Chapter 7
Building Sustainable Communities

• Home
• What is sustainable development?
• Advice & support
• What Government is doing
• International
• Reviewing progress
• Publications
• About us

We need to build sustainable communities in our cities, towns and rural areas by:

• strengthening regional and local economies;
• meeting people's social needs: promoting better health, housing and access to services and recreation;
• improving local surroundings: revitalising town centres, tackling degraded urban environments, and ensuring that development respects the character of our countryside;
• reducing crime and the fear of crime;
• addressing problems of poverty and social exclusion in the most deprived communities;
• making it easier for people to get involved in their communities;
• co-ordinating policies to bring these objectives together.

7.1 Thriving regions, cities, towns, villages and neighbourhoods are fundamental to quality of life. Strong economies, employment opportunities, good access to services, and attractive and safe surroundings are vital for their sustainable development. We need to achieve these in ways which make good use of natural resources, protect the environment and promote social cohesion.

7.2 Wherever we look, there are connections. Improving health involves tackling poverty, poor housing and degraded local environments. Policies on urban living and rural development go hand in hand with those to protect the countryside. Locating development and services to reduce the need for travel is essential if we are to tackle road traffic growth and climate change.

7.3 We need policies which make these links. The Government is delivering these in areas such as regional development, planning, transport, health, housing, regeneration, and local government. An integrated approach is also needed at other levels, for example in regional organisations and local government.

7.4 The skills and enthusiasm of local people, voluntary bodies, and business are vital for change. Building sustainable communities is about improvements to the places where people live and work, and giving them the chance to play their part in shaping change.

Top

Promoting economic vitality and employment

7.5 To build sustainable communities right across the country, prosperity and employment opportunities need to be widely distributed. There are considerable regional disparities in economic performance. We need to increase prosperity at regional and local level while maintaining and enhancing other aspects of quality of life. National initiatives to promote skills, investment and job opportunities, outlined in chapter 6, must be complemented by action at regional and local level.

Figure 7.1 Regional variations in GDP1

Top

REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT

7.6 In England, Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) will develop and implement strategies which relate to their statutory purposes: economic development and regeneration; business efficiency and skills; innovation and competitiveness; employment, and sustainable development. The strategies will aim to improve economic performance, enhance regional competitiveness and provide regional frameworks which will ensure a better strategic focus for and co-ordination of activity in the region, whether at regional or local level.

7.7 RDAs have been given guidance which stresses the need for them to take an integrated and sustainable approach to regional economic issues, tackling business competitiveness and the need to increase productivity, and the underlying problems of unemployment, skills shortages and physical decay. RDAs will join up and develop links between these areas. Their strategies will set the framework for economic decision-taking in their regions, whether by Government, the RDAs, or other bodies at regional and local levels.

7.8 In Wales, the Welsh Development Agency exists to further economic development, to promote industrial efficiency and international competitiveness, and to improve the environment. Sustainable development, including the creation of sustainable communities, is at the heart of its aims.

7.9 Pathway to Prosperity: a new economic agenda for Waleswas published by the Welsh Office in July 1998. Its objectives are to spread prosperity throughout Wales, to raise employment rates, and to reduce the gap in GDP per head between Wales and the rest of the UK.

7.10 In Northern Ireland, each of the five agencies currently working for the economic development of the region has a remit to take account of the Government's overall policy on sustainable development.

Top

LOCAL PROSPERITY

7.11 Local communities need to share in growing overall prosperity. In general, sustainable local economies will include a robust mix of businesses and job opportunities. Areas heavily dependent on a single industry or employer can be least able to adapt to change. A climate which favours formation of new small businesses helps to promote local business diversity. In its Competitiveness White Paper and in the 1999 Budget, the Government outlined measures to achieve this.

7.12 Encouraging local enterprise and local products does not imply that local communities should be 'self-sufficient', meeting all their needs from within their own boundaries. While it is important not to overlook the environmental impacts of transport, an exclusive focus on local products is neither feasible nor necessary. It would ignore the interdependence of areas, regions and countries; and the aspirations of people in the UK and in developing countries to improve their standards of living through trade.

Figure 7.2 Index of local deprivation

Top

EXTENDING OPPORTUNITY

7.13 Over the last twenty years, the number of people in relative poverty has risen sharply, particularly in the 1980s, and the numbers in workless households have doubled. The UK has seen a rise in income inequality almost unique among developed countries. Closing the gap between the poorest communities and the rest is a particular challenge. Around 65 local authority areas in England have high levels of deprivation, many more contain pockets of severe deprivation.

7.14 The seeds of poverty and lack of opportunity are sown in childhood. Children who grow up in disadvantaged families are less likely to succeed in education, and more likely to be disadvantaged as adults. Yet households with children are disproportionately likely to be poor. In March 1999, the Prime Minister set out the Government's aim of ending child poverty over the next twenty years.

