Newsdesk

LOCAL COMMUNITIES NEED MORE RESOURCES

20th November 2003

Excessive spending by central government is depriving local communities in East Kent of the resources they need to create strong sustainable economies (1). A new broad-based campaign (2) has been launched for a Local Communities Sustainability Bill, to draw resources to local authorities to help strengthen local economies. Hazel Dawe comments:

"The East Kent Green Party urges people to write to their MPs to support this Bill. The more people write, the more likely we are to be able to pull resources to where they are needed in our communities. The types of spending needed, to enhance the sustainability of our communities, include: * More and better local schools, health facilities and housing especially for single people and particularly affordable housing in rural areas (3);

* Local job creation, which could involve transferring civil service jobs to East Kent from London and fund for the creation of cooperatives;

* Better public transport in rural areas, since we spend about half what other European countries do (4);

* More support for 'social enterprises' which support quality of life such as schemes to engage young people in community action, victim support and mediation services, community level support for people with mental health problems, services for the elderly.

* Public spending at the centre is damaging our communities in East Kent. For sustainable communities, with more local employment, support for this Bill is a valuable step forward." ENDS c238 words

FURTHER INFORMATION: Hazel Dawe Campaigns Officer 07960 956272 or 01233 645167. PLEASE LEAVE A MESSAGE. Contact address: 10 Hillbrow Road, Ashford, Kent TN23 4QH.

Notes: 1. Excessive spending includes spending on military action in Iraq and Afghanistan; �760 million subsidising British arms sales each year; �3-4 billion in subsidies to keep the ailing nuclear industry running; �15-17 billion each year subsidising private car use since motorists do not pay enough to support the policing, accident and emergency and repair costs of the road network; �19 billion in subsidies to aviation, and aviation fuel unlike petrol is untaxed. A similar anomaly is that marine fuel is not taxed either. (Figures from www.greenparty.org.uk/reports and from the Campaign Against Arms Trade. 2.The Bill has 150 MPs in support already from all parties. Organisations supporting include: Friends of the Earth; National Federation of Womens� Institutes; Shelter; the Soil Association; Transport 2000; Unison.
3.The Rural Housing Trust does this, with Government and Parish Council involvement, but the number of units created falls well below demand so that new rural houses are often priced in excess of �200,000 in East Kent.
4.Lynn Sloman ed. Rural Transport Futures: transport solutions for a thriving countryside (Transport 2000, 2003).

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20th June 2005