NIMBY
Encyclopedia
Pejorative
Pejoratives , including name slurs, are words or grammatical forms that connote negativity and express contempt or distaste. A term can be regarded as pejorative in some social groups but not in others, e.g., hacker is a term used for computer criminals as well as quick and clever computer experts...
ly to describe opposition by residents to a proposal for a new development close to them. Opposing residents themselves are sometimes called Nimbies. The term was coined in 1980 by Emilie Travel Livezey, and was popularized by British politician Nicholas Ridley
Nicholas Ridley, Baron Ridley of Liddesdale
Nicholas Ridley, Baron Ridley of Liddesdale, PC was a British Conservative Party politician and government minister.-Personal life:...
, who was Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
Secretary of State for the Environment
Secretary of State for the Environment
The Secretary of State for the Environment was a UK cabinet position, responsible for the Department of the Environment . This was created by Edward Heath as a combination of the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Public Building and Works on 15...
.
Projects likely to be opposed include but are not limited to tall buildings, chemical plant
Chemical plant
A chemical plant is an industrial process plant that manufactures chemicals, usually on a large scale. The general objective of a chemical plant is to create new material wealth via the chemical or biological transformation and or separation of materials. Chemical plants use special equipment,...
s, industrial park
Industrial park
An industrial park is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development...
s, military base
Military base
A military base is a facility directly owned and operated by or for the military or one of its branches that shelters military equipment and personnel, and facilitates training and operations. In general, a military base provides accommodations for one or more units, but it may also be used as a...
s, wind turbine
Wind turbine
A wind turbine is a device that converts kinetic energy from the wind into mechanical energy. If the mechanical energy is used to produce electricity, the device may be called a wind generator or wind charger. If the mechanical energy is used to drive machinery, such as for grinding grain or...
s, desalination plants, landfill
Landfill
A landfill site , is a site for the disposal of waste materials by burial and is the oldest form of waste treatment...
s, incinerators, power plants, prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
s, mobile telephone network masts, school
School
A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
s, nuclear waste dumps, landfill
Landfill
A landfill site , is a site for the disposal of waste materials by burial and is the oldest form of waste treatment...
dump sites, youth hostels, wind farm
Wind farm
A wind farm is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electric power. A large wind farm may consist of several hundred individual wind turbines, and cover an extended area of hundreds of square miles, but the land between the turbines may be used for agricultural or other...
s, golf course
Golf course
A golf course comprises a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, fairway, rough and other hazards, and a green with a flagstick and cup, all designed for the game of golf. A standard round of golf consists of playing 18 holes, thus most golf courses have this number of holes...
s, housing developments and especially transport
Transport
Transport or transportation is the movement of people, cattle, animals and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, rail, road, water, cable, pipeline, and space. The field can be divided into infrastructure, vehicles, and operations...
ation improvement schemes (e.g. new road
Road
A road is a thoroughfare, route, or way on land between two places, which typically has been paved or otherwise improved to allow travel by some conveyance, including a horse, cart, or motor vehicle. Roads consist of one, or sometimes two, roadways each with one or more lanes and also any...
s, passenger and freight railways, highway
Highway
A highway is any public road. In American English, the term is common and almost always designates major roads. In British English, the term designates any road open to the public. Any interconnected set of highways can be variously referred to as a "highway system", a "highway network", or a...
s, airport
Airport
An airport is a location where aircraft such as fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, and blimps take off and land. Aircraft may be stored or maintained at an airport...
s, seaports).
NIMBY is also used more generally to describe people who advocate some proposal (for example, austerity
Austerity
In economics, austerity is a policy of deficit-cutting, lower spending, and a reduction in the amount of benefits and public services provided. Austerity policies are often used by governments to reduce their deficit spending while sometimes coupled with increases in taxes to pay back creditors to...
measures including budget cuts, tax increases, downsizing), but oppose implementing it in a way that would require sacrifice on their part.
Variations
NIMBY and its derivative terms NIMBYism, NIMBYs, and NIMBYists, refer implicitly to debates of development generally or to a specific case. As such, their use is inherently contentious. The term is usually applied to opponents of a development, implying that they have narrow, selfish, or myopic views. Its use is often pejorativePejorative
Pejoratives , including name slurs, are words or grammatical forms that connote negativity and express contempt or distaste. A term can be regarded as pejorative in some social groups but not in others, e.g., hacker is a term used for computer criminals as well as quick and clever computer experts...
