Demolition is evil. It is the spawn of Satan; an industry forged in the very fires of Hell.
If you listened to holier-than-thou politicians in recent months, you might believe that demolition was a phenomenon delivered unto the world by Beelzebub himself. Demolition contractors, wandering the streets in packs, demolishing all those lovely historic buildings without a by your leave; squandering embodied carbon like it was an infinite resource.
But just when politicians, academics and liberal media types were about to push demolition to the very sidelines, along comes a plague of crumbling concrete that could see schools, offices and other public buildings collapse before our very eyes.
And who will be called upon to take down those rapidly deteriorating buildings before a school falls onto a classroom of children and makes those politicians look silly? Why demolition contractors of course. You know, those same demolition contractors that were being pilloried and criticised just a week or two ago. Those same demolition contractors that were accused of causing undue harm to the planet might now be the very people to save the nation.
This is not the first time a British government has seen its decisions turn around and bite them in the rear. Successive governments have reduced spending on policing only to see crime rates increase. They have raised the Landfill Tax and reduced the number of available landfill sites, only to appear genuinely surprised by a rise in fly-tipping. They have slashed spending on the National Health Service only to have a global pandemic land in their collective lap. And they have cut spending on the nation’s defences to the point where a war between England and the Isle of Wight could go either way.
Good financial sense will dictate otherwise., of course But personally, if I were a demolition contractor, I would greet governmental cries for help with a two-word response. And the second word would be off.
That will not be the case. Like the aftermath of a natural disaster, the unplanned collapse of a structure, or the making safe of a building after a fire, demolition will leap to the rescue of the very people that are attempting to secure votes by labelling it as wasteful; a scourge upon the planet.
Demolition will work once again to clear up a mess left by others. It will be a thankless task performed for thankless people by companies and individuals that do not get the thanks nor the credit they so richly deserve.
