You can help us change Lambeth
You can help us change the borough by taking part in a new consultation based on the Sustainable Communities Act.
Are you a Lambeth resident who wants to make a real difference to your local community? Do you have ideas that will improve the lives of people but are held back by rules and regulations? This is your opportunity to have your say and help us improve Lambeth now, and for the future.
We want to get your ideas about making changes that will either:
- improve how people in your local community get along with each other (ideas to improve community cohesion)
- help local businesses or increase employment opportunities for your local community (ideas to improve your local economy)
- reduce the impact of climate change (ideas on how we can live in more environmentally sustainable communities).
Ideas also need to meet the following criteria:
- they require new legislation or a change in legislation
- they are outside of the council's existing powers.
We want you to answer three questions to help us understand the changes you think should take place.
- What is the problem that you would like to solve in your community?
- Why is it a problem?
- What is the solution to this problem?
Send us your ideas
Send your ideas to deliveringchange@lambeth.gov.uk by 28 February 2010. Please also include your name, email address and phone number so we can let you know what happens next.
How many ideas can I submit?
You can submit as many ideas as you want to. However do think about whether your ideas meet the above criteria.
What happens with my idea?
If your idea fulfils the Sustainable Communities Act criteria then it will be part of the short listing process. We will be working with a citizens' panel to develop these ideas into robust proposals before final endorsement by the council's Cabinet. The idea will then be submitted to the Local Government Association (LGA) who are responsible for short listing all the ideas received from councils across the country before submitting them to central government.
What happens with ideas that are not successful?
There will be a number of good suggestions that will be submitted by the public that are not necessarily applicable to the Sustainable Communities Act because it is already legally possible or within the council's existing powers. Nevertheless we will consider suggestions that directly apply to council services in our planning process.
Other opportunities to submit ideas
From now until December we will be consulting with you about ideas that you want to put forward as part of the Sustainable Communities Act. We will be attending the expo events, running workshops in venues across the borough as well as using existing forums and community groups. Look out for more announcements at local venues.
Past proposals
We submitted three proposals to the LGA in July 2009 which was the deadline for the first round of the Act. The LGA are currently assessing these proposals before they submit a final set of proposals to central government later this year. The three proposals are:
More about the Sustainable Communities Act
The government introduced the Sustainable Communities Act and the purpose of this is to provide people with an opportunity to develop their own ideas to improve their own communities.
Local Works was a pressure group that campaigned for the introduction of the Sustainable Communities Act. They have developed a very useful website that sets out a very comprehensive background to the Act. See the Local Works website to find out more.