The government recently announced its proposal to set up a new body, the Greater Cambridge Development Corporation, stating that this is necessary to realise the potential for growth in this area. There is a consultation process, open until 1 April, so do have your say about this proposal which has huge implications for the future of our region.
According to the consultation document: “ Sustained economic growth is the only route to improving the prosperity of our country and the living standards of working people”. But what sort of growth, and will it be sustainable in the long term? I volunteered, within the Climate Leaders Group I belong to, to draft a response to the consultation. I did this by uploading a number of references which I thought were relevant to Claude.ai (a more ethical AI choice) and asking it to find more where I didn’t have evidence to support an argument. In the end we used 23 references, most of which are peer reviewed, and all of which are worth reading - if I couldn’t find evidence for a contention it is not included. I also gave the AI instructions about the main ideas I wanted to get across in my response: that growth must be within our planetary boundaries now and must contribute to more and better democratic engagement, not less. After 12 versions, in which I checked and edited every paragraph, I asked the AI to argue against my points, so that I would be more aware of what those with other points of view might think. This revealed where my arguments were weak or needed more support.
The final version, version 13, is linked below. This version has been shared widely, with the Climate Leaders and at the recent South Cambs Climate and Nature meeting with MP Pippa Heylings, where it was highlighted as one of the questions for her to address. She was complementary about the response, and addressed it thoughtfully, including revealing that her party, the LibDems, was involved in a process of re-evaluating how they wanted to define growth. It will be interesting to watch how that develops. A number of other community groups have also been in touch with me, wanting to build on or use the response as a reference. The version below is written as an email submission, but I have also created a version which is mapped to the consultation questions. I am happy to share either version - write to hnheco@gmail.com if you are interested.
Michelle Golder, co-chair
Greater Cambridge Development Corporation Consultation Response