Sustainable communities: If I was Prime Minister…

The deadline for submissions for the Sustainable Communities Act was 31 July 2009.

Wiltshire council asked The Wiltshire Assembly to actively gather ideas from individuals, businesses and other organisations on how Government could change the way it delivers public services so as to improve local communities.

The process

You submitted your ideas
Wiltshire Council officers then collated all ideas and made a provisional judgment on which ones fit the requirements of the Act.
Then, a broadly-based panel of around 20 public and voluntary organisations discussed and advised on which ideas should be submitted to Government. Wiltshire Council were happy for these ideas to be submitted by the panel into the national process.
The selected ideas were then submitted to the Local Government Association.The LGA will advise Government on which ideas should be implemented and Government will then decide which to action.

The twenty ideas submitted to Government can be viewed here: :

Voluntary organisations should not pay business rates for rubbish collection but rather be treated as domestic customers. This proposal would reduce the costs for voluntary organisations and so enable them to direct more of their resources to service delivery. The Wiltshire LAA includes an objective to create a thriving Third Sector, agreed formally with Government.
Access to education should be widened to cover as many people’s needs as possible. Colleges should offer more online courses, exam shops where people can sit exams in their locality should be set up, courses shouldn’t require attendance at classes and registration should be easier. The submitter claimed the proposal would widen access to education and enable people to fit learning more flexibly in with their pattern of life. This would require a national initiative from Government.
Rejuvenating the housing market is a key issue. If the rate of Stamp Duty was stepped in the way that income tax is, this would assist the housing market. At present, Stamp Duty Land Tax on properties within certain threshold values (e.g. properties which sell for between £250001 and £500,000) are taxed at a certain rate for the whole sale price. It is proposed that one should pay the higher percentages in a stepped way i.e. only on the amount that falls within each threshold, up to the full sale price of the property. The rates themselves would perhaps need to change to make the whole thing revenue-neutral for Government. The submitter claimed this measure would distribute the burden of paying Stamp Duty more so than the current system. A change in the tax system would be required from Government to implement this.
Adaptations should be made to new affordable housing at design stage to meet mobility targets, saving around £16,000 on wet room (kitchen/bathroom) adaptations on existing properties. The submitter claimed this measure would save money and contribute to the building of more Homes for Life and would require a change in Government building regulations.
Stamp Duty Land Tax from house sales should be paid to the local authority to encourage the building of more affordable homes. This would assist people to buy or rent affordable homes in their local area and make Stamp Duty a more acceptable tax, as it would be directly helping local people who are on lower incomes. It may, over time, also reduce Housing Benefit expenditure. In 2007/08, property stamp duty paid within the Wiltshire Council area was £63M. Providing more affordable housing is a key LAA target in Wiltshire. There is a considerable shortfall in the provision of affordable homes in Wiltshire. Wiltshire is considered to be a desirable location and this pushes up house prices beyond the reach of many. The proposer claimed that this measure, by ‘recycling’ locally collected Stamp Duty back into local affordable housing provision, would benefit local people on low incomes for house prices growth that is a result of the area’s attractiveness. In 2007/08 residential Stamp Duty for the Wiltshire Council area as £63 million. A change in Government practice with respect to where these tax revenues are assigned would be required. As Wiltshire is one of the least affordable rural areas in the country for those on low incomes, a trial period in Wiltshire could test out the impact of the idea
New houses should be equipped with rain water harvesting and solar power units to minimise their impact on the environment. This proposal clearly fits in with national and local policy on reducing CO²
Lowered curbs for wheelchair users should be painted yellow to ensure car drivers are made aware not to part in front of them. These curbs should also be lowered further for a smooth transition from pavement to road. This proposal is in line with a key Wiltshire Local Area Agreement objective to assist people to lead the lives they want, not just to give them services. This proposal would help people with mobility problems in going about their everyday lives and would require a change in road traffic and street works regulations
Inject Vehicle Excise Duty paid by Wiltshire residents (approximately £30-35M in 2008 for the 311,000 vehicles registered in Wiltshire) back into the local area (via the Council as transport authority) to fund significant projects to encourage a step change in sustainable means of transport, for example the use of public transport and a significant increase in the number of cycle paths, etc. Currently, there is no policy mechanism linking car ownership and its impacts on local communities. The proposer claimed that this would assist in creating a step change in the shift from car use to public transport use and cycling and walking. Many experts believe that improved public transport capacity and services need to be in place before people will contemplate leaving their car at home. Currently, there is not the level of resources available to create the conditions for this step change at local level. Government would need to change the way it distributes tax revenues. This approach could be piloted in Wiltshire, and its impact assessed.
Change the traditional “white and black” national speed limit signs to state what the limit is, e.g. “60”, “70”, etc, as national speed limit means “any speed” to some drivers. There would be only marginal financial implications as this could be introduced as old signs need to be replaced. The proposer claimed that, as speeding is a major local issue that is continually raised by committees, this idea could be a low-cost method of addressing part of the problem, i.e. people’s uncertainty over what the speed limit is on particular roads. Government would need to change national standards connected with road signs.
Strict speed limits in town centres and villages of 20mph. The proposer claimed that, as speeding is a major issue that is continually raised by communities, that this idea would make it clear to all drivers anywhere in the country what speed they should be doing through villages and near to schools. This would require a change of road traffic regulations nationally