.
The term has been applied in debates over developments in various situations, including:
- When parties advocate infrastructure development such as new roadRoadA road is a thoroughfare, route, or way on land between two places, which typically has been paved or otherwise improved to allow travel by some conveyance, including a horse, cart, or motor vehicle. Roads consist of one, or sometimes two, roadways each with one or more lanes and also any...
s, light railLight railLight rail or light rail transit is a form of urban rail public transportation that generally has a lower capacity and lower speed than heavy rail and metro systems, but higher capacity and higher speed than traditional street-running tram systems...
and metroRapid transitA rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway, metro or metropolitan railway system is an electric passenger railway in an urban area with a high capacity and frequency, and grade separation from other traffic. Rapid transit systems are typically located either in underground tunnels or on...
lines, airports, power plants, retail developments, sales of public assets, electrical transmission linesElectric power transmissionElectric-power transmission is the bulk transfer of electrical energy, from generating power plants to Electrical substations located near demand centers...
, wastewater treatment plantWastewater treatment plantWastewater treatment plant also called wastewater treatment works can mean one of the following:*Sewage treatment – treatment and disposal of human waste....
s, landfillLandfillA landfill site , is a site for the disposal of waste materials by burial and is the oldest form of waste treatment...
s, sewage outfallsSewage treatmentSewage treatment, or domestic wastewater treatment, is the process of removing contaminants from wastewater and household sewage, both runoff and domestic. It includes physical, chemical, and biological processes to remove physical, chemical and biological contaminants...
or prisonPrisonA prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
s. - When parties build, operate, or advocate culturally unfamiliar functions, such as methadone clinics, needle exchange programs, or halfway houseHalfway houseThe purpose of a halfway house, also called a recovery house or sober house, is generally to allow people to begin the process of reintegration with society, while still providing monitoring and support; this is generally believed to reduce the risk of recidivism or relapse when compared to a...
s. - When parties propose to build or operate facilities that are perceived as primarily benefitting disadvantaged people, such as subsidized housing for poor people, supportive housingSupportive housingSupportive housing is a combination of housing and services intended as a cost-effective way to help people live more stable, productive lives...
for mentally ill people, and homeless shelterHomeless shelterHomeless shelters are temporary residences for homeless people which seek to protect vulnerable populations from the often devastating effects of homelessness while simultaneously reducing the environmental impact on the community...
s for people without a home. These facilities are often opposed by wealthier, healthier, and securely housed people on the grounds that the facilities serve, and therefore might attract or make more visible, people that they consider to be "undesirable". - When a government or private party advocates development of residential or commercial property.
NIABY
Opposition to certain developments as inappropriate anywhere in the world is characterised by the acronym NIABY (Not In Anyone's Backyard). The building of nuclear power plantNuclear power plant
A nuclear power plant is a thermal power station in which the heat source is one or more nuclear reactors. As in a conventional thermal power station the heat is used to generate steam which drives a steam turbine connected to a generator which produces electricity.Nuclear power plants are usually...
s, for example, is often subject to NIABY concerns.
NAMBI
NAMBI (Not Against My Business or Industry) is used as a label for any business concern that expresses umbrage with actions or policy that threaten that business, whereby they are believed to be complaining about the principle of the action or policy only for their interests alone and not for all similar business concerns who would equally suffer from the actions or policies. The term serves as a criticism of the kind of outrage that business expresses when disingenuously portraying its protest to be for the benefit of all other businesses. Such a labelling would occur, for example, when opposition expressed by a business involved in urban development is challenged by activists — causing the business to in turn protest and appealing for support from fellow businesses lest they also find themselves challenged where they seek urban development. This term also serves as a rhetorical counter to NIMBY. Seen as an equivalent to NIMBY by those opposing the business or industry in question.BANANA
BANANA is an acronym for Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything (or Anyone). The term is most often used to criticize the ongoing opposition of certain advocacy groups to land developmentLand development
Land development refers to altering the landscape in any number of ways such as:* changing landforms from a natural or semi-natural state for a purpose such as agriculture or housing...
. The apparent opposition of some activists to every instance of proposed development suggests that they seek a complete absence of new growth. The term is commonly used within the context of planning
Land use planning
Land-use planning is the term used for a branch of public policy encompassing various disciplines which seek to order and regulate land use in an efficient and ethical way, thus preventing land-use conflicts. Governments use land-use planning to manage the development of land within their...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. The Sunderland City Council lists the term on their online dictionary of jargon.
