NEWS & FEATURES | COMMUNITY GROWTH NEEDS LOCAL CONSULATION
The Government has ambitious house-building targets of 300,000 homes a year, and while these homes are much needed in many areas, I think the fundamental importance of building communities is too often forgotten.
COMMUNITY GROWTH NEEDS LOCAL CONSULTATION Cllr Peter Hiller, Glinton and Castor ward This isn’t a new phenomenon. From the post-war building boom that saw council estates and whole communities transferred out of city areas to more recent large new estates, for too long, too little thought has gone into creating communities. This awful pandemic has been traumatic. However, as we come through it, we have a real opportunity to build a better, fairer country led by local communities. As the city council’s cabinet member for strategic planning for some years I’ve consistently lobbied Government for the powers around the planning and creating of places, and all this entails, to be handed to local areas. Decisions should be made by the people who live there so that they can engage with and invest in their own neighbourhood. The emerging, submitted and adopted Neighbourhood Plans for our Tribland villages are a welcomed step forward in this regard. The Covid 19 pandemic will have brought about rapid societal change and 10
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transformed most people’s attitudes, behaviour and aspirations in what they want from their local community. Perhaps like me you will have appreciated our beautiful rural Tribland more, having spent much more time discovering what is on offer, particularly our rural Rights of Way, villages’ walks and beautiful countryside areas. A fair few of us may recognise the need for more space within the home and nearby, such as places to exercise or for their children to play. For others it will be having people around to support each other, not just those who are vulnerable but also for families needing childcare. Or it could be being closer to services such as doctors, schools, shops and parks, and not being dependent on public transport or cars. We also need to think about green infrastructure, making communities sustainable and what is the best mix of housing for that area, rather than which will make the most profit for developers. The aim should be to have healthy
and happy communities that allow residents to flourish – economically, physically and mentally. I think the changes brought about by the pandemic need to be seen as an opportunity rather than a threat to how we live and go about our daily lives. We now have an opportunity to improve how we approach potential development and place making in our country, while at the same time capitalising on the huge health and environmental benefits that this might offer. Government policy should recognise this and while there is obviously a role for some strategic thinking on a national scale, we need to devolve planning and delivery of places – alongside all the other key aspects of places, such as education, skills, employment, health, environment, transport and sustainability. Ultimately it is at a local level that great places can be built in both urban and our rural areas, driven by local communities working together with their councils.