7.15 Work and access to work are the key to tackling poverty and extending opportunity. The policies set out in chapter 6, including the £5.2 billion of welfare to work initiatives, are designed to address this. And we have to deal with inter-related problems of unemployment, crime, poor health, housing, and education, and degraded local surroundings. In 1997, the Government set up the Social Exclusion Unit to co-ordinate and improve policies to tackle such problems in England. Its recent work on poor neighbourhoods has led to the establishment of 18 Policy Action Teams. Their work will lead, in the next year, to a national strategy for neighbourhood renewal. Action is also under way in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

7.16 Action targeted at specific communities and groups is important, building on national initiatives such as on welfare to work. For example:

Top

• the Government is setting up Employment Zones, which will try out new approaches to help people in areas with high long-term unemployment to obtain and keep jobs;
• Education Action Zones have been set up to raise standards in clusters of schools facing challenging circumstances;
• the recently announced 'Excellence in Cities' programme will raise standards of education, create new opportunities and tackle barriers to learning in inner cities;
• the New Deal for Communities is a regeneration programme in England which will tackle problems of multiple deprivation;
• a Policy Action Team established by the Social Exclusion Unit will produce an action plan with targets for reducing disproportionate unemployment among ethnic minorities. Young black men are two to three times as likely to be unemployed as white men with similar educational qualifications;
• in rural areas, the former Rural Development Commission's work on social exclusion is being continued by the new Countryside Agency;
• the Government is investing an additional £354 million in regeneration of coalfield areas, in response to the Coalfields Task Force Report.

Top

New Deal for Communities

The New Deal for Communities is a major new programme to fund regeneration of some of the poorest neighbourhoods, addressing problems such as poor job prospects, high levels of crime, educational underachievement and poor health. It will promote innovative local solutions, supporting partnerships of local people, community and voluntary organisations, public agencies, local authorities and business. The Government will ensure that it is integrated with initiatives such as those on employment and education.

The Government has asked partnerships to take account of sustainable development, and to seek opportunities for using previously developed and vacant urban sites and locating facilities which are readily accessible by public transport, cycling or walking.

7.17 The Government will report annually on overall progress to tackle the causes of poverty and social exclusion. The first report will be published later in 1999. It will include a range of indicators covering such areas as unemployment, low educational attainment, poor housing, and poor health, which can be used in assessing success in reducing poverty and social exclusion.

7.18 There are often opportunities for local projects to promote regeneration and employment to reinforce other sustainable development objectives. Guidance on bids for funding under the Government's Single Regeneration Budget explains that they should take sustainable development into account, and the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions has published a best practice guide on sustainable regeneration.

Top

Regeneration for sustainable development

In the South Wales Valleys, the Taff Bargoed Community Revival Strategy has used Welsh Office, Welsh Development Agency, European and Millennium grants to refurbish the former British Coal Trelewis drift mine for business development, training and associated uses, and for environmental works. Over 200 jobs are expected. A Community Park is being created on derelict land and the Welsh International Climbing Centre forms the centrepiece of an outdoor environmental and leisure complex.

Top

Key actions and commitments

• Regional Development Agencies in England formulating strategies for their regions which contribute to sustainable development
• Sustainable development at the heart of economic development bodies in Wales and Northern Ireland
• Social Exclusion Unit to produce a national strategy for neighbourhood renewal in England
• New Deal for Communities
• Annual report on Government's strategy to reduce poverty and social exclusion

Top

Indicators

Index of Local Deprivation

Regional variations in GDP

Indicators of success in tackling poverty and social exclusion (to be developed)

New business start ups and failures

Ethnic minority unemployment

Indicators of employment in chapter 6

Top

Meeting social needs

BETTER HEALTH FOR ALL

7.19 Health has improved enormously this century. In 1900, 154 babies in every thousand in England and Wales died before the age of one, compared with 6 now. Male life expectancy in England and Wales was around 45 years. Now it is around 74 years.

7.20 But more can be done. Life expectancy in Britain is less than in several other European countries. Health inequalities have grown since the early 1980s. Environmental factors still affect health: up to 24,000 vulnerable people are estimated to die prematurely each year because of exposure to air pollution, much of which is due to road traffic.

7.21 The National Health Service will continue to provide people with access to effective health care, based on patients' needs, and not on where they live or their ability to pay. As the proportion of older people in the population increases, the Government is aiming to raise the quality of services for this group.

7.22 Improved health is not just about a better National Health Service. We need to think about the causes of ill health and how to secure healthier life spans, not simply longer ones. We have to address pollution, unhealthy lifestyles, poverty, worklessness, poor housing, and low educational attainment, all of which the Acheson Report¹ on health inequalities confirmed as major factors leading to poor health.

Figure 7.3 Health inequalities

Top

7.23 The Government's 1998 Green Paper, Our Healthier Nation², outlined a strategy to deliver key health targets in England based on:

• healthy schools: improving health awareness of young people, and health promotion in schools. The Department of Health and the Department for Education and Employment launched the Healthy Schools Initiative in May 1998;
• healthy workplaces: promoting health (including health and safety) in business and organisational life through the Healthy Workplace Initiative, with the message Improving Health is Everyone's Business. This joint initiative with the Health And Safety Commission/Executive involves employers, workers, trades unions and health professionals working together to create healthier workplaces.
• healthy neighbourhoods: reinforcing cross-sector action at local level. Health Action Zones are being set up to reduce health inequalities and improve services, through partnerships between the NHS, local authorities, community groups, the voluntary sector and business.

Top

Our Healthier Nation

The Green Paper, Our Healthier Nation, proposed a national target in each of four priority areas:

• to reduce by 2010 the death rate from heart disease, stroke and related illnesses amongst people under 65 by at least a third;
• to reduce by 2010 the death rate from cancer amongst people under 65 by at least a fifth;
• to reduce by 2010 the death rate from suicide and undetermined injury by at least a sixth;
• to reduce by 2010 the rate of accidents by at least a fifth.

7.24 The Government will publish its Health White Paper shortly; a separate Scottish White Paper was published in February 1999³. In Wales, the Welsh Office issued a consultation paper Better Health, Better Wales⁴, in 1998. The Government has published Well into 2000, which sets out its vision for improving health and well-being in Northern Ireland. In addition, the Government is reviewing the UK National Environmental Health Action Plan for the World Health Organisation's Ministerial conference on environment and health in London in June 1999.