PIBBY
PIBBY is the acronym for Put In Blacks' Back Yard. This principle indicates that the people with social, racial, and economic privileges object to a development in their own back yards, and if the objectionable item must be built, then it should be built so that its perceived harms disproportionately affect poor, racially disadvantaged people. The environmental justiceEnvironmental justice
Environmental justice is "the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, sex, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies." In the words of Bunyan Bryant,...
movement has critiqued Nimbyism as a form of environmental racism
Environmental racism
Environmental racism is a sociological term referring to policies and regulations that disproportionately burden minority communities with negative environmental impacts....
. Robert Doyle Bullard, Director of the Environmental Justice Resource Center at Clark Atlanta University, has argued that official responses to NIMBY phenomena have led to the PIBBY (Put In Blacks' Back Yard) principle.
FRUIT
FRUIT is the acronym for Fear of Revitalization Urban-Infill and Towers. The word FRUIT or FRUITs is a play on words in support of the acronym BANANAs. First used in a development industry article in Vancouver to describe irrational local opponents (fruit cakes, fruit loops or just fruits) of well-planned developments.http://udi.bc.ca/content/why-gen-y-cant-buy-carpenter Use of the terminology FRUITs in context with use of the acronym BANANAs.
In favor of development
Frequently argued debate points in favor of development include higher employment, tax revenue, marginal cost of remote development, safety, and environmental benefits. Proponents of development may accuse locals of elitismElitism
Elitism is the belief or attitude that some individuals, who form an elite — a select group of people with intellect, wealth, specialized training or experience, or other distinctive attributes — are those whose views on a matter are to be taken the most seriously or carry the most...
, parochialism, drawbridge mentality
Drawbridge mentality
Drawbridge mentality describes the attitude of those people who migrate to more exclusive or more "unspoiled" communities and thereafter campaign to preserve the tranquility of that community by opposing further inward migration by people or businesses and, possibly, any development or...
, racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
and opposition to diversity
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...
, the inevitability of criticism, and misguided or unrealistic claims of prevention of urban sprawl
Urban sprawl
Urban sprawl, also known as suburban sprawl, is a multifaceted concept, which includes the spreading outwards of a city and its suburbs to its outskirts to low-density and auto-dependent development on rural land, high segregation of uses Urban sprawl, also known as suburban sprawl, is a...
.
In favor of local sovereignty
Those labeled as NIMBYs may have a variety of motivations and may be unified only because they oppose a particular project. For example, some may oppose any significant change or development, regardless of type, purpose, or origin. Others, if the project may is seen as being imposed by outsiders, may hold strong principles of self-governanceSelf-governance
Self-governance is an abstract concept that refers to several scales of organization.It may refer to personal conduct or family units but more commonly refers to larger scale activities, i.e., professions, industry bodies, religions and political units , up to and including autonomous regions and...
, local sovereignty
Sovereignty
Sovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a geographic area, such as a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided...
, local autonomy, and home rule
Municipal home rule
Municipal home rule originated in the United States during the Progressive Era of the early twentieth century. It enables voters to adopt a home rule charter that acts as the city's basic governing document over local issues; however, state law continues to prevail over statewide concerns...
. These people believe that local people should have the final choice and that any project affecting the local people should clearly benefit themselves, rather than corporation
Corporation
A corporation is created under the laws of a state as a separate legal entity that has privileges and liabilities that are distinct from those of its members. There are many different forms of corporations, most of which are used to conduct business. Early corporations were established by charter...
s with distant investors or central governments. Still others may object to a particular project because of its nature, e.g., opposing a nuclear power plant over fear of radiation, but accepting a local waste management
Waste management
Waste management is the collection, transport, processing or disposal,managing and monitoring of waste materials. The term usually relates to materials produced by human activity, and the process is generally undertaken to reduce their effect on health, the environment or aesthetics...
facility as a municipal necessity.
Regardless of motivation, they may cite any perceived disadvantages that seem relevant. A typical list of objections includes:
- Increased trafficTrafficTraffic on roads may consist of pedestrians, ridden or herded animals, vehicles, streetcars and other conveyances, either singly or together, while using the public way for purposes of travel...
