THE Government has been urged to support new measures which could give a boost to rural communities such as Fenland. Malcolm Moss, MP for North-East Cambridgeshire, said he supported the Sustainable Communities Bill because it offered a genuine bottom up

THE Government has been urged to support new measures which could give a boost to rural communities such as Fenland.

Malcolm Moss, MP for North-East Cambridgeshire, said he supported the Sustainable Communities Bill because it offered "a genuine bottom up response to the on-going problems of local communities".

With wide support from all parties, the Bill will now be debated further and Mr Moss said it was a real attempt to "significantly alter the balance of power in favour of local councils and give local communities a much greater say on how taxpayers' money is to be spent".

He explained: "Essentially the Bill is designed to tackle 'Ghost Town Britain' and seeks to address the degeneration of local communities, deteriorating high streets, lack of civic participation and on-going environmental degradation."

Under the proposals the Government would publish a yearly account of the amount of public money spent in each community, and explain what proportion is controlled by local people and by Whitehall.

It would then give councils the power to work out their own alternative local spending plan.