N.I.M.B.Y.....

I’m shocked and distressed to realise that there is the possibility that I might be a N.I.M.B.Y sort of person.

We live in a small village of about 200 inhabitants, surrounded by farmland, woodland, a canal and a river. About half a mile from our house (as the crow flies) a planning permission application has been lodged to turn a luxury home into a therapy providing hostel for sex offenders and drug addicts. The house itself is surrounded by woodland criss crossed with public footpaths and bridleways, but fairly isolated. I know that I would feel vulnerable walking through the area alone in a way that I have never felt before.

Our house taken from in front of the woodland surrounding the proposed hostel.

Looking in the opposite direction towards the woodland surrounding the hostel.

Here is my quandary:

• I believe that whatever the offence people need to have the opportunity to face up to their problems, seek help and become useful citizens.
• If I believe that hostels such as this provide a useful service and would be content for such a hostel to be in the middle of someone else’s yard, then why not my own?
• I do not want to be associated with any kind of genteel ‘lynch mob’ seeking to deride the work of a professional who is working hard with offenders in order to change their behaviour, for the benefit of us all.
• I completely understand the feelings of my friends and neighbours in the community who are rightly very concerned about the impact such a place could have on their lives and homes.
• I believe in rehabilitation. I do not believe that everyone who offends should be locked up and the key thrown away.
• My daughter, who works for the probation service and has done counselling and rehabilitative programs with offenders, tells me that the sections of offence which will be dealt with at the hostel are serious ones.

There is a village meeting tonight and I shall go along to listen. I’m not convinced that the hostel will be represented in order to balance the argument.

I’ll let you know what happens and whether I really am a 'NOT IN MY BACK YARD' sort of person.

 Watch this space ...

UPDATE: The meeting is tonight rather than last night. I think I should make it clear that my friends and neighbours in the village are as far away from a 'lynch mob' as you could find. They are very tolerant, genuine and caring people. The age profile of the village means that most are either in or approaching retirement and really fear for the effects the proposed development will have on their lives.