The Impact of Local Agenda 21 in England

Local Agenda 21 (LA21) was a local level approach to sustainable development that involved local people in the creation of LA21 strategies. This PhD thesis reviews the success of LA21 in England, with two principal aims: to assess the success of such an approach, and to discuss this in relation to recent policy attempts to increase public trust in local government through public participation. This thesis asks and attempts to answer the following research question: To what extent have the original aims of Agenda 21 been achieved by the introduction of Local Agenda 21 in to the English political system, and what are the implications for New Labours Local Government Act? The key findings of the thesis are twofold. Firstly, that the relationship between local people and local government cannot necessarily be improved through public participation alone. Secondly, that there is a tension between two aspects of sustainable development: the participatory element, and the need to address current lifestyles, attitudes and behaviours. Overall, this thesis concludes that participatory approaches to local problems may not always be the appropriate solution.