Top

Health and sustainable development

• The World Health Organisation's Healthy Cities Programme promotes an integrated approach to enhance people's physical, social, mental and environmental well-being. Glasgow, Liverpool, Belfast, and Camden & Islington are long-standing participants, and Newcastle, Stoke-on-Trent, Sheffield, and Manchester have recently been designated within an expanded programme in the European Region. London also hopes to become a World Healthy City under the global WHO programme currently in development.
• 'Improvements in health' is a key theme of Lancashire County Council's Green Audit. Indicators of low birth weight, death rates, years of life lost and long term illness are part of a broad picture of sustainable development which considers links between health and factors such as unemployment.

7.25 At local level, sustainable development and health strategies must reinforce each other. Health features in many Local Agenda 21 strategies (see 7.80). Locally run Healthy Living Centres, funded through the National Lottery New Opportunities Fund, will reach about 20% of the population and will address wider issues affecting health, including access to services. Small-scale, local initiatives can promote health and well-being through improvements in diet, exercise and self-esteem.

Top

Food for health

• Gardening for Health is a community gardening project set up within Bradford's Bangladeshi community to encourage community participation, physical activity, healthy eating and relaxation, and to provide social support for Bangladeshi women who may be particularly isolated from wider society.
• Clayton Brook Food Co-operative was set up in 1996 by residents on a Housing Association owned estate in Lancashire. The estate had few facilities and no local access to fresh fruit and vegetables. The volunteer run co-op has grown to more than 130 members. It has provided access to fresh food, boosted the image of the estate and inspired a further community initiative. Source: LGMB.

Top

LESS TRAVEL, BETTER ACCESS

7.26 The car has brought many economic and social benefits. But journeys are getting longer, and more are made by car. The cost of congestion runs into billions of pounds each year. Road transport is a major source of carbon dioxide emissions. Air pollution from traffic damages health.

7.27 The dominance of the car limits choice and opportunity, constraining the transport options available, particularly for those without a car. Inadequate public transport and services which are difficult to reach add to hardship for the least well-off. In England, 75% of rural parishes have a limited bus service, 70% no general store, and over 80% no general practitioner based in the parish.

7.28 We need good public transport, well maintained roads and better conditions for cyclists and pedestrians. We need to consider our own lifestyles - not driving where walking is a straightforward alternative. And we need better access to services with less need to travel. The link between rising prosperity and increased travel must be broken.

7.29 In its 1998 White Papers in England⁵ and Scotland,⁶ and supporting documents in Wales⁷ and Northern Ireland,⁸ the Government set out a radical new integrated transport policy, designed to:

• improve choice in transport;
• reduce the need to travel while improving access to education, jobs, leisure and services;
• reduce environmental impacts from transport: on greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution and noise, habitats and wildlife;
• improve transport safety and security.

Figure 7.4 Average journey length by purpose

Top

7.30 Policy measures include:

• local transport plans;
• revisions to planning guidance and new regional transport strategies in England with emphasis on siting major developments where good public transport exists or can be ensured;
• powers for local authorities to levy charges on road users or on workplace parking, with revenues ploughed back into better local transport;
• a new Strategic Rail Authority; and measures to ensure better bus services and better management and maintenance of trunk roads and motorways;
• promoting alternatives to the car through green transport and school travel plans.

7.31 A new Commission for Integrated Transport will advise on targets, including for public transport and on road traffic.

7.32 Everyone has a part to play. The Government is working to help business and other organisations, such as schools and hospitals, to develop Green Transport Plans to reduce the impacts of travel to and during work. Government Departments have targets for introducing such plans by March 1999 in larger buildings, and March 2000 elsewhere. The Government is also promoting safer travel to school through the School Travel Advisory Group and by working in partnership with groups like Sustrans and the Pedestrians Association.

Figure 7.5 Distance travelled relative to income

Top

7.33 Basic services - a supermarket, post office, doctor, clinic, chemist or launderette - are often either non-existent in poor neighbourhoods, or charge high prices. Crime and poor public transport have added to these problems. One of the Policy Action Teams established by the Social Exclusion Unit is developing a strategy to improve access to shopping in deprived areas.

7.34 Access is a key issue for disabled people. The Disability Discrimination Act will ensure that disabled people have access to a wider range of goods, services and facilities. The measures will benefit others, including parents with children in prams and the elderly.

7.35 Access to services is not easy to measure. A sustainable development indicator needs to reflect ease of access by means other than a car. Nor does distance from services tell the whole story. In future, the potential for using information technology to improve access to services will grow. We should develop that potential in ways which do not add to social exclusion or lead to further dispersal of settlement.

Figure 7.6 People finding access difficult

Top

COMMUNITY ENTERPRISE AND FINANCIAL SERVICES

7.36 Community-based enterprises can provide access to goods or services in areas where they might not otherwise be available or affordable, or enhance existing services. They often support other objectives - developing skills, creating and retaining wealth within communities, and improving local environments. In some cases, social objectives take precedence over commercial financial returns.

7.37 The Government will continue to encourage innovative community enterprise, in particular through the Single Regeneration Budget (SRB). Under Round 5 of the SRB, local partnerships can devote up to 10% of their funding to projects such as credit unions, development trusts, local exchange and trading systems (LETS) and community enterprise.

