About SM

Sustainable Development aims to guide us towards a more sustainable community, a place 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