Sir, – Arriving in Frankfurt Flughaven (Airport) on Monday evening I was struck by the subdued street lighting there compared with the fluorescent lighting of the wasteful Dublin I had just left behind. The autobahn to the centre of Frankfurt was virtually unlit until it came to its well planned end, close to the dominant Deutsch Bank Twin Towers in its centre. And then just moderate and adequate street lighting was in place. The comparison between the two cities on something as apparently trivial as lighting is perhaps symbolic of something deeper – no waste here, this is Germany.
From my experience of working every other week in Germany, it is a country where waste is in short supply and resourcefulness is in abundance. There is endless planning there, yet it can take only six weeks to gain planning approval for a new building or factory development. Travelling in excess of 250kph on the autobahn towards the centre of Frankfurt is not uncommon, yet road safety is high. Health and safety are important, yet traditional small industries such as distilling, craft food and brewing are cherished, not stifled by costly quangos. It is a country where good sense is more common than you might imagine. We can learn a lot from our German friends – and it is not all to do with austerity! – Yours, etc,