Top

Community Enterprise schemes

Liverpool Furniture Resource Centre was formed nine years ago as a traditional furniture recycling scheme. It evolved to refurbish then manufacture furniture for rented accommodation, giving tenants access to accommodation with higher quality furniture than they could otherwise afford. Housing providers benefit through the incentive it gives for take up of empty properties, and those involved in production and distribution have benefited from training.

Source: Enabling Community Enterprise, LGMB 1998

7.38 Most of us take access to affordable loans for granted. But in deprived areas traditional forms of borrowing - for example from mainstream banks - are not always available. Local credit unions - self-help organisations for savings and low cost loans, which are owned and managed by their members - can address problems of personal debt and can, to some extent, provide loan finance to members setting themselves up in business. Credit unions need to be financially viable if they are to have a future and one of the Policy Action Teams set up by the Social Exclusion Unit is currently considering how they might be most effectively funded and operated.

Top

St Malachy's Credit Union

This not for profit company, set up in 1989, offers financial services to people living or working in the area around St Malachy's Roman Catholic Church in Illingworth, Halifax. It encourages members to save regularly, however small the amount. It also aims to provide members with access to low cost credit and a junior section in local schools allows children to improve their money management skills.

Source: Forum for the Future Local Economy Programme

Top

ACCESS TO CULTURE AND SPORT

7.39 The arts and sport make a significant contribution to quality of life and should be accessible to everyone. They can also contribute significantly to regeneration and bring communities together.

7.40 The Government has an overall aim of 'Sport for All'. To ensure increased access in England, Sport England (formerly the English Sports Council), through the Lottery Sports Fund, will be aiming to fund the creation of 6,000 new sports facilities and to establish a new fund for projects which will enhance sporting opportunities for over 2 million people.

7.41 As part of work towards a national strategy for neighbourhood renewal, a Policy Action Team is looking at how to maximise the benefit of arts, sport and leisure for poor neighbourhoods, and particularly disaffected young people and ethnic minorities. The National Lottery distributors are also being encouraged to demonstrate how their strategies contribute to better access and neighbourhood regeneration.

7.42 The New Audiences Fund aims to increase access to the arts throughout England. Grants are made to pilot projects which tackle audience development issues and access in rural areas. These can be specialised marketing initiatives or as simple as tying in free transport from outlying rural areas with specific performances.

Top

ACCESS TO HOUSING

7.43 Decent, energy efficient homes contribute to social cohesion, improved health and better use of fossil fuels and other resources. Housing plays a key role in urban renewal and local regeneration.

7.44 The Government aims to offer everyone the opportunity of a decent home. Most people in the UK want to own their homes: 68% of households in England are now owner-occupiers, compared with only 10% in 1900. The Government supports home ownership mainly through its economic policies, promoting stability in the housing market and ensuring a fair deal for consumers. For those who need help with housing, the Government provides cash benefits to cover individuals' housing costs, subsidies for housing let at sub-market rents by local councils and social landlords, and grants to organisations who help vulnerable members of society. Financial support is backed up by statutory obligations to help people in priority need, such as homeless households.

7.45 Most UK housing is of good quality and the overall condition of the stock is improving. However, just over 7% of the stock in England fails the current fitness standard. In England, a quarter of people from ethnic minorities, a quarter of unemployed people, and nearly one in five lone parents are in poor housing.

7.46 In addition, while overall demand for housing grows, there is a decline in demand in some areas, with near abandonment of neighbourhoods in a few cases. In England just under 4% of the housing stock is vacant.⁹ The vast majority of those properties are privately owned. There is scope to make better use of empty homes, although a certain level of vacancies is necessary for an efficient housing market and to allow mobility.

7.47 The Government is making available an extra £5 billion for investment in housing during this Parliament. This will enable local authorities to tackle housing in poor condition and invest to meet housing needs. There is an increased emphasis on local decision-making based on assessments of local needs for all forms of housing, and on long-term local housing strategies drawn up by authorities in partnership with communities and integrated with other objectives and programmes.

7.48 Local housing strategies should look at problems of poor condition and social exclusion in existing stock, and the scope for making better use of empty or under-utilised homes, as well as the need for new housing. They should also set housing in wider contexts which take account of local employment opportunities, health services, schools, and crime. This is the approach taken by the Single Regeneration Budget and the New Deal for Communities.

7.49 As required by the Home Energy Conservation Act 1995 (HECA), local authorities are also implementing measures to improve significantly the energy efficiency of all residential accommodation their area. By integrating energy efficiency with other programmes covering issues such as health, education and the environment, local authorities can deliver improvements in line with their wider interest in local sustainability issues.

Top

Fuel poverty

Over 4.3 million households in England are "fuel poor", spending 10% or more of their income on keeping warm. Nearly 800,000 of them need to spend 20% or more.¹⁰

Following the Comprehensive Spending Review, £375 million will be spent between 1999 and 2002 on programmes directly targeted at fuel poverty. The target is to install energy efficiency measures in 1 million buildings by 2002. The Government is also reviewing its overall fuel poverty policy, and will consult on proposals this Spring.

Most of the extra resources being made available for housing more generally are expected to be invested in stock refurbishment, complementing fuel poverty programmes and delivering additional improvements in energy efficiency.

7.50 The Government is working to improve housing management and ensure that tenants are fully involved in decisions. It has consulted on a Best Value framework for housing (see para 7.80), and on proposals to introduce Tenant Participation Compacts in every local authority by April 2000.

7.51 The Empty Homes Agency is funded by Government to work with local authorities to tackle the problems of vacant housing and to convert disused commercial property for residential use. Policy Action Teams established following the Social Exclusion Unit's report on neighbourhood renewal will make recommendations for tackling the problems of unpopular housing and for raising standards of housing management.

