I have just signed up to the Unlock Democracy campaign to get Eric Pickles moving on implementing some of the proposals and ideas that hva come from Councils as part of the Sustainable Communities Act.

Even though we are in a financial straightjacket it is important that Government reconnects and the process has several ideas from people and they must now be addressed.

Joint letter to Eric Pickles that I have agreed to sign up to:

Dear Mr Pickles, 

We are very pleased to see that some 200 proposals put forward under the Sustainable Communities Act have been shortlisted by the Local Government Association. 

We believe the Sustainable Communities Act offers an excellent opportunity to protect and assist communities in our area. There has been real enthusiasm and involvement by local people to use the Act and we are concerned that this will not be sustained if decisions on implementation of the shortlisted proposals are not forthcoming soon. 

We would therefore like to ask that you please announce a timetable and process for trying to reach agreement with the Local Government Association on which proposals on the Shortlist will be implemented.  

It is important that significant progress is made on this process as soon as possible.  This will help our communities and will help to maintain the involvement and enthusiasm we have seen for this new process. We also note that over 200 MPs have signed Parliamentary Early Day Motion No. 178 which calls for the proposals to be dealt with expeditiously, and that this motion has attracted more signatures than any other. 

Yours sincerely,