Local Works write to Communities Minister, Greg Clark
Thu 26th January 2012
Today, organisations of the Local Works coalition wrote a joint letter to Communities Minister, Greg Clark, expressing their serious concerns about the threat of the Sustainable Communities Act being weakened, when it needs to be strengthened.
Please help by writing to your MP today. The government will soon be finalising new regulations that will govern the future process of the Act. More detail regarding our concerns is available here.
Please help save the Sustainable Communities Act!
Mon 28th November 2011
The Sustainable Communities Act is under serious threat. The radical new powers it gives you and your communities to influence government action risk being taken away.
Communities have already used the Act to make government take a whole range of actions, from helping to save local post offices and shops to promoting renewable energy.
However, government are planning to change the way the Act works and there is a real danger the Act will be seriously weakened. Government is due to put down new regulations very soon – likely to be before Christmas – governing how the Act will work in future. If the plans go ahead as set out in a recent consultation, the Act will be practically worthless. Years of hard campaigning that saw it made law will be wasted.
We need to campaign urgently to stop this but we can only do so with your help: please make a donation.
Our campaign to get the Act made law was all about reversing community decline. The Act has never been needed more than right now. We are facing severe cuts to local services that could have devastating effects on our communities.
This Act has set up the only way you can demand action from government to reverse this decline and actually see that action happen. Now there is a risk your powers will be taken away.
We can’t let this happen – we need to campaign to protect the Act.
So please donate and help us build the support necessary to convince government to change its plans: with your help, we can continue to fight for our communities.
1100 Town and Parish Councils supporting new planning reform proposal
Tue 18th October 2011
Local Works is calling on the government to agree to implement a proposal made under the Sustainable Communities Act that is all about why the campaign for the Act was originally started – ending ‘Ghost Town Britain’ and empowering local people.
The proposal was made under the Sustainable Communities Act by Leiston Town Council in Suffolk and the Suffolk Association of Local Councils in June. If agreed by the government it would apply nationally. 1,100 Town and Parish Councils across the country have formally given their support to the proposal (view them here.).
The proposal is a modest and reasonable suggestion for the government to amend planning guidance in a way that would help locally elected decision makers. In summary, the proposal is to require applicants of major developments to:
- attend a meeting of the local Town or Parish Council, or of a duly called Town Meeting, to answer questions on the application for development; and
- fund the council or duly called town meeting to commission an independent report on the application and critique of any reports that the applicant has submitted in support of the application for development.
This would help ensure local elected representatives could make their decision on whether an application should go ahead based on the best evidence.
Local Works has published an action briefing for MPs which contains the full proposal and rationale. View it here.
Local Works submit regulations consultation response
Mon 6th June 2011
The Local Works coalition have submitted a response to the government's consultation on the new regulations that will govern the future of the Sustainable Communities Act, soon to be put before Parliament.
We are concerned that the draft regulations contain some unintended shortcomings. Our consultation response contains our recommended changes and reasons for them.
You can download our consultation response here.
Have you used the Sustainable Communities Act? - We'd like to meet you
Tue 16th August 2011
Have you or your community group been involved in the Sustainable Communities Act in its first round in 2008-2009? If you have we (Local Works campaigners) would like to meet you and talk about it.
We will be going around the country over the next few months to talk people who were in involved in the Act in the first round. So if you were involved in your council’s engagement process, such as being part of their Citizens’ Panel or putting forward a proposal we would really like to hear from you. Your views count!
Please fill out this form.
News: Consultation on Sustainable Communities Act Regulations Published
Thu 31st March 2011
There are to be new regulations laid down by the government that will govern the future process of the Sustainable Communities Act. This is an opportunity to ensure that the Act's exciting new 'bottom-up' process is improved.
The government consultation on the regulations can be found here.
Local Works Publish Best Practice Guide for Councils
Local Works has published a best practice guide for councils on ways to engage their communities when using the Sustainable Communities Act.
The report details best practice observed by councils that have already used the Act to submit proposals to government for action to reverse community decline and protect and promote local sustainability.
Based on these observations, the guide also provides councils with suggested ways to engage their communities and a helpful suggested check list of key things that engagement should involve.
The report can be viewed and downloaded here.
Local Works would like to thank The Big Lottery Fund for making it possible to create this guide.
News: Government Announce The Second Invite for Proposals
Thu 16th December 2010
At a Local Works Parliamentary Reception last night, Decentralisation Minister, Greg Clark MP, launched the second invite to local authorities to submit proposals under the Sustainable Communities Act.
This is great news and means that you and your councils will be able to put forward ideas for government action to reverse community decline and promote local sustainability. The invite also sets up a 'rolling programme' so that citizens and councils can submit proposals as and when they are ready.
Local Works thanks Greg Clark for making this invitation. You can read the full invitation here.
200 Proposals short listed under the Act
1st Jan 2010
The Local Government Association (LGA), who have the role of 'Selector' under the Sustainable Communities Act, have short listed 200 proposals from the Act's 'first round' to be put forward to government.
Government will negotiate will the LGA over the coming months to reach a decision on which proposals to implement.
The proposals deal with a huge range of issues from housing and planning to public transport and democratic involvement. A list of all the short listed proposals can be viewed on the LGA's website here.
Has your council used the Act? - these maps will tell you
On 31 July 2009 100 Councils (district/borough/city and county) across England submitted proposals in the Sustainable Communities Act's 'first round' to combat community decline. A further 45 Councils have resolved to submit proposals in future rounds.
You can only use the radical new bottom-up powers in the Sustainable Communities Act if your council/s chooses to use it too! The maps and list below show the councils that have used the Act or are committed to using it in the future. If your council/s have not already committed to using the Act please write to them (and urge others to write too!), this sample letter will help you.
Maps of the areas covered by councils which have agreed to use the Act this year can be viewed here.
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A full list along with those Councils committed to using the Act in future rounds can be viewed here.
Note: the Sustainable Communities Act currently applies to England only