7.52 The Government has launched a new initiative to improve the quality of housing, with the publication of a set of Housing Quality Indicators. These allow designers to evaluate aspects such as internal and external layout, space standards, construction and energy efficiency. Initially, they will be used for new publicly funded housing schemes but they will be tested to assess their potential for use across new and existing stock in both public and private sectors.

7.53 Later this year, the Government will publish a Housing Policy Green Paper, aimed at ensuring that everyone has the opportunity of a decent home.

Top

Key actions and commitments

• Health White Paper targets
• Integrated transport policy: Commission for Integrated Transport to advise on future targets for public transport and road traffic
• Fuel poverty strategy consultation in Spring 1999; energy efficiency measures to be installed in 1 million buildings by 2002
• Major investment in housing; local authority housing strategies to incorporate sustainable development objectives

Top

Indicators

Expected years of healthy life (headline)

Health inequalities

Health indicators on heart disease and strokes, cancer, accidents and mental health

Respiratory illness

Hospital waiting lists

Road traffic (headline)

Average journey length by purpose

Passenger travel by mode

Traffic congestion

Distance travelled relative to income

How children get to school

People finding access difficult

Access for the disabled (to be developed)

Access to rural services

Participation in sport and cultural activities

Homes judged unfit to live in (headline)

Temporary accommodation

Fuel poverty

Top

Shaping our surroundings

7.54 Attractive streets and buildings, low levels of traffic, noise and pollution, green spaces, and community safety, are fundamental to a good quality of life whether in city, town, or village. Failure to address these issues, or to accommodate change, can lead to long-term decline.

7.55 We also need to consider the role of cities, towns and villages within wider regions. New developments must be planned in ways which revitalise our urban areas, ensure thriving rural communities, conserve the historic environment and maintain the character of our townscapes and countryside.

Top

BETTER PLANNING AND DESIGN

7.56 Many respondents to Opportunities for changeand to the consultation exercise carried out by the Government's Urban Task Force identified neighbourhoods with easy access to services and a mix of uses as the basis for sustainable communities of the future. In order to create more sustainable patterns of development, we need to:

• concentrate the majority of new development within existing urban areas;
• reduce the need to travel in planning the location of new development;
• reuse previously developed land, bring empty homes back into use and convert buildings to new uses;
• extend existing urban areas rather than building isolated new settlements; and
• encourage a high quality environment with the provision of green spaces.

Top

7.57 Land use planning policies should promote regeneration, social inclusion and more sustainable patterns of development. In particular, shopping, leisure and entertainment, offices and other key town centre uses should, wherever possible, be located within existing centres. Before development is allowed outside such centres, developers must first demonstrate that there is no more central site and that there is an unmet need for the development - the so-called 'sequential approach'.

7.58 The land use planning system will also be used to promote safe and convenient links between homes, jobs and facilities, by walking, cycling and public transport, and to encourage siting of high density developments near existing transport corridors and town centres. The Government is also encouraging mixed use development which integrates housing - including affordable housing - with shops and employment opportunities. These measures will help to strengthen urban and rural communities, reduce the need to travel and better serve a range of people including the elderly, women, the young and those who lack access to a car.

7.59 The Government has set a target of 60% of additional households in England to be built on previously developed land, or provided through conversions, by 2008. This will contribute to urban regeneration as well as protection of the green belt and countryside.

7.60 The Government has also outlined its approach to planning for housing needs and development in England in Planning for the Communities of the Future,¹¹ and is consulting on revised planning guidance on housing. Revised guidance on transport is in preparation. In October 1998, it published Planning for Sustainable Development: Towards Better Practice,¹² which gives advice to local authorities on how to build sustainable development into their development plans and planning decisions. Revised guidance on development plans emphasises the importance of sustainable development in formulating development plan policies and proposals.¹³

Figure 7.7 Retail floorspace in town centres and out of town

Top

7.61 Planning for Sustainable Development: Towards Better Practiceincludes advice on energy efficiency in development plans, including identifying opportunities for combined heat and power schemes in new developments, site layout and orientation to maximise energy efficient, and criteria for the design of buildings. Forthcoming guidance will promote good design in housing and the planning system, including density, layout and provision of local facilities.

7.62 The Government is setting up a new lead body to champion good quality architecture and urban design - considering individual buildings, new developments and their settings, including the historic environment. It will foster community interest and involvement through a range of educational and promotional initiatives.

Top

LOCAL ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

7.63 Noise, poor air quality, litter, graffiti, vandalism, dereliction and vacant properties may be symptoms of wider problems, but can themselves promote a spiral of degradation. Noise adds to stress, and poor air quality damages health.

7.64 The focus on local action within the Government's policies on air quality and transport will improve local environments through reduced air pollution, congestion and noise. Under the Government's Best Value initiative local authorities in England and Wales will need to report annually on their performance in delivering services, including progress in dealing with problems such as vandalism, graffiti, litter and noise. The Best Value Performance plan will need to reflect authorities' corporate objectives, including sustainable development and environmental matters.

7.65 Poor local environmental quality can detract from town and city living in particular and act as a barrier to an urban renaissance. Improvements to derelict sites and properties make areas more attractive for residents and business. Regeneration policies and action on vacant homes and disused commercial property will help to overcome problems. Making towns and cities attractive places in which to live will be one of the issues addressed in the forthcoming Urban White Paper.

