5. [...]

]]> By: Richard Gadsden http://www.markpack.org.uk/the-postcode-lottery-test-which-answer-do-you-pick/comment-page-1/#comment-1663 Richard Gadsden Mon, 10 Aug 2009 13:17:34 +0000 http://www.markpack.org.uk/?p=3269#comment-1663 As I argued in a rather over-long comment on James' post, I think the postcode part does matter. Postcodes are a symbol of the despoilation of local identity and attachment; local decision-making is no longer organised on the basis of units that are determined by what people associate themselves with, but rather on the basis of units that are "big enough". Let's recreate a network of local government that actually fits with where people see themselves as living rather than where some bureaucrat in Whitehall thinks they live. The sooner we reverse the essential verdict of 1972 - "to reconcile familiar geography which commands a certain amount of affection and loyalty, with the scale of operations on which modern planning methods can work effectively" and instead prioritise geography that commands affection and loyalty, and then find collaborative mechanisms where a larger scale of operations is thought necessary by the people, the sooner local government will regain the self-confidence of Birmingham under Chamberlain, of Hull building its own telephone network or of the magnificence of Manchester Town Hall. How can a local council that does not have confidence in the loyalty of its people ever challenge a UK government utterly certain that the people will never choose to stop being British? As I argued in a rather over-long comment on James' post, I think the postcode part does matter. Postcodes are a symbol of the despoilation of local identity and attachment; local decision-making is no longer organised on the basis of units that are determined by what people associate themselves with, but rather on the basis of units that are "big enough".

Let's recreate a network of local government that actually fits with where people see themselves as living rather than where some bureaucrat in Whitehall thinks they live.

The sooner we reverse the essential verdict of 1972 - "to reconcile familiar geography which commands a certain amount of affection and loyalty, with the scale of operations on which modern planning methods can work effectively" and instead prioritise geography that commands affection and loyalty, and then find collaborative mechanisms where a larger scale of operations is thought necessary by the people, the sooner local government will regain the self-confidence of Birmingham under Chamberlain, of Hull building its own telephone network or of the magnificence of Manchester Town Hall.

How can a local council that does not have confidence in the loyalty of its people ever challenge a UK government utterly certain that the people will never choose to stop being British?

]]> By: Simon Dickson http://www.markpack.org.uk/the-postcode-lottery-test-which-answer-do-you-pick/comment-page-1/#comment-1653 Simon Dickson Mon, 10 Aug 2009 08:16:49 +0000 http://www.markpack.org.uk/?p=3269#comment-1653 Beautifully articulated, sir. It infuriates me to hear parties talking at one moment about decentralisation, reducing Whitehall bureaucracy, more power to local communities, etc - then later, to talk about postcode lotteries. You just can't have it both ways. Beautifully articulated, sir. It infuriates me to hear parties talking at one moment about decentralisation, reducing Whitehall bureaucracy, more power to local communities, etc - then later, to talk about postcode lotteries. You just can't have it both ways.

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