Cllr Dakers invites community to vote on areas to take back power from central government

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Mon 29th Jun 2009

Now is the time to vote on ideas from the Local Works campaign or generate your own

Under the banner of 'Take Back Power Hounslow' Cllr Andrew Dakers, Lib Dem Parliamentary Candidate for Brentford & Isleworth, is encouraging the Hounslow community to cast their vote online and come up with new proposals on what national spending and legislation should be changed to benefit Hounslow Borough under new Sustainable Communities Act.

The new Act offers the opportunity to devolve power and funding from Central Government and other agencies to local councils. This gives local people the chance to come up with proposals to improve the place where they live and create a fairer, greener, safer and more sustainable community.

Drawing on the best ideas from the independent 'Local Works' campaign, Hounslow Liberal Democrats have started a debate on ideas that could be taken up and implemented through the Sustainable Communities Act.

Cllr Dakers, Lib Dem Parliamentary Candidate for Brentford & Isleworth, said:

"This is an ideal opportunity to gather ideas from local people. It is a chance to tell Central Government where our local authority can make decisions and spend money more effectively. It is for anyone who has ever found themselves frustrated by national legislation or policies to have their say now on how things could be made more effective. I hope local people will come forward with ideas and vote on the ideas presented on our website.

"Hounslow Council passed a motion on 28 October 2008 in support of the Sustainable Communities Act, but since then there has been no debate locally as to what powers and resources we would like to take back from central government. The Council must now move swiftly if it is to hit the deadline of 31 July for submitting ideas this year to the Local Government Association."

EXAMPLES OF SOME OF THE 55 IDEAS ON WHICH YOU CAN VOTE

Environment: Give councils powers to count gardens and allotments as "Greenfield" sites rather than "Brownfield" sites and powers to prevent land-banking practices so that Brownfield land is brought into use when needed."

Environment: Redirect money that is currently planned for road-building towards funding public transport and cycle ways.

Save local post offices: Increase the number of central government services that post offices provide on a face-to-face basis, including all aspects of government information, transactions and services, e.g. Jobcentre Plus IT terminals and admin of DWP Social Fund.

Participation in decision-making: Indemnify councils against the cost of developers' appeals on planning decisions.

Save local shops: Set a limit on the amount of retail floor space that is allowed in a local authority area, with that amount determined by the number of people who live in the area (i.e. a ratio), and that ratio to include a limit on supermarket floor space.

Save local pubs: Make it illegal for an owner of a pub to sell a pub with a restrictive covenant preventing that pub from being used as a pub in the future.

Help older people: Fully implement the National Minimum Standard for Domestic Care Providers to improve standards of care given to older people.

Email additional ideas to:

ideas@takebackpowerhounslow.org

Related Links:

Background: Change the law - you decide how

Cast your vote and have your say