hi Jo

some thoughts....

i know things can be confusing but i dont think there's any reason why the sustainable community strategy should be confused with the sustainable communities act. and even if they were confused...why would anyone oppose a sustainable communities act (which a local authority is required to produce setting out the vision for an area).

The Act is about giving local people a greater say - the devolution of power form central to local government is on the condition that power then passes to local people. that's why it's sometimes referred to as 'double devolution'.

However, the person from the council who replied is correct - this isnt a one-off and so just because Wigan arent supporting it this year, doesnt mean there wont be other chances.

By the way...there's also a discussion forum on the Act (these are comments on the briefing, rather than an actual 'discussion' - though i realise the distinction may not be clear!). You can find the discussion at: http://www.urbanforum.org.uk/d...t-briefing

cheers
toby

Hi Joe

It is worth pointing out that the Sustainable Communities Act is not
quite the same as talking about sustainability. It is more to do with
transferring power between central and local government. However, there
are obvious benefits that can ensue from it. (See
http://www.localworks.org/)

To pursue it, it needs the Council (i.e. a vote in full council) to give
the go ahead. I believe a motion went to council on the 7th January (see
http://www.wigan.gov.uk/Services/CouncilDemocracy/CommitteesCabinetPanel
s/Minutes/2008-09/200901/Council070109.htm) and it was defeated. I am
unsure why this is the case as the Act had all-party support in
Parliament but I am led to believe that there was some confusion over
what this Act is and what the Sustainable Communities Strategy -
possibly the two have been mixed up in some thinking (to be honest it is
easy enough to confuse so many things regarding sustainability!).

Whilst there is a deadline for the first set of applications to Govt
(actually I think the first stage is an application to the LGA), there
will be more I am led to believe - it is an ongoing process. However, it
is my understanding that the same motion cannot be brought back to
Council within six months of it being defeated. Therefore, it is
unlikely Wigan will be submitting anything by July this year.

I hope that helps set out where we are - i.e. we are officially not
pursuing use of the Sustainable Communities Act!

Regards

Points 1 & 2 on page 2 are very interesting. I didn't know anything about this so I've emailed our council's sustainability team for comment. Will post their response.

Joe Taylor