What is sustainability?
Sustainable ways of living are those which don’t risk changing the climate, depleting the planet’s natural resources or wiping out the green space and biodiversity that contribute to our quality of life today.
Sustainable living doesn’t just mean being environmentally aware, although this is a large part of it. It is also about building strong, healthy, viable communities with promising futures. In short, it is about creating places where people want to live, work and play for years to come.
As development and growth continue ever more rapidly around the world, it is essential that we all begin to find more realistic, sustainable ways of living and working so that we don’t exceed our environmental limits and endanger human health and social and economic stability.
Sustainable development is one of the five guiding principles of Wigan’s Community Plan and is a primary goal for both Wigan Council and Wigan’s Local Strategic Partnership (LSP).
How sustainable is Wigan?
The Council and its partners are acting on all the key sustainability issues for the borough, namely:
So what can I do?
Sustainable development involves everyone. There are a number of things individuals, businesses/organisations and developers can do to contribute to more sustainable ways of living at home, at work, on the move, at school or college, at leisure or in the community.
Developers requiring advice on sustainability issues in addition to the suggestions made on these pages, may find the BREEAM website (external link) particularly helpful as it provides assessment standards for new developments, including the code for sustainable homes.
