News: 23 June 2008

Ipswich Town Skyline

Proposed regional 'shake-up' is an opportunity for achieving truly sustainable development

Sustainability East has urged the Government to ensure that sustainable development is at the heart of proposed reforms to regional governance, economic development, planning and regeneration.

In April 2008, the government launched its consultation Prosperous Places: Taking forward the Review of Sub National Economic Development and Regeneration seeking views on its proposals to promote economic growth and improve accountability in the English regions.

Sustainability East welcomes the Sub-National Review (SNR), believing it could offer an opportunity for achieving truly sustainable development. But sustainable development (SD) can only ever be achieved through a comprehensive integration of all its elements – social, environmental, and economic.

To this end, Sustainability East has responded constructively to 'Prosperous Places':
Prosperous Places Consultation Response (pdf)

Our response focuses on the need for 'sustainability proofing' of the new structures, processes and arrangements. Our response makes a number of recommendations on how this could be achieved, including:

• an overriding statutory duty for Regional Development Agencies to promote SD
• changes to the composition of RDA Boards to achieve a proper balance between economic, social, environmental and resource use objectives;
• effective involvement of community stakeholders in developing strategy at regional level and monitoring RDA performance
• ensuring Integrated Regional Strategies are set firmly within a SD framework,
• the continuing need for a strong independent SD champion role, currently played by Sustainability East, to promote SD and act as independent 'critical friend' to regional agencies and local authorities

Working with key regional partners and others, we will be looking at the above recommendations in more detail with the overall aim of developing a consensus about how best to embed sustainable development in the transition to new regional arrangements. To find out more about this work contact Sustainability East's Coordinator, Chrissie Pepper.