7.66 We need to improve open space and wildlife habitats in and around our towns and cities. Opportunities should be taken to create more green spaces - providing places for community activities or local nature reserves, as well as formal parks and gardens - and to make better use of those we have, for example by encouraging schools to share their facilities with the wider community. In urban areas, rich wildlife sites have grown up on many areas of derelict land and plans for their future development should look for opportunities to conserve the benefits that have accidentally been created.

7.67 Initiatives such as Community Forests, the Central Scotland Forest and the Amman Gwendraeth initiative in the Welsh valleys are creating new woodlands, delivering access, recreation, land reclamation, education and biodiversity benefits in and around towns and cities.

7.68 The Government will issue guidance for local authorities on ways of using trees and forestry in regeneration and improvement, particularly of urban and surrounding areas. It will also promote better care of existing urban trees through advice and information, supported by research.

Figure 7.8 Quality of surroundings

Top

7.69 Starting later this year, the National Lottery New Opportunities Fund's Green Spaces and Sustainable Communitiesinitiative will provide grants for local environmental improvement, including through community groups.

7.70 We also need to reinforce local distinctiveness and heritage. This means conservation and re-use of existing buildings, and ensuring that development takes account of history and landscape. While not all the historic environment can be kept unchanged, we need to look for opportunities to conserve local heritage in ways which make good use of physical resources and contribute to economic and social objectives: for example by re-using historic buildings for housing, business premises, community space, or tourism.

7.71 Business, local authorities, tourism and conservation bodies can work in partnership - for example, through Heritage Economic Regeneration Schemes, part of English Heritage's new strategy for conservation-led regeneration. Grants are also available through the Heritage Lottery Fund's Urban Parks Programme and Townscape Heritage Initiative.

7.72 Where areas are already of high quality, careful management is needed - for example, to guard against inappropriate new development or to manage the impacts of tourism. Properly managed and developed, tourism can underpin economic activity, support services, and assist conservation and enhancement of the local environment. The new national body for tourism in England and regional tourist boards will promote development of visitor management plans.

Top

Heritage and Regeneration

Baltic Flour Mill, Gateshead
English Partnerships has invested £4.7 million to convert a disused flour mill on the south bank of the River Tyne into a contemporary art gallery, in partnership with Gateshead Metropolitan Borough Council, Northern Arts and the private sector. The development is helping to attract private sector development to the south bank of the river.

Lauderdale House, Dunbar, East Lothian
This was a prominent, but derelict, 18th Century building in Dunbar town centre. It now provides 27 homes for single people, the elderly and families. A flagship for the Dunbar Initiative, the project was supported by Scottish Homes, Historic Scotland, the local authority, the local enterprise company and Scottish Power, as well as private finance.

7.73 The Government will be working to develop indicators to measure conservation of the entire historic environment. In the meantime, an indicator of listed buildings at risk of decay will be included in the national set of sustainable development indicators.

Top

REDUCING CRIME AND THE FEAR OF CRIME

7.74 Everyone has a right to live in a community that is safe. Crime reinforces social exclusion and decline. It makes people reluctant to walk or to take public transport. It imposes economic costs. There has been a long-term rise in crime, although some offences have declined in recent years. Much acquisitive crime, such as shoplifting and burglary, is committed by drug misusing offenders to feed their habits. Fear of crime is common, particularly among women - over a quarter are very worried about physical attack.

7.75 The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 requires local authorities and police in England and Wales to implement strategies to reduce crime and disorder. In doing so, they must work in partnership with other local organisations and consult widely with the local community. A new £250 million crime reduction programme was announced in July 1998, including pilot projects targeted at families, children and schools, burglary, targeted policing, sentencing, crime-resistant products, and reducing the risk of re-offending.

7.76 Overall policies on regeneration, planning, transport and social exclusion will all play a part in reducing crime. Community safety is emphasised in programmes such as the Single Regeneration Budget and Safer Cities. The Government's transport policy addresses the particular needs for safer public transport for women, older people and ethnic minorities.

Top

Key actions and commitments

• 60% of new housing in England on previously developed sites by 2008
• New Opportunities Fund Green Spaces and Sustainable Communitiesinitiative
• Local authorities to implement crime and disorder strategies

Top

Indicators

Household and population growth

New homes built on previously developed land (headline)

Retail floorspace in town centres and out of town

Vacant land and properties and derelict land

Noise levels

Quality of surroundings

Access to local green space (to be developed)

Buildings of Grade I and II* at risk of decay

Level of crime (headline)

Fear of crime

Top

Bringing it all together - integrated policies, stronger institutions

7.77 To make the most of opportunities to build sustainable communities, we need institutions and policies which can take a cross-cutting approach to sustainable development objectives.

7.78 In Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, the new administrations established as a result of devolution will have the opportunity to integrate policies to promote more sustainable development, as outlined in chapter 2.

7.79 Action at local level is essential. Many communities, have developed 'Local Agenda 21' strategies on sustainable development in their areas. In June 1997, the Prime Minister set a target for all local communities to have such strategies in place by 2000. The Government and the Local Government Management Board (now the Improvement and Development Agency) have published guidance on these strategies¹⁴ and are developing in consultation with the Local Government Association a core menu of indicators which local authorities could use. These will be closely linked to the headline indicators and the indicators to be used in national reporting.

Top

Local Agenda 21 Strategies

A Vision for Vale Royal, Cheshire, was developed by a partnership between the local council and other groups and drew in as many local people as possible. It includes action points for all sectors of the community, from local authorities to individuals.

