Sustaining Sustainability to Sustain a Sustainably Sustainable Sustainableness

Submitted by JMB on Mon 06/Jul/2009

When I first heard about the Sustainable Communities Act, I assumed it was the usual nonsense; a bit of bien pensant thinking mixed in with some social engineering. But it did suggest some possible angles of attack for liberating taxpayers’ money from the local quangocracy.

Rather than directly using the SCA to do something, Bristol City Council has opted to run a competition to collect ideas; said list to then be vetted and voted upon by a committee organised by local VCSE flag-bearer VOSCUR.

After a long and intensive session of navel gazing, here are the results:

Bristol City Council - Sustainable Community Act suggestions - June 2009

The proposals described in this document lack detail, but they have been vetted by the Council’s legal services team:

The Council’s legal services department commented on all the suggestions and advised whether they met the requirements of the Sustainable Communities Act:

  • It would need a change in government policy / legislation to be implemented.
  • It would contribute towards sustainability as defined in the Act.

So although these particular suggestions are not immediately actionable (e.g. top answer “Have more powers over local bus operators” could mean anything) it is worth noting that someone with a modicum of legal training believes that the Sustainable Communities Act could be used by a Local Authority to exert some authority over all of these policy areas.

And that’s quite exciting or scary depending on how you look at it.

One Act to Rule them All, One Act to Find them….

Related Links