SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES

My super output area is Milton Keynes 032c Lower Layer, I am not sure whether this name is suggesting something but from what I have found out I think it is (lower). AS far as sustainable community is concerned I don't think my area gives a good picture or resembles anything to do with sustainable except for one single thing, living environment.



The more red it is the more deprived it is, but if we compare this to education in the area, I am simply horrified that I actually take my daughter to a school in this area.


The overall absence in all schools in my area is given as 9.01% as compared to 5.78% for the whole of Milton Keynes and 6.23 for England. The persistent absentees in all schools in the area is given as 7.5% as compared to 2.8% for Milton Keynes and 3.6% for England (http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/leadTableView.do;jsessionid=).
If education is so low in my area what chances do the children have of becoming active citizens I ask? I think it goes with the territory, if education is low the children do not have the capacity to play an effective role in the society, they are not well informed, they are not thoughtful, not responsible citizens and are not aware of their rights and not conscious of their duties either. I think what you learn from an early age has a ripple effect wherever you go and it is very important to get the education right because it is your future and will have an effect on the people around you. Thank you Greg I now know why my area is so rough, they don't get the education!!. Most of them are not politically, socially or economically literate hence not informed on anything other than what they get on the streets.

Looking at fire and rescue services, fires attended to were 9, Milton Keynes was 674 and England was 131,258 and a total casualties of 3 in my area out of 52 in Milton Keynes.

One of the definitions given on active citizenship is ensuring there are opportunities and mechanisms for all to participate in public life and decision-making, regardless of age, ability, culture, lifestyle or location, I think that definition basically stinks, because if children don't get equal opportunities in education how is this definition achievable? If I compare my previous address with current as far as education is concerned it just tells that the above definition should be replaced with something like where you live has an effect on what kind of citizen you become.


This is education deprivation for Epsom in Surrey.

If we have a look at crime in my area, it is quite high but then again it is not a surprise given the level of education deprivation. In my view education is the key to young people's better future. Most families in the area have about three failed generations from grandparents to parents and their children. None of them knows better than the other one since none of them received the education they deserve and hence have no chance of becoming responsible citizens.



I don't think we can ever achieve sustainable communities in such areas unless we have ways and means of breaking these generation failures in families and communities. As it has been said before, one of the central themes underpinning sustainable development is equality and fairness, from the information available in my super output area, it just shows how far away we are from achieving equality and fairness towards sustainable development. The only thing that is looking up in my area is living environment and barriers to housing and services, and I am guessing it is because not many people want to live there.



Income deprivation is high in the area so I am guessing not many people work as probably not many of them have any skills or are even willing to work.



However, there has been an improvement of local public services especially the collection tipped rubbish so the area is getting cleaner by the day, and there is also an improvement in tackling anti-social behaviour and extremism as there is always the presence of the police in the area even on their bikes. So despite all the failures, something is looking up but more needs to be done if sustainable community is to be achieved in the area.

WHY VOTE?

My constituency is Milton Keynes South West and the local MP is Dr Phyllis Starkey a Labour party MP.Dr Starkey has been an MP for Milton Keynes since 1997 during which time, her website says, Milton Keynes has thrived under her care, there has been a new treatment centre in Milton Keynes hospital, countless new schools and the arrival of MK Dons stadium. Dr Starkey has been elected chair of the communities and local government select committee, covering housing and planning, local and regional government, the fire service and the equalities agenda (www.phyllisstarkey.co.uk).


My local council is Milton Keynes council which is dominated by the Liberal Democrat with 21 seats, followed by the Conservatives with 20 seats and Labour comes third with 10 seats (http://www.milton-keynes.gov.uk/mkcouncil/)



The council elections have been set for the 6th of May 2010 and there is a general mood around that a lot of people will not come out to vote since they don't know who to vote for that will meet their expectations. This is a pretty bad conclusion to come to because someone will be voted in so I think you might as well use your vote and exercise your right. I think we are very good at sitting back and mourning about something or someone but when it comes to doing something about it we leave it to others even though we have the right and can make a change. We may not get the change we want but a bit of it is better than nothing. I know most politicians have no one else's interest at heart other than theirs, but if we know this and don't vote to get them out, then we are no better than them. We all need to vote in order to leave a better legacy for our kids than we have, surely this should be a driving force if nothing else matters.

I have always voted Labour because I think they represent the common man, and my view on that has not changed. The party has done a lot since coming to power in 1997 especially in regard to social security and child poverty. We now have lone parents deals, tax credits and so on and they have also committed to eradicating child poverty by 2020 and halving it by 2010. Although they have now abandoned the 2010 pledge when the realisation that they are nowhere near meeting the pledge came to light, and have outlined a new poverty bill (http://www.dailytelegraph.co.uk). But one of Labour's biggest failure is the Iraq war which they will be remembered for in years to come. My grandmother used to say that if you don,t make mistakes then who is your teacher?. This was a costly mistake that we are still paying for and still losing lives over it but we can't go back and undo what has happened, the best thing we can do is learn from it.

I am not into David Cameron at all and I can't tell you why either because I really don't know. A study done in Bangor University seems to tell us that his body language suggests that he is a better leader than Gordon Brown actually giving him on leadership a 4.34 score over a 3.97 to Gordon. On attractiveness, he got a 4.16 to Gordon's 3.16, anxiety 2.26 to Gordon's 3.84 (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/newstopics/politics/7385195/David-Camerrons-body-lang). But seriously I know body language is important, but is this what decides who is a better leader, not going through the manifesto and looking at the policies that affects you and your neighbourhood? What does Cameron's attractiveness have to do with what is happening in my neighbourhood, nothing is the answer and neither is Gordon's non-attractiveness. In my view the politicians have a lot in common and most of them don't know the real issues affecting the people that they represent, but I think this is where we come in, we have to make them listen and we can't do that without voting for sure. My main concern is who of them represents me, Conservatives have been known to connect with the rich, they are anti-immigration and not very good on social security. I was leaning more to the Liberal Democrats because of the abolition of the tuition fees but have now been postponed due to the economic crisis but will wait to see what happens.

So lets all go and vote the best decision you will make in years!!!!.