Lifetime neighbourhoods

How do we plan homes and neighbourhoods that can adapt to the changing needs and harness the talents and experience of our ageing population?

The view of the 100 senior elected members, officers and representatives of partner organisations who attended a recent LGA conference on this issue was unanimous. We do not want the mass retirement villages populated exclusively by older people that have developed in other countries such as the United States.

We all need to plan inclusive neighbourhoods that support all the community, including older people, to maintain their health, wellbeing and independence.

The figures on our ageing population are striking: 8.5m people are pensioners and 3.1m of them live alone; 2.5m older people need some form of care services, and this figure is set to rise to 4.5m by 2025. There are already more people over retirement age than there are children, and one in five of all children living today are expected to reach their 100th birthday. Some parts of the country already have high proportions of pensioner households – in 31 authorities over 30% of homes are headed by pensioners.

But what do we mean by lifetime neighbourhoods, and what are the key issues that we need to address in our own communities? We can learn valuable lessons from councils such as St Helens, Sheffield, Greenwich, my own authority, Bolton, and many others that are already moving ahead with this agenda. There were four clear messages coming from the examples of good practice and from participants at the LGA conference.

Key messages

Firstly, we already have the evidence and the answers: there is a wealth of examples on the essential components of neighbourhoods that are safe, inclusive and which promote health and wellbeing. The factors common to all of them are:

•  accessible transport, and flexible and affordable housing;
•  safe, attractive and well planned public spaces – including green spaces;
•  respect, social inclusion and civic participation;
•  ready access to local services and amenities such as health and social care services, post offices and shops, and social activities;
•  welcoming and safe communal spaces for all the community, providing opportunities for the different generations to meet and mix.

Secondly, older people are the experts on their own needs and aspirations – and they are a valuable community resource. Community groups such as the elders council of Newcastle and Eastleigh southern parishes older people’s forum have been instrumental in mapping their local areas and talking to local people to identify what needs to be done ensure that all neighbourhoods are good places in which to grow old.

Thirdly, the Total Place approach is the way forward. Investing in good housing and good neighbourhoods can deliver several benefits: improved health and wellbeing outcomes for older people; wider benefits to the whole community; and significant medium and long-term savings on social care and health expenditure. Similarly, the recently published Marmot review of health inequalities identified the need for a greater emphasis on the wider determinants of health, including good housing and healthy neighbourhoods, to close the gap in life expectancy and health experience between the richest and poorest in society.

Finally, local solutions: local councils, working with their local communities, are best placed to identify how they can meet the current and future needs of their citizens. Local councils need to have the autonomy and flexibility to determine their own solutions.

I am sure the recent LGA conference is just the start of a lively and constructive discussion of how we can work together at national and local level to ensure that all our neighbourhoods are good places in which to grow old.

Cllr Linda Thomas is vice-chairman of the LGA environment board and deputy leader of Bolton council