All MOT tests should include the statutory recording of mileage (and ideally, the postcode of the driver) as standard to ensure accurate information is held for the purpose of local and national monitoring information, such as transport authorities for tracking the real impact of any measures they introduce to reduce car usage and transport related CO² emissions. One way of reinforcing this will be to make NI 186, measuring CO² per capita, a statutory target. It is a key LAA target to reduce CO² emissions. Government would need to make the recording of mileage a statutory duty as part of the MOT test and put in place computer systems that could produce data by local area.
Government should set a requirement for a strategic policy for Climate Change to be developed and owned by local authorities, in partnership with other appropriate organisations, to put in place measures addressing the issue of climate change and promoting the development of a low carbon economy. CO² reduction is a key target in the Wiltshire Local Area Agreement. The proposer felt that Government needed to make it a requirement for Councils, in association with partners, to produce a Climate Change Strategy. The Government would need to pass legislation to require all local authorities to produce a climate change and low carbon economy strategy.
Introduce plastic recycling collections at the doorstep. Also, introduce legislation to ensure manufacturers use recyclable grades of plastic in packaging, and make it a requirement for manufacturers to use the appropriate code number to identify recyclability on all plastics in a visible, minimum 1cm high triangle symbol. Waste reduction is a key Wiltshire LAA objective. The proposer claimed that people find it difficult to identify which plastics are recyclable. The symbol on plastic products needs to be larger and clearer and be on all plastic products. Government would need to change national packaging legislation to insist all plastic products had clear information on them. It would also need to work internationally to get consistent symbols globally.
Energy production to be decentralised to local level, which could achieve up to 95% efficiency (currently 35%) and half CO² emissions. This would largely support the 80% reduction in greenhouse gases by 2050 target and would require local Councils to commission a feasibility study to look at how much energy could be produced at the proposed sites. For example, in Wiltshire, this could include establishing micro-hydro power at Bishops Mill, Salisbury. The proposer claimed that there would be considerable advantage in the localisation of energy generation. This could make a contribution to energy security, and to CO² reduction, which is a key Wiltshire LAA aim. Government would need to review its’ national energy generation policy and promote a radical shift towards local renewable energy generation.
Increase tax on chewing gum to 200% and excess revenue could then be devolved to local authorities to fund cleaning up discarded gum. Also, Government should enforce that manufacturers change ingredients to make it more biodegradable. Informing the Street Scene is a common community demand. Government would need to impose/increase the tax on chewing gum and require manufacturers to use biodegradable ingredients.
Government should make it mandatory for utility companies to publish or make available aggregate figures for utility usage on a community basis. This could then be used by the local authority and community groups to monitor actual usage figures to help inform sustainability planning. Reducing CO² emissions is a key Wiltshire LAA objective. The proposer of this idea felt that local authorities needed better information on actual energy usage in their areas as only then can they accurately target projects and assess the impact of interventions. Government needs to require energy supply companies to provide postcoded information on energy usage to Government so that Government can integrate this information and make it available to local authorities and others with a responsibility, or interest in reducing energy usage.
Introduce facilities for storing electrical energy generated by renewables, such as wind, solar and tidal through the use of compressed-air energy storage (CAES), as has been used by scientists for 30 years. See www.theit,org/engtechmag for more information. A local solution for this could be to adapt and utilise the mines at Corsham and Box. The proposal could make the use of renewable energy more efficient nationally by evening out fluctuations in power supply. Government would need to consider releasing old mine workings which it owns and set up a feasibility study which may lead to pilot projects in Wiltshire.
Undertake a national review of the use of street lights. Then, explore the possibility of the selective reduction in lighting through different evening/night time lighting patterns for different locations, to reduce electricity use and save money/CO² emissions, light pollution etc. Reducing CO² emissions is a key Wiltshire LAA objective. The proposer felt there was still scope, despite some related initiatives for a thorough-going review of the use of street lighting. Government would need to initiate a national review of the use of street lighting and provide guidance for local transport authorities on revised practice.
All Government computers should have default printer settings at dark grey, thus ensuring cartridges last longer. In the future, computer manufacturers could be requested to ensure that all new computers have printer settings set to grey rather than black. The proposer felt this would be a waste reduction measure whereby fewer printer cartridges would be used. To achieve this, Government would need to issue a directive to its departments and to Local Government.
The Sustainable Communities Act consultation process should not just be a one-off, but be ongoing, or at least held once per year. The proposer felt that, to be effective, the intervals at which Sustainable Communities Act invitations are made should be clear. They suggested either that such invites should be either annual or continuous, so people could put in ideas at any time. The Secretary of State would need to issue a timetable of when invitations for ideas would be issued. The proposer thought this should be annually. Alternatively, the system could be changed so that it became continuous and ideas could be submitted at any time.

For further information, to discuss your idea, or for postal submissions, please contact 01225 713118 or email davidmaynard@wiltshire.gov.uk

Contact Details

Email: david.maynard@wiltshire.gov.uk
Telephone: 01225 713118

Sustainable communities: If I was Prime Minister…

The process

Contact Details

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