Sir, - Yet again the march of the bungalows surfaces in your columns, with Candida Crewe (March 22nd) as a visitor to our shores expressing outrage at our stark white bungalows in the landscapes of Cork and Kerry whilst Eve White (March 30th) delivered a satirical rebuff.
Should we pay heed to the fresh and critical perspective of our visitors? After all, if the prophets are to be believed there are limitless hordes of tourists out there just waiting to come and visit and share their wealth with us. But what if we find in some 10 or so years' time that our landscape has been so modified that there is little perceptive variation between the counties of Ireland and indeed between the landscape of Ireland and other parts of the developed world?
Do we believe that we will have invented or discovered another product to sell to future tourists? Perhaps there are great possibilities out there for the likes of gambling casinos, artificial ski slopes in the Kerry mountains, a few Disney style heritage parks featuring fibreglass models of the sublime landscapes of Ireland (as they were in the 1900s).
However, of course the sustainable life of such tourist products tends to be short and they will need to be replaced with something more exciting five or 10 years on. Fas and Bord Failte could organise training courses in Las Vegas and Orlando, Florida.
Is not the simpler and saner answer for us to appreciate the value of the landscape that we possess, which is a potentially renewable tourist resource with a limitless life. It doesn't have to be a question of a landscape devoid of modern, comfortable houses, but it does need sensitivity and understanding with regard to landscape management.
How do we bring this awareness among the general population? Planning regulations alone will not achieve the desired result. Should we consider the enlargement of our individual NIMBY box (Not In My Back Yard)? Virtually everyone has a geographical limit or NIMBY box within which they will express environmental and aesthetic concern. It may be limited to the boundaries of their own property, or indeed to the four walls of their dwelling house. But can we extend that limit to encompass the village, the district, the county, the country?
To do so, we must explore the concept of landscape quality and its evolution. We must look critically at our familiar landscape (through tourists eyes!) and ask ourselves the question, does this landscape have quality, could it be better, where have we got it right, and where have we gone wrong?
The National Landscape Forum 96 which takes place at the UCD Industry Centre on May 7th next attempts to address the issues raised by change within the landscape engendered by bungalows, factories, motorways, sewage treatment works, forestry etc. It will be of interest to all of those who already occupy a large MINBY box or who would wish to enlarge their present one. - Yours, etc..
Landscape Alliance Ireland,
Old Abbey Gardens,
Waterfall,
Cork.