NIMBY – Not In My Back Yard
This acronym refers to the attitude of people who acknowledge the need for social or political action but refuse to accept it if it affects their own personal way of life. It was first used by American broadcast journalist Walter Rodgers in 1980 to describe antipathy towards landfill and construction projects, and over the past three decades it has become increasingly common. To be labelled a nimby is to be branded something of a hypocrite; someone who knows the right path for society but doesn’t want that path to carry muddy footprints through their own property.
The word has been applied to local pressure groups objecting to the building of airports, drug clinics, hazardous waste facilities, wind farms or new roads. Classic examples of nimbys might be affluent countryside dwellers who owe their wealth to industry, but are hell-bent on stopping industrial development from extending to their own idyllic community. In recent years many local community groups have spoken out against plans to locate groups of asylum seekers on their doorsteps, while emphasising that their actions are not based on racial prejudice. A typical nimby refrain might be: “We’re not saying we don’t want it to happen. We’re just saying we don’t want it to happen here”.
As the voice of the individual citizen and the chorus of the local pressure group has grown louder, the nimby has become more and more widely known. Landowners, industrial competitors and special interest groups are not shy about exercising their rights and many have employed specialist consultants for advice on how zoning battles can be fought and won, and how projects can be relocated. For better or worse, nimbys have become highly adept at fencing off their own back yards.
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