Sustainable Communities Act 2007

Section 2

SCHEDULEMatters to which local authorities must have regard

1The matters referred to in section 2 are—

(a)the provision of local services,

(b)the extent to which the volume and value of goods and services that are—

(i)offered for sale; or

(ii)procured by public bodies

and are produced within 30 miles (or any lesser distance as may be specified by a local authority in respect of its area) of their place of sale or of the boundary of the public body,

(c)the rate of increase in the growth and marketing of organic forms of food production and the local food economy,

(d)measures to promote reasonable access by all local people to a supply of food that is adequate in terms of both amount and nutritional value,

(e)the number of local jobs,

(f)measures to conserve energy and increase the quantity of energy supplies which are produced from sustainable sources within a 30 mile radius of the region in which they are consumed,

(g)measures taken to reduce the level of road traffic including, but not restricted to, local public transport provision, measures to promote walking and cycling and measures to decrease the amount of product miles,

(h)the increase in social inclusion, including an increase in involvement in local democracy,

(i)measures to increase mutual aid and other community projects,

(j)measures designed to decrease emissions of greenhouse gases,

(k)measures designed to increase community health and well being,

(l)planning policies which would assist with the purposes of this Act, including new arrangements for the provision of affordable housing, and

(m)measures to increase the use of local waste materials for the benefit of the community.

2In this Schedule the following terms shall have the following meanings—

• “local services” includes, but is not restricted to, retail outlets, public houses, banks, health facilities, including hospitals and pharmacies, legal services, social housing, post offices, schools, public eating places, leisure facilities and open spaces;

• “local food economy” means a system of producing, processing and trading primarily organic forms of food production, where the activity is largely contained in the area or region where the food was produced;

• “local jobs” mean—

  (a)

  jobs in companies or organisations that in the opinion of the appropriate authority will spend a significant proportion of their turnover in the locality of the place of operation; and

  (b)

  jobs which are held by people living within 30 miles of that job;

• “mutual aid” means actions or initiatives by people in the community to improve services or provisions for themselves and other persons in the community;

• “product miles” means the total distance produce is transported from the place of growth or production to the place of consumption;

• “social inclusion” means the opportunity for all people resident in any area to play an equal role in the economic, social and civic life of the area;

• “local democracy” means the ability to participate, by means of voting at elections or otherwise, in decision-making that is as local as practicable to people’s place of residence; and

• “community health and well-being” means the degree to which persons resident in an area identify with that area and receive an increased quality of life as a result of the nature and the environment of the area.