: More jobs, more housing or more stores means more people driving on local streets. Industrial facilities such as warehouses, factories, or landfillLandfillA landfill site , is a site for the disposal of waste materials by burial and is the oldest form of waste treatment...
s often increase the volume of truck traffic. - Harm to locally owned small businessSmall businessA small business is a business that is privately owned and operated, with a small number of employees and relatively low volume of sales. Small businesses are normally privately owned corporations, partnerships, or sole proprietorships...
es: The addition of a big box store, such as Wal-MartWal-MartWal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...
, might result in local people no longer choosing to patronize locally owned stores. - Loss of residential property value: Homes near an undesirable development may be less desirable when the owner attempts to sell it. The lost revenue from property taxes may or may not be offset by increased revenue from the project.
- Environmental pollution of land, air, and water: Power plants, factories, chemical facilities, crematoriums, sewage treatment facilities, airports, and similar projects may contaminate the land, air, or water around them.
- Light pollutionLight pollutionLight pollution, also known as photopollution or luminous pollution, is excessive or obtrusive artificial light.The International Dark-Sky Association defines light pollution as:...
: Projects that operate at night, or that include security lighting (such as streetlights in a parking lot), may be accused of causing light pollution. - Noise pollutionNoise pollutionNoise pollution is excessive, displeasing human, animal or machine-created environmental noise that disrupts the activity or balance of human or animal life...
: In addition to the noise of traffic, a project may inherently be noisy. This is a common objection to wind power, airports, and many industrial facilities. - Visual blight and failure to "blend in" with the surrounding architecture: The proposed project might be ugly or particularly large.
- Loss of a community's small-town feelNew urbanismNew Urbanism is an urban design movement, which promotes walkable neighborhoods that contain a range of housing and job types. It arose in the United States in the early 1980s, and has gradually continued to reform many aspects of real estate development, urban planning, and municipal land-use...
: This objection typically is given to proposals that might result in new people moving into the community, such as a plan to build many new houses. - Strain of public resources and schools: This reason is given for any increase in the local area's population, as additional school facilities might be needed for the additional children, but particularly to projects that might result in certain kinds of people joining the community, such as a group homeGroup homeA group home is a private residence designed or converted to serve as a non-secure home for unrelated persons who share a common characteristic.-Types of group homes:...
for people with disabilities. - Disproportionate benefit to non-locals: The project appears to benefit distant people, such as investors (in the case of commercial projects like factories or big-box stores) or people from neighboring areas (in the case of regional government projects, such as airports, highways, sewage treatment, or landfills).
- Increases in crime: This is usually applied to commercial projects that are perceived as attracting low-skill workers, or any project that might employ racially disadvantaged people or recent immigrants, or that might benefit people with mental illness or poor people, such as low-income housing. Additionally, certain types of projects, such as place selling alcoholBar (establishment)A bar is a business establishment that serves alcoholic drinks — beer, wine, liquor, and cocktails — for consumption on the premises.Bars provide stools or chairs that are placed at tables or counters for their patrons. Some bars have entertainment on a stage, such as a live band, comedians, go-go...
or medical marijuana, might directly increase the amount of crime in the area.
Origin
The Oxford English DictionaryOxford English Dictionary
The Oxford English Dictionary , published by the Oxford University Press, is the self-styled premier dictionary of the English language. Two fully bound print editions of the OED have been published under its current name, in 1928 and 1989. The first edition was published in twelve volumes , and...
identifies the acronym's earliest use as being in 1980 in the Christian Science Monitor.
However, the concept behind the name originated before then, possibly in the 1950s.
Edmonton, Alberta
Opposition to a buried high voltageHigh voltage
The term high voltage characterizes electrical circuits in which the voltage used is the cause of particular safety concerns and insulation requirements...
power transmission line
Transmission line
In communications and electronic engineering, a transmission line is a specialized cable designed to carry alternating current of radio frequency, that is, currents with a frequency high enough that its wave nature must be taken into account...
that would require the rezoning of existing urban planning
Urban planning
Urban planning incorporates areas such as economics, design, ecology, sociology, geography, law, political science, and statistics to guide and ensure the orderly development of settlements and communities....
designs and the purchase (forced relocation of current residents) of houses along the planned corridor. Tax
Tax
To tax is to impose a financial charge or other levy upon a taxpayer by a state or the functional equivalent of a state such that failure to pay is punishable by law. Taxes are also imposed by many subnational entities...
payer money would be spent to help finance the upgrade. NIMBY protests attract sympathy from citizens not directly affected by the project.
