Not Upon My Pavement Thank You

I've just coined a new phrase - I must admit, I had a little help from the Times.

Reporting on a case of Nimby (Not In My Back Yard)-ism, Nic Fildes of the Times refers to some residents of Muswell Hill, where BT is trialling super-fast broadband services, as having a "Not On My Pavement" attitude.

This makes the rather pleasing but nonsensical acronym NOMP. Immediately spotting the similarity to a slang term described by the Wiktionary as "an idiot or fool" I formed the acronym NUMPTY (Not Upon My Pavement Thank You) to describe these objectors.

John Crompton, treasurer of the Muswell Hill and Fortis Green Association, is one of the chief objectors to fibre-optic broadband trials according to the Times. Crompton's main problem is the size of the street cabinets being used - around 1.8 metres tall (just under six foot in old money), he refers to them as "unsightly".

"Technology is meant to be getting smaller," Crompton explains, aptly displaying his Numptyness. This comment is glib in the extreme, though if we want to make broad brushstrokes, I'd like to think that technology is actually meant to make our lives easier and better.

Crompton also thinks that street cabinets should be buried under the ground. So he'd rather see all the streets of Muswell Hill dug up causing roadworks and traffic congestion for months on end, would he?

I fully appreciate that many people want to preserve the character of their locale and prevent their eyes from getting sore from all the ugly signs of progress springing up all over the place. But a few street cabinets that are slightly bigger than the street cabinets that already exist is not exactly the same as demolishing prime examples of Georgian and Victorian architecture to make way for 1960s-style tower blocks, is it?

However, it seems the Numpties are winning. The London Borough of Haringey has been persuaded to block any more street cabinets being installed for now, though BT is hopeful of coming to an agreement so the trials can continue.