LOCAL SERVICES AND FACILITIES

That this House is concerned at the decline and erosion of local communities caused firstly by the closure of local facilities, such as doctors' surgeries, schools, benefit offices, leisure and sports centres, shops and public houses, and secondly by the decline in provision of adequate public transport and the excess and unnecessary road traffic transporting food and beer long distances and causing air and noise pollution as well as extra emissions of carbon dioxide; notes that the Local Services and Facilities Bill, presented in the last session of Parliament, would have required impact assessments to be drawn up before facilities were closed and would then allow local people to make representations either to prevent the closure or to require action to be taken to ameliorate the adverse effects and would also require steps to be taken to reduce food miles and beer miles; and supports the empowerment of local communities to provide constructive solutions to proposed closures of local services and facilities.