Progression?

Progress I’m told, progression to what, the end?

The Green Belt is a brilliant idea, its unfortunate that it doesn’t live up to its name, it should be called the ‘progression zone’, or more aptly encroachment zone, with every sq metre of green land steadily getting encroached upon, with the blight of an urban lifestyle.

‘Suburban’ estates which are increasingly devoid of green, 3 metre front gardens, gravelled, with big steel fences enclosing them, wider tarmac paths and roads, houses squeezed side by side with just enough space to fit a wheelie bin down. Boxed back gardens with huge fences, like mini fortresses designed to keep everything out out and everything in in. Like the buildings themselves, no holes, no chance of a gap in the eaves, facer boards, or tiles, nowhere for insects to make their homes, never mind, House Sparrows, Starlings, Swifts, and Bats.

At least there’s still some wildlife corridors, the little voice in my head says, unfortunately not, wildlife corridors to what, monoculture crops? Wildlife unfriendly farms? And with 200 houses brings at least two hundred people, more like 800, and where do their gardens back onto? Where do they walk their dogs? The bottleneck that is now the ‘wildlife corridor’, 10 metres wide at the most, cleared of any greenery. The wildlife has nowhere to go but up or down, no escape into the impenetrable fortresses.

So in the end, a fragmented habitat, loosing its possibilities of what ifs, changing behaviours of its resident species, and cutting off those childhood lands. You can only hope that the time its been given has been enough, enough to develop those unique habitats, developed them enough to inspire people to protect them, or the endless goal of progression (greed) continues.

As I watch those dark storm clouds pass over ahead and the brilliant orange sun sets, I know all will be well in the end. It won’t be the end they were expecting, nature will reclaim its lost lands.