Monday 1 September 2003

What do we want? Privatisation! When do we want it? Now!

Trust the Sunday Herald to view the continuing development of gated communities with its usual establishment leftism:
Research from Glasgow University’s department of urban studies has revealed that Britain is already home to hundreds of such housing developments that are also known as fortress neighbourhoods or security villages.
We are “warned” about “US-style gated villages”. They “threaten public services”. While some are “built with security in mind”, others, heaven forefend, are “a badge of status”. And planners find these communities to be “not desirable”.

Well, to hell with the planners. If the government refuses to implement proper policies to combat crime, productive people will do what they can to avoid the inevitable consequences. Note the comment from someone in the private sector whose income depends on providing what the market wants:

John Brown, director of DTZ residential selling agents, said secure design was now a crucial factor for housebuyers. “Fear is one of the greatest reasons for moving house at the moment,” he said. “It answers what is a growing social problem of unruly behaviour and anti social difficulty. They feel they work hard, contribute to society and they don’t want someone to scuff up their car.
Dr Rowland Atkinson is the taxpayer-financed academic who has been hired by the predator class to examine the "threatening" growth of these communities. Note his words:
Councils, as the planning authority, have often been slow to wake up to the implications, he argues. These include social concerns and also the possibility that residents of such developments may ultimately want to opt out of taxation for service such as waste- disposal, sewerage and even policing which they may be paying for themselves already.
Got it in one, Dr Atkinson! That's exactly what should happen. And, by the way, these residents are, not "may be", paying for services like policing. The same taxpayers have noticed that our streets are nowadays patrolled by the paramilitary wing of the Guardian newspaper. A privately financed police force might actually be more interested in catching criminals than enforcing political correctness.