Greatness is about action, not how much money you can spend

That William Shakespeare quote came to me this week. “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.” Others, of course, just use the word great a lot. The late Tony Pidgley was an achiever of greatness. Born into very humble beginnings he wanted to do better, he wanted to deliver great things, to make real change, to build and develop real places. He wanted to create communities. His transformation of the Ferrier estate in south east London into Kidbrooke Village (pictured) was just one example of that. “Good development is all about people,” said Pidgley in these very pages. “It’s about making life better, creating beautiful homes and putting the wellbeing of the whole community at the heart of every plan. It’s about creating places people will love as their own and care for long after we’ve all gone.” Nobody could call the market like Pidgley could. He will be missed for his personality, passion and business nous. His legacy, his self-made greatness, will live on through his developments and the work of the Berkeley Foundation, of course, and through the very many memories the industry has of him – several of which are shared in a special tribute to the “guv’nor” of residential, as good friend Gerald Ronson called him, in this week’s issue. From a man who achieved greatness, to one who sits in a position of great power and can deliver a rousing speech, but unlike Pidgley, is not necessarily a stickler for the detail. BoJo’s “build, build, build” speech this week may well have been him trying to channel FDR, but did anyone else think it was just a bit “blah, blah, blah”? There was nothing particularly new – it was all trailed in the budget – and as always, there was no real substance. Just classic BoJoisms, a touch of humour and some chest thumping. Don’t get me wrong. I love a soapbox and the opportunity to chest thump and let’s face it, I do it every week here, but I’m not running a country (yet).  Compare Boris’ speech, so expertly written and full of superlatives, with that of Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, speaking live at EG’s virtual Future of Manchester event last week (you can read it in print next week) and you’ll hear the difference between those in positions of greatness and those that just want to do great things. Investing in infrastructure is, of course, needed. Unclogging the planning system is vital, and taking action on climate change is an absolute necessity. But have we (or rather, the government) learnt nothing from lockdown? Making it easier to turn vacant shops into residential is not the solution to saving the high street, enabling the “gentle densification” of towns and cities is not the solution to the housing problem, “levelling up” under the current definition is not the solution to ironing out inequality. These moves make it easier to deliver exactly what is not best for the people. Creating jobs, enabling innovation, providing affordable housing in communities with space and fresh air, the ability to be healthy and happy – that is what the people need, surely? As Burnham told us last week: “Levelling up has been code for concrete and steel so far. I don’t think you level up places by simply laying new roads or rail. You level up when you give people hope and help and ambition. That has been missed out of the conversation.” The challenge the country faces, said Burnham, is “a people challenge, not an infrastructure challenge.” Greatness is not about how much money you spend, the buildings you build or how rousing your speech can be. Greatness is about action, about changing people’s lives for the better, it is – borrowing Pidgley’s words again – about people’s quality of life and how they see it, not developers or politicians. To send feedback, e-mail samantha.mcclary@egi.co.uk or tweet @samanthamcclary or @estatesgazette