Follow-up is underway in several smaller communities. In Weaverham, a "Millennium Dream Party" was attended by more than 1 in 5 households, who said what they wanted for the future of their village. As a result, many actions are taking place, ranging from eco-audits of schools and pubs, to a local skills directory, better timetables and the opening of a parish office.

Top

7.80 The Government will give local authorities a new duty to promote the economic, social and environmental well-being of their areas. Authorities will be expected to weigh up the impact of their decisions on the overall well-being of the area and on the people who live and work there. To provide greater coherence in the delivery of services, authorities will be expected to work with other agencies, voluntary bodies and local communities to develop comprehensive strategies for promoting well-being. Such community strategies may complement Local Agenda 21 strategies, or authorities may decide to integrate the two. Local Agenda 21 strategies should also inform all other local plans, policies and programmes, including local development plans. The new duty on authorities to obtain Best Value in the delivery of services will stimulate new ways to carry out their functions in line with sustainable development objectives.

Top

7.81 At regional level in England, sustainable development will have a place in all strategic documents produced by public bodies. In addition, the Government wishes to see high level sustainable development frameworks for each English region by the end of 2000. Progress has already been made in some areas, such as the North West, where a strategy has been issued for consultation.

7.82 The regional frameworks should draw on this Strategy and on Local Agenda 21 work in the region. They should identify regional needs and priorities, preferably based on regional indicators, and provide a sustainable development context for other regional initiatives. The Government will issue guidance on the content and preparation of the frameworks.

Top

7.83 Regional frameworks will not be statutory, and their success will depend on the commitment of organisations across the region. They will need to have the support of a wide range of stakeholders, and should be agreed by Regional Chambers¹⁵ (groupings of local authorities and other regional partners). Detailed arrangements for their production will need to be worked out at regional level, taking account of progress already made: the work might be led by a round table set up for the purpose or by a Regional Chamber.

7.84 The Government is also consulting on proposals to improve the preparation and content of Regional Planning Guidance¹⁶, which sets a long-term spatial framework for future development in English regions. Among its proposals are that a sustainability appraisal should be undertaken of the environmental, economic and social impacts of development options, for the start of the preparation process. The Government will publish good practice guidance on how to undertake such an appraisal.

Top

7.85 The Government's modernisation of the planning system will help to achieve a system which is fair, open and operated by democratically accountable bodies; a planning system which is an active force for change, rather than simply reacting to events. In February 1999, a new policy concordat between central and local government in England was published. It sets out basic principles against which the planning system needs to operate, including achieving sustainable development, delivering best value and co-ordinating with other policy areas.

7.86 The Government's commitment to integrated policy making for sustainable development is also reflected in specific initiatives:

• The forthcoming Urban White Paper in England will set out a framework to secure an urban renaissance, based on towns and cities which are pleasant, liveable places with all in the community having the opportunity to prosper and realise their full potential. The planning of towns and cities will be a strong theme of the Paper, which will draw on the recommendations of the Urban Task Force led by Lord Rogers.
• The Rural White Paper in England will set out the framework for a living and working countryside, based on thriving communities with a balanced mix of businesses, jobs and homes, and good access to services for all, and ensuring access so that the countryside can be enjoyed by all. The Urban and Rural White Papers will be complementary, taking account of the relationships between rural and urban areas and providing a basis for better integration between them.
• In Wales, work is underway on urban and rural issues in preparation for the National Assembly, including work by the Rural Partnership in Wales on a rural development agenda. The European Structural Funds Task Force is also preparing an integrated National Development Strategy.
• Research in six key areas of England will build on local experience to develop best practice in managing and co-ordinating initiatives such as New Deal for Communities, the reshaped Single Regeneration Budget, Health and Education Action Zones and Employment Zones.
• Partnership between regional and local tiers is important. A Policy Action Team is looking at how to link local authority plans upwards to regional and national strategies and downwards to neighbourhood level. Guidance to the RDAs stresses the need to work closely with local authorities, and encourages RDAs to take account of other regional and local plans, including Local Agenda 21 strategies.

Top

Involving everyone

7.87 Public involvement is essential for a truly sustainable community. It is a major theme running through the Government's modernising agenda for local government, and policies on regeneration and social exclusion.

Top

LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND PARTICIPATION

7.88 Voting in local elections is one way for people to have their say. Low voting figures are a symptom of a lack of faith in local democracy. To rectify that, the Government's White Paper, Modern local government: in touch with the people, outlined aims for modernising local democracy.¹⁷ Guidance on enhancing public participation in local government was published in October 1998.

7.89 Most Local Agenda 21 processes are led by the local authority, with broad involvement by other local groups. Some councils have gone further, with community groups taking a lead role in drawing up a strategy. Experience with Local Agenda 21 will help local authorities in developing consultation arrangements under Best Value and other local initiatives.

7.90 The Government's aims for modernising planning include the need to make development plans shorter and clearer and for consultation on plans to be better targeted. Implicit within this is the need for consultation with all stakeholders, including the public, and to increase public knowledge of the planning process. This is reflected in the new guidance in England on development plans.¹⁸

7.91 There are many other opportunities to promote involvement in shaping communities. For example, the Environment Agency's system of Local Environment Agency Plans provide opportunities for stakeholders to participate in developing an environmental strategy for local areas, taking account of economic and social needs. The Environment Agency has also issued new proposals for consultation on contentious licence decisions.

Top

COMMUNITY ACTION AND INVOLVEMENT

7.92 Effective participation involves all sectors of society. The modernising local government agenda recognises that ethnic minorities in particular are often under-represented in local decision making and a Local Agenda 21 Round Table report highlighted that their participation in specific sustainable development activities has been relatively low.¹⁹ This may be because of language or cultural barriers to involvement, which need to be identified and broken down, or because of different cultural perspectives on sustainable development.

