According to some, Uphill residents must accept change and stop living in the past. To them it seems that change and development are two and the same thing. Uphill was once all green fields so we must not complain if the remaining green fields are now built on. Change for the better should be welcomed. As a Society and as a village we must not live in the past. The Uphill 2000 and Uphill Jubilee celebrations have been a major attempt by the Village Society to celebrate what is good about the village and look encouragingly to the future.

However change for change sake and unwanted and unnecessary development is not something to be welcomed. It is destructive both to the physical fabric of the village and more importantly its community and identity.

Identity "Places, like people, do not need to be rich, famous or beautiful to have dignity. Identity is bound up with understanding yourself. A place that is self assured, confident and proud is a place that has more control of its destiny. A place which is losing its own identity because of pit closures, crowds of tourists, or huge developments is in danger of losing integrity. It is at its most vulnerable. Easily sold a line, easily seduced into short-term decisions, which might further degrade it. It needs to build its morale and to face the future."
© Common Ground

For pit closures you need only read Russell House, shops and businesses. For crowds of tourists you need only have the added influx caused by the creation of a recreational facility and the urbanisation of the hill nature reserves caused by the Tidal Trail and huge developments need only be additional development on green field sites and allotments to have a situation that could so easily be Uphill. So lets all make sure we work to retain our villages' identity and dignity. We should not opposed change were it is for good but should always oppose it when it is destructive to our identity and integrity. March 2002

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