Southwestern Ontario
Many residents of the various towns in Essex County (as well as other nearby counties) are opposed to companies building wind turbines in Lake ErieLake Erie
Lake Erie is the fourth largest lake of the five Great Lakes in North America, and the tenth largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and therefore also has the shortest average water residence time. It is bounded on the north by the...
and Lake St. Clair
Lake Saint Clair (North America)
Lake St. Clair is a fresh-water lake named after Clare of Assisi that lies between the Province of Ontario and the State of Michigan, and its midline also forms the boundary between Canada and the United States of America. Lake St. Clair includes the Anchor Bay along the Metro Detroit coastline...
, as well as in farmers' fields and along Ontario Highway 401. Concerns include their effects on the migration of birds, the noise associated with wind-powered electricity generation, and the unsightliness of the towers themselves.
Hong Kong
When Christian Zheng Sheng CollegeChristian Zheng Sheng College
Christian Zheng Sheng College is a private school in Hong Kong established by the Christian Zheng Sheng Association . Its founder and principal is Alman Chan...
, the only school in Hong Kong which is dedicated to
Newton Mearns, Scotland
The sizable MuslimMuslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
community of Newton Mearns
Newton Mearns
Newton Mearns is a suburban town in East Renfrewshire, Scotland. It lies southwest of Glasgow City Centre on the main road to Ayrshire, above sea level. It has a population of approximately 22,637.The town is part of the Greater Glasgow conurbation...
, an affluent, leafy suburb of Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, have long campaigned for a mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...
to be built where they may worship
Worship
Worship is an act of religious devotion usually directed towards a deity. The word is derived from the Old English worthscipe, meaning worthiness or worth-ship — to give, at its simplest, worth to something, for example, Christian worship.Evelyn Underhill defines worship thus: "The absolute...
. NIMBY protests defeated attempts to construct a mosque in the relatively small community.
East Kilbride, Scotland
The railway line from Glasgow Central to East KilbrideEast Kilbride railway station
East Kilbride railway station serves the town of East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire, Greater Glasgow, Scotland. The station is managed by First ScotRail and it is a terminus on the Glasgow South Western Line...
was considered for extension to East Kilbride shopping center and bus station in 1989. This process involved tunneling under people's back gardens and the area around the Civic Centre. NIMBY protests defeated such a movement and the line was not extended.
Ashtead, Surrey
In the affluent EnglishEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
village of Ashtead
Ashtead
Ashtead is a village situated within the Metropolitan Green Belt of Surrey, England, and is just outside of the suburbia of London. It is separated from Leatherhead by the M25, and from Epsom by Ashtead Common.- History :...
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, which lies on the outside of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, residents objected in 2007 to the conversion of a large, £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
1.7 million residential property into a family support centre for relatives of wounded British service personnel. The house was to be purchased by a registered charity, SSAFA Forces Help. Local residents objected to the proposal out of fear of increased traffic and noise, as well as the possibility of an increased threat of terrorism. They also contended that the SSAFA charity is actually a business, thereby setting an unwelcome precedent. Local newspapers ran articles titled "Nimby neighbours' war with wounded soldiers' families" and "No Heroes in my Backyard."
Ex-servicemen and several members of the British general public organised a petition in support of SSAFA, and even auctioned the "Self Respect of Ashtead" on eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
.
High Speed Rail 2
Particularly in the run up to the final decision on the route of High Speed 2High Speed 2
High Speed 2 is a proposed high-speed railway between London and the Midlands, the North of England, and potentially at a later stage the central belt of Scotland. The project is being developed by High Speed Two Ltd, a company established by the British government...
, BBC News Online reported that many residents of Tory constituencies were launching objections to the HS2 route based on the effects it would have on them, whilst also showing concerns that HS2 is unlikely to have a societal benefit at a macro level under the current economic circumstances.
Heathrow Airport
In November 2007 a consultation process began for the building of a new third runway and a sixth terminal and it was controversially approved on 15 January 2009 by UK Government ministers. The project was then cancelled on 12 May 2010 by the Cameron GovernmentCameron Ministry
David Cameron is Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, after being invited by Queen Elizabeth II to form a new government after the resignation as Prime Minister of Gordon Brown on 11 May 2010. Leading a coalition government formed by the Conservative Party and the Liberal Democrats, the coalition...
