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Sustainable Development

The future of L.L.A.N.I. Ltd is uncertain. WAG has stopped funding the core costs of such community development companies and European funds have dried up. Grant funding is becoming increasingly hard to obtain. The emphasis is now on the company earning its keep from social enterprise trading – but this requires investment capital or the management of assets to generate sufficient income to cover the operating costs of the business and provide a surplus to fund the sort of community development initiatives described on the My work section of this website.

The current situation is challenging, and it is not just L.L.A.N.I. Ltd that needs to face up to it. Llanidloes needs to take a look at itself; the assets it holds in common, the natural resources by which it is surrounded; the expertise it has at its command.

Rumour has it that the town is dying. Laura Ashley has moved out, the Community Centre has closed. I do not believe that Llanidloes is dying, but like all towns it is struggling to adapt itself to the requirements of modern life. By embracing opportunities and tackling the challenges that come with progress and change, the town can move forward.

But it is easier to embrace change if you are prepared for it. We, as a community, need to develop a shared vision of where Llanidloes should be going, and then plot a course to get there. By harnessing new ideas to local resources and to the services that cater for our needs, we can begin to shape a vision for what our community should look like in the future.

The issues encompassed within that vision will be many and varied; they will include:

• Affordability of housing and the planning restraints that create shortage;
• Care of the elderly;
• Childcare;
• Climate change;
• Community owned buildings and resources;
• Cost of delivering services locally;
• Education;
• Employment and skills development;
• Enterprise and innovation;
• Energy efficiency;
• Farming and land use;
• Food miles;
• Healthcare / Hospital;
• Peak oil;
• Poor investment conditions (credit crunch);
• Renewable resources;
• Rising energy prices;
• Skills’ migration;
• Tourism;
• Trade and commerce;
• Transport links;
• Work space.

A vision without action is no use to anyone. A developed vision for Llanidloes will need an accompanying action plan that allows everyone, from individuals to voluntary organisations and statutory agencies, to work towards a common goal of building a strong and sustainable community. Much is likely to happen over the next ten years on a local, national and global level that presently cannot be foreseen. Our action plan will therefore need to be flexible; it will need to be reviewed, adapted and updated on a regular basis, but above all else it must be deliverable. And it must be deliverable through the action of local people; not dependent on outside implementation. The only way we can do this is by becoming more efficient, by developing local resources, promoting economic growth and being, as far as possible, self-financing.

The current situation is challenging, but every challenge is an opportunity we can rise to.

L.L.A.N.I. Ltd, working with LLES Ltd, has developed a number of practical ideas that can form highly visible first actions in a Sustainable Development Plan* for Llanidloes.

Even if L.L.A.N.I. Ltd cannot continue to employ staff or fund the office in the Town Hall in the short term, I will continue to work on a voluntary basis to ensure that Llanidloes realises its potential.