Low Carbon and Sustainable Communities

    Sustainable communities can be described as places where:

    • the needs of everyone in the community are met and people feel safe, healthy and ultimately happy
    • our environment is appreciated, protected and enhanced and damage to the environment is minimised
    • our economy is vibrant, employment opportunities are improved and our working lives are more rewarding 

    Creating a Sustainable Society involves:

    Protecting and Enhancing the Environment

    • use energy, water and other natural resources efficiently and with care
    • minimise waste, then re-use or recover it through recycling, composting or energy recovery, and finally sustainably dispose of what is left
    • limit pollution to levels which do not damage natural systems
    • value and protect the diversity of nature

    Meeting Social Needs

    • create and enhance places, spaces and buildings which work well, wear well and look good
    • make settlement 'human' in scale and form
    • value and protect diversity and local distinctiveness and strengthen local community and cultural identity
    • protect human health and amenity through safe, clean and pleasant environments
    • emphasise health service prevention action as well as cure
    • ensure access to good food, water, housing and fuel at a reasonable cost
    • meet local needs locally wherever possible
    • maximise everyone's access to the skills and knowledge needed to play a full part in society
    • empower all sections of the community to participate in decision-making and consider the social and community aspects of decisions

    Promoting Economic Success

    • create a vibrant local economy that gives access to satisfying and rewarding work without damage to the local, national or global environment
    • value unpaid work
    • encourage necessary access to facilities, services, goods and other people in ways which make less use of the car and minimise impacts on the environment
    • make opportunities for culture, leisure and recreation readily available to all

    Examples of projects:

    A to Z of Services