 Plain English Guide to the Localism
Bill
Localism Bill
Bollington Civic Society and each of its members are members of
Civic Voice,
the national voice of civic societies. Their email below provides
an introduction to what may well prove to be the most important change
to local governance in this parliament, the Localism
Bill,
which was published on 13 December 2010. Many of the changes
proposed are profound and will have the potential to dramatically
change the way we, the population of Bollington, can have a say in
the way the town develops over the coming years and decades. The
Bill is presently progressing through parliament and expected to
become law in early 2012.
Bollington
has been very forward over the years in developing its 'community'.
We have a "Quality
Town Council" (BTC),
a strong Civic Society (BCS), we have Bollington
Initiative Trust (BIT), and we have an
excellent Town
Plan now in its second edition. All of these are components
that the Localism
Bill proposes to develop and strengthen. Bollington's
great advantage is that we have all of these already, not just
in embryo, but mature, strong and active.
The Localism Bill,
once enacted, will provide us with a major challenge to mould each
of these components to enable them, and through them the town and
its community, to get the greatest benefit from the new regulations.
This is a huge opportunity for the community to grasp more control
for the future of our town and to develop it the way we the community
would like it to develop.
The key to all this is involvement. We are blessed in Bollington
with a relatively large core of individuals who get involved, involved
in all kinds of subjects and projects, involved for the common
good, and who collectively and individually provide, mostly on a
voluntary basis, a huge benefit for Bollington. The opportunities
provided by the Localism Bill will require us to
expand that core of people - we will need many more interested individuals
to get involved over the coming years. Now would be a very good moment
to take an interest, to get in and learn about the subject while
we are all learning. If you are not already a member, now is the
time to join Bollington
Civic Society - come and help us, together with the Town
Council, BIT and many other groups active in this arena, help us
to gain the maximum benefit from the Localism Bill for
Bollington - our Happy Valley. Do, please, take the time to read
the Civic
Voice summary of the bill and
the Plain English Guide to the Bill. If it interests you please
send me a message or check out the Civic
Society leaflet.
Tim Boddington
Vice Chairman, Bollington Civic Society
13th December 2010 (since updated)
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