Last week started badly for me. I was woken early on Monday morning with the shocking news that probably the best-known and best-loved structure in my constituency was ablaze, from end to end. The Cutty Sark has a truly iconic status – renowned as one of the most beautiful and fastest sailing ships ever built. But she is not just a splendid reminder of the great age of sail. She is also an emblem of the community where she has found her home for the past 50 years. Together with all those involved in the preservation and care of this historic ship, I was touched by the outpouring of public concern and support, which came from all over the country and, indeed, the world, in the aftermath of the fire. At the same time, I was conscious of the impact on our community in Greenwich. Many residents told me how they felt a strong personal sense of grief at the presumed loss of a local landmark which meant a great deal to them and their families. All of this prompted thoughts about one of the key themes in debates about local government in recent months – namely, the importance of locality and the concept of ‘place shaping' – so well articulated by Sir Michael Lyons as a cornerstone of his report. There is widespread agreement that pride in one's locality is one of the key ingredients in a successful and thriving local community, and engendering this is a fundamental task for effective local government. But what are the factors which go to make up this sense of local identity? For some who think primarily about appearances, priority is given to the buildings and physical infrastructure from which an area takes its character. For others, social and economic issues and how an area meets the employment and recreational needs of its citizens is seen as key. For those interested in the league tables of life, pride of place goes to competitive success and capitalising on a locality's commercial, cultural or sporting prowess to give it the edge over others. All of these have a part to play, but how an area responds to a sudden shock or disaster is just as significant an indicator of the strength and vitality of the local community. After the immediate shock of seeing a much-treasured local icon in flames, the mood locally very rapidly transformed into one of determination to see the ship restored to her former glory once again. Although the nature and scale of the event was very different, the reaction of the people of Greenwich was reminiscent of the famed stoic resilience of Londoners confronted with the horror of the wartime Blitz or 2005's 7/7 bombings. One of the ironies of the Cutty Sark fire was it occurred while the ship was undergoing a major restoration programme. Because of that, much of the ship's fabric, its masts, spars, rigging and planking, had been removed for restoration, together with all the internal fittings, the cabins and saloon, the ship's wheel and the renowned figurehead. Mercifully, these all escaped the fire, so there are real grounds for optimism that the ship can and will be successfully restored. In this case, the skills of the construction team will be deployed to ensure that, as far as possible, the original character and indeed original materials are preserved, while creating a more accessible and spectacular setting for the ship. However, tragedies can also prompt transformational change, as the example of Manchester in the aftermath of the IRA bomb in the 1990s demonstrated. Rather than restore the far-from-lovely buildings damaged in that case, Manchester City Council seized the opportunity to create a new and more vibrant townscape. Whether it involves painstaking conservation or imaginative restructuring, the challenge for local leaders in the aftermath of such disasters is to harness local energy and commitment to the recovery process. If this is achieved successfully, then that vital ingredient of localism – pride in one's place – can be further enhanced. I hope we are able to achieve this in Greenwich. n Nick Raynsford is MP for Greenwich and former local government minister
