In today's "modern" world we are in an advancing age where information is an important factor, both the freedom and availability. Great Britain is moving with the changing times and the economy relies on the commercial service industries rather than the secondary processing industries that went before it. So why are we spending money and resources demolishing the chimneys, which remain one of the only reminders of the previous industrial age.
The first factor that can come into consideration is that of space. Cities are growing rapidly engulfing the villages and towns that surround them, therefore the countryside has been declared something that we should look after and respect into the future. Therefore the developments are being denied the permission to build on the fields that surround our towns, they therefore need a place to build and development what they want. For example, if you were going to build a large out of town supermarket on a nice piece of flat land but were denied permission, just down the round is an abandoned factory of which only a chimney remains. This ground is not countryside and may have some buildings that can be used; therefore the developers can build on this land instead. So when you drive past your local supermarket selling all the mobile phones, computers, CD's and even food try to remember what occupied the space before it.
The idea of space isn't the only deciding factor in the choice to blow up these chimneys, the idea of image is also important. A town council may be embarking in a rejuvenation scheme in the area to attract both commercial industry and housing developers, a very large chimney sticking out of the town could be considered as an eye-saw and a turn off for that town.
We also find that as these very tall chimneys grow older they become increasingly unstable and unsafe, therefore it is safer to pull them down before they become a danger to the public.
A possible reason may be the council is having a public relations problem and they are looking for something quite public to try to boost their profile to make it look as if they are doing something to help the environment.
We are no longer in an age of heavy polluting industries and these chimneys are no longer required, the space that they occupy can be used a lot more productively and that is why chimneys are being pulled down.
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