7.93 More generally, race equality is high on the Government agenda. It is working towards an inclusive society where everyone, regardless of race or religion, has equal rights, opportunities and responsibilities - while being able to maintain their own culture, traditions, language and values.

7.94 Capacity building and strengthened local partnerships are features of the Single Regeneration Budget and the New Deal for Communities. The New Deal for Communities will involve participation of local people from development to implementation, to ensure partnerships are rooted in local communities and deliver lasting change, beyond the lifetime of the regeneration scheme itself.

7.95 Voluntary and community activity can do much to promote social inclusion and cohesion in a community, with benefits for the recipients, participants and society as a whole. The Prime Minister wants to see a greater involvement by everyone in community life. He has challenged people in Britain to mark the Millennium with an 'explosion in giving'.

7.96 The key aim of the Prime Minister's initiative is to help build a sense of community by encouraging and supporting all forms of community involvement. It will involve strengthening people's desire to get involved, making it easier for them to do so, and encouraging more and higher quality opportunities for involvement. Demonstration projects will be established across the country this year, via the Home Office Active Community Unit and local partnerships, to test imaginative new ways of bringing together volunteers and volunteering opportunities.

7.97 In the most deprived areas, levels of voluntary activity tend to be very low - around 7% compared with around 20% in more affluent communities. The Government is looking at how to encourage the number, range and vitality of community groups in such areas. In doing so, it will consult widely. Community involvement is at the heart of the National Lottery New Opportunities Fund's Green Spaces and Sustainable Communitiesinitiative, which will have a particular focus on deprived areas.

Top

7.98 In addition, the Government's Compact with the voluntary sector²⁰ sets out its commitment to working in partnership with the voluntary sector and provides a framework to help guide the relationship at every level. It recognises the vital role of voluntary and community organisations in enabling individuals in all parts of society to contribute to the development of their communities. Similar Compacts have been agreed in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Top

Volunteering and Sustainable Development

Residents, trained and facilitated by the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers, created Studley Estate Community Garden, Lambeth as part of a programme designed to reduce crime, build community infrastructure, provide training for residents, and promote networking between community groups, as well as to create an urban wildlife habitat.

7.99 Access to justice for all is an essential part of building sustainable communities. Under new Civil Procedure Rules introduced by the Government, civil justice will be simpler, cheaper and more expeditious. These Rules have the overriding objective of enabling the courts to deal with cases justly. Courts will be required to manage cases actively, including encouraging the parties to use an alternative dispute resolution procedure, if appropriate, and facilitating the use of such procedure. Plans for a Community Legal Service, and the wider availability of conditional fee arrangements will also promote improved access to justice.

Top

Key actions and commitments

• Urban and Rural White Papers
• Regional frameworks for sustainable development in English regions by 2000
• New planning guidance on regional and local plans to promote sustainable development
• Co-ordination of regeneration and employment policies through New Deals and Zones
• Strengthened local partnerships and capacity building through Single Regeneration Budget and New Deal for Communities
• Increasing public participation in local democracy
• Government Compact with the voluntary sector

Indicators

Number of local authorities with LA 21 plans

Community spirit (to be developed)

Voluntary activity (to be developed)

Top

1. Acheson Report: Independent Enquiry into Inequalities in Health Report, 1998. ISBN 0 11 322173 8

2. Our Healther Nation: a contract for health. February 1998, Cm 3854. ISBN 0 10 138522 6
3. Towards a healthier Scotland: a White Paper on health. February 1999, Cm 4269. ISBN 0 10 142692 5
4. Better Health, Better Wales. May 1998, Cm 3922. ISBN 0 10 139222 2.
5. A New Deal for Transport: Better for Everyone. The Government's White Paper on the future of Transport, July 1998, CM3950, ISBN 0 10 139502 7
6. Travel choices for Scotland: the Scottish integrated transport White Paper. Scottish Office, July 1998. ISBN 0 10 140102 7
7. Transport in Wales into the Future: Welsh Transport Policy Statement. Transport Policy Division, Welsh Office.
8. Moving Forward: Northern Ireland Transport Policy Statement. Department of the Environment for Northern Ireland, November 1998.
v
9. Local Authority Housing Investment Programme: Operational Information Returns to DETR, 1998
10. Details in the Government's consultation paper on fuel poverty policy, 11 May 1999.
11. Planning for the Communities of the Future, February 1998, Cm 3885, ISBN 0 10 138852 7
12. Planning for Sustainable Development: Towards Better Practice, October 1998, ISBN 0 11 753406 4
13. Revision of Planning Policy Guidance Note 12, Development Plans, Public Consultation Draft, February 1999, DETR.
14. Sustainable local communities for the 21st Century. Why and how to prepare an effective Local Agenda 21 strategy. DETR/LGA/LGMB, January 1998
15. The Regional Chamber designated under the Regional Development Act 1998.
16. Planning Policy Guidance Note 11: Regional Planning public consultation draft. February 1999. DETR. C8650.
17. Modern local government: in touch with the people. July 1998, Cm 4014. ISBN 0 10 140142 6
18. As set out in the consultation draft of Planning Policy Guidance note 12.
19. Local Agenda 21 Roundtable Guidance Note 14, LGMB, 1997.
20. Getting it right together, the Compact on relations between Government and the Voluntary & Community Sector in England. CM4100, Home Office November 1998. ISBN 0 10 141002 6

Top