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# Localism Watch resources, Sept 2014
- URL: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/localism-watch-resources-sept-2014/
- Published: 2014-10-07T13:10:15.000Z
- Updated: 2026-04-22T10:16:00.000Z
- Description: Resources for Localism Watch, September, 2014
- Author: Laird Ryan
- Tags: Resources , #Migrated, LocalismWatch, #en, #Import 2026-04-09 15:58, #appended-excerpt

**OPINIONS**

- Westminster City Council Chief Executive Charlie Parker [argues that central government should show greater confidence in councils’ ability to run their own finances](http://www.lgcplus.com/briefings/more-freedoms-will-mean-an-ever-stronger-performance/5073803.article?blocktitle=Latest-Opinion&contentID=5828&ref=opendemocracy.net) (18.08.14)
- Eric Pickles – [a petty dictator on green issues](http://www.theguardian.com/environment/damian-carrington-blog/2014/jul/31/eric-pickles-taste-for-dogma-eats-localism-for-breakfast?ref=opendemocracy.net)? Damian Carrington’s Guardian blog (01.08.14)
- Another plateful of Pickles: he talked of his priorities being ‘localism, localism and localism’, but was this just a way of devolving responsibility for the cuts? [Emma Maier in Inside Housing](http://www.insidehousing.co.uk/localism-an-easy-way-out/7005046.article?ref=opendemocracy.net) (08.08.14):
- Alex Thomson of the right-leaning think tank Localis [calls for more localism in MJ: ](http://www.themj.co.uk//PluggedInAlex-Thomson/197902?ref=opendemocracy.net)you cannot say that we don’t cover all sides of the localism debate! (14.08.14)
- Catherine Staite, director of Inlogov at Birmingham University [explains why the Scottish independence referendum will fuel the localism campaign](http://www.lgcplus.com/news/scottish-poll-will-fuel-localism-campaign/5073069.article?ref=opendemocracy.net) (27.07.14)
- Mark Smulian [argues in the LGC for](http://www.lgcplus.com/topics/localism/localism-needed-to-tackle-intolerable-inequality/5073940.article?ref=opendemocracy.net) ‘radical decentralisation’ in Scottish local government (19.08.14)
- [An interesting article by Tim Worstall ](http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2014/08/14/the-benefits-of-international-trade-in-food-or-the-limits-to-localism/?ref=opendemocracy.net)in Forbes Magazine defending the big supermarkets against what he describes as ‘the usual crew of food campaigners’ (14.08.14)

**LOCALISM AROUND THE COUNTRY**

- The Welfare Reform Act exposes the [meaningless of ‘localism’ in Sandwell ](http://www.expressandstar.com/comment-and-opinion/daniel-wainwright/2014/08/09/council-tax-row-exposes-localism-futility/?ref=opendemocracy.net)(09.08.14)
- Localism [powerless to prevent dumping of nuclear waste](http://www.localgov.co.uk/Nuclear-waste-plans-make-mockery-of-localism-MP-says/36839?ref=opendemocracy.net)
- ‘Localism was mis-sold to the public’ [A view from Spalding, Lincolnshire](http://www.spaldingtoday.co.uk/news/latest-news/planning-localism-was-mis-sold-to-the-public-1-6227932?ref=opendemocracy.net) on the exclusion of a councillor from a planning debate, after he had previously expressed a view (10.08.14)
- ‘Localism receives its last rites’ A comment on the apparent lack of resident engagement by a district council in [West Sussex on volume housing proposals ](http://www.westsussextoday.co.uk/news/letters/letter-localism-concept-receives-last-rites-1-6195828?ref=opendemocracy.net)(24.07.14)
- [Environment Minister Lord de Mauley](http://www.thejournal.co.uk/news/north-east-news/environment-minister-welcomes-vision-next-7636770?ref=opendemocracy.net) walks Hadrian’s Wall in a suit and tie, as he praises countryside management initiatives in Northumberland as ‘localism in action’ (19.08.2014)
- Neil Carmichael, Conservative MP for Stroud, Gloucestershire takes his Labour district council to task for [not having a local plan in place ](http://www.stroudnewsandjournal.co.uk/news/11375978.Neil%5FCarmichael%5F%5FStroud%5FMP%5F%5FStroud%5Fis%5Fa%5Fperfect%5Fplace%5Ffor%5Flocalism%5Fto%5Ftake%5Froot/?ref=fap)(02.08.2014)
- Easy if you can afford it. Lord Phillmore pays £400,000 [to help buy the Bottle and Glass](http://www.henleystandard.co.uk/business/business.php?id=1511051&ref=opendemocracy.net), a closed pub in Binfield Heath near Henley, which was declared an Asset of Community Value under the Localism Act (18.08.14)

Resources for Localism Watch, September, 2014