.
Heathrow Airport has a CAA Public Use Aerodrome Licence (Number P527) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction.
Coventry Airport
The airport is owned by CAFCO (Coventry) Limited, a joint venture between Howard Holdings plc and Convergence-AFCO Holdings Limited (CAFCOHL), and in June 2007 had its application to build permanent terminal and passenger facilities turned down by the UK government due to public pressure.Alexandria, Virginia
In Alexandria, VirginiaAlexandria, Virginia
Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2009, the city had a total population of 139,966. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as well as...
, a high-density development in Potomac Yard
Potomac Yard
Potomac Yard was one of the busiest rail yards on the Eastern Seaboard of the United States. Today, it refers to the neighborhood encompassing the same, which straddles southeastern Arlington County and northern Alexandria, Virginia, bounded by U.S. Route 1, the George Washington Memorial Parkway,...
was criticized by local residents. The developers in turn accused the residents of hypocrisy
Hypocrisy
Hypocrisy is the state of pretending to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that one does not actually have. Hypocrisy involves the deception of others and is thus a kind of lie....
for campaigning for their own Washington Metro
Washington Metro
The Washington Metro, commonly called Metro, and unofficially Metrorail, is the rapid transit system in Washington, D.C., United States, and its surrounding suburbs. It is administered by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority , which also operates Metrobus service under the Metro name...
station while simultaneously opposing the scale of development that would allow the station's construction.
Deerfield, Illinois
In 1959, when DeerfieldDeerfield, Illinois
Deerfield is a village in Lake County, Illinois, United States and is located approximately 25 miles north of Chicago, Illinois. A portion of the village is in Cook County, Illinois, United States...
officials learned that a developer building a neighborhood of large new homes planned to make houses available to African Americans, they issued a stop-work order. An intense debate began about racial integration, property values, and the good faith of the community officials and builders. For a brief time, Deerfield was spotlighted in the national news as "the Little Rock of the North." Supporters of integration were denounced and ostracized by angry residents. Eventually, the village passed a referendum to build parks on the property, thus putting an end to the housing development. Two model homes already partially completed were sold to village officials. Otherwise, the land lay dormant for years before it was developed into what is now Mitchell Pool and Park and Jaycee Park. The first black family did not move into Deerfield until much later. This episode in Deerfield's history is described in But Not Next Door by Harry and David Rosen, both residents of Deerfield.
Nantucket Sound, Massachusetts
Some residents and businesses of Cape CodCape Cod
Cape Cod, often referred to locally as simply the Cape, is a cape in the easternmost portion of the state of Massachusetts, in the Northeastern United States...
, Martha's Vineyard
Martha's Vineyard
Martha's Vineyard is an island located south of Cape Cod in Massachusetts, known for being an affluent summer colony....
, and Nantucket Island have opposed construction of Cape Wind
Cape Wind
The Cape Wind Project is an approved offshore wind farm, on Horseshoe Shoal in Nantucket Sound off Cape Cod in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, proposed by a private developer, Cape Wind Associates, the brainchild of Jim Gordon and a Limited Liability Company set up as a joint business venture...
, a proposed offshore wind farm
Wind farm
A wind farm is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electric power. A large wind farm may consist of several hundred individual wind turbines, and cover an extended area of hundreds of square miles, but the land between the turbines may be used for agricultural or other...
in Nantucket Sound
Nantucket Sound
Nantucket Sound is a roughly triangular area of the Atlantic Ocean offshore from the U.S. state of Massachusetts. It is long and wide, and is enclosed by Cape Cod on the north, Nantucket on the south, and Martha's Vineyard on the west. Between Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard it is connected to the...
. Proponents cite the environmental, economic, and energy security
Energy security
Energy security is a term for an association between national security and the availability of natural resources for energy consumption. Access to cheap energy has become essential to the functioning of modern economies. However, the uneven distribution of energy supplies among countries has led...
benefits of clean, renewable energy
Renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...
, while opponents are against any obstruction to the views from oceanfront vacation homes and tourist destinations based in the region.
