Sustainable communities are about the things that matter to people: decent homes at prices they can afford, streets that they feel safe walking, decent schools and hospitals, local amenities and safe parks. These things are vital to the success of any community, and it is this that is at the heart of Labour’s vision.

What can we do to sustain and support Britain’s communities?

Local government has direct responsibility for the provision of many of the key services on which communities depend. Much of Labour’s work in this area over the last ten years has been to bring local government closer to people, to enable and promote participation, and to give local authorities and councillors the tools to become champions for the communities that they serve.

However, many people still feel distanced from local government. One of the key challenges is to provide the means for people to become involved and enfranchised in the discussion about local service delivery. Labour is promoting measures to involve people in local decision making, for example through new local community-level councils, or through participatory budgeting, whereby local citizens can direct the spending of their local council budgets through a process of debate, deliberation and decision-making. We want to encourage more use of deliberative democracy, for example citizens’ juries, panels and more use of local referenda.

How can we meet future housing need?

The availability of high quality affordable housing is an issue that goes right to the heart of Labour values. A booming property market and growing demand has put pressure on the availability of affordable housing in communities right across the Britain. Because of the complexity of this subject, the Sustainable Communities policy commission agreed to form a sub-group to look in detail at affordable housing. Since Spring 2006, this group has taken and considered evidence from a wide range of sources.

Central to meeting future housing need is the building of new affordable housing to rent or buy. Because we need to build new homes not just to own but to rent, we must bring together the private sector, housing associations and local authorities to renew the promise of social housing for our communities. Local authorities should play a key role in strategies for delivering affordable housing.

Meanwhile, Labour has also highlighted the need to move towards zero-carbon development.
Gordon Brown’s eco-towns proposal could help to define a new approach to building environmentally sustainable communities which are environmentally sustainable

Points to consider:

• How do we help authorities to involve communities in the delivery of local services?
• How do we give people a sense of ownership over their local communities and services; finding ways of involving and engaging people in local government?
• How do we support and develop the role of the local councillor?
• How do we improving bus services and increasing use?
• How do we increase rail capacity to meet demand, while continuing to improve reliability and safety?
• How do we reduce congestion on Britain’s roads?
• How do we promote and enabling sustainable transport choices for every journey?
• How do we ensure that growth in aviation takes place in an environmentally sustainable way?
• How can we ensure that the whole of Britain benefits from the London 2012 Olympics?