St. Lucie County, Florida
Similar to the situation in Nantucket Sound, Mass., a minority of residents in St. Lucie County, Florida have vehemently opposed the construction of wind turbines in the county. The construction of the wind turbines is strongly supported by over 80% of county residents according to a 2008 Florida Power and Light (FPL) poll. Additionally, the power company proposed building the turbines in a location on a beach near a prior existing nuclear power plant owned by the company.California
A small number of residents (mostly farmers) in Hanford, CaliforniaHanford, California
Hanford is an important commercial and cultural center in the south central San Joaquin Valley and is the county seat of Kings County, California. It is the principal city of the Hanford-Corcoran, California Metropolitan Statistical Area , which encompasses all of Kings County, including the cities...
and surrounding areas are opposed to the California High-Speed Rail Authority
California High-Speed Rail Authority
The California High-Speed Rail Authority is a California state agency established pursuant to the California High-Speed Rail Act to develop and implement high-speed intercity rail service, such as the California High-Speed Rail project.- Members :The authority is composed of nine members...
building high-speed rail near farmland, citing that it will bring environmental and economic problems.
Wealthy residents of Southern Orange County, CA were successfully able to defeat a local measure to convert the decommissioned El Torro Marine Base from a commercial airport proposal to a park proposal, claiming that the airport would be "unsafe" during landings and take-offs as well as air quality issues. The real issue was the FAA planned the flight paths for the airport over expensive neighborhoods of the south Orange County and residents feared that their property values would decrease. The airport proposal was strongly supported by Northern Orange County residents.Orange County Great Park
Orange County Great Park
The Orange County Great Park is the official name of a plan for the public, non-aviation reuse of the decommissioned Marine Corps Air Station El Toro in Irvine, California. The county park will comprise just 28.8% of the total that made up the old MCAS El Toro base. It is a $1.1 billion project...
See also
- CAVE PeopleCAVE PeopleCAVE People is a pejorative acronym for citizen activists who regularly oppose any changes within a community...
- Citizens to Preserve Overton Park v. VolpeCitizens to Preserve Overton Park v. VolpeCitizens to Preserve Overton Park v. Volpe, 401 U.S. 402 , is a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States that established the basic legal framework for judicial review of the actions of administrative agencies...
- Drawbridge mentalityDrawbridge mentalityDrawbridge mentality describes the attitude of those people who migrate to more exclusive or more "unspoiled" communities and thereafter campaign to preserve the tranquility of that community by opposing further inward migration by people or businesses and, possibly, any development or...
- EyesoreEyesoreAn eyesore is an unpleasant view. Its technical usage is as an alternative perspective to the notion of landmark. Common examples include dilapidated buildings, graffiti, litter, polluted areas and excessive commercial signage such as billboards. Some eyesores may be a matter of opinion such as...
- Locally unwanted land useLocally unwanted land useLocally unwanted land use is a planning term. It is a land use that is useful to society, but objectionable to its neighbors. The acronym is LULU.LULUs can include power plants, dumps, prisons, roads, factories, hospitals and many other developments...
(LULU) - LudditeLudditeThe Luddites were a social movement of 19th-century English textile artisans who protested – often by destroying mechanised looms – against the changes produced by the Industrial Revolution, which they felt were leaving them without work and changing their way of life...
- Pulp mill conflict between Argentina and Uruguay
- Smart GrowthSmart growthSmart growth is an urban planning and transportation theory that concentrates growth in compact walkable urban centers to avoid sprawl and advocates compact, transit-oriented, walkable, bicycle-friendly land use, including neighborhood schools, complete streets, and mixed-use development with a...
- Somebody Else's ProblemSomebody Else's ProblemSomebody Else's Problem is an effect that causes people to ignore matters that are generally important to a group but may not seem specifically important to the individual. Author Douglas Adams' description of the effect, which he playfully ascribed to a physical "SEP field," has helped to make it...
- TechnophobiaTechnophobiaTechnophobia is the fear or dislike of advanced technology or complex devices, especially computers. tech·no·pho·bi·a n. Fear of or aversion to technology, especially computers and high technology. -Related forms: tech'no·phobe' n., tech'no·pho'bic adj."— "tech·no·pho·bi·a - Show Spelled...
- YIMBYYIMBYYIMBY is an acronym for Yes In My Back Yard in contrast and opposition to the NIMBY phenomenon. YIMBY can be described as something the people demand be put in their area...
- WasteWasteWaste is unwanted or useless materials. In biology, waste is any of the many unwanted substances or toxins that are expelled from living organisms, metabolic waste; such as urea, sweat or feces. Litter is waste which has been disposed of improperly...