Sutton has been closen as a testbed for the Government’s Big Society initiative. Sean Brennan explains how the borough will rise to the challenge

‘Hi. I read with interest that Sutton is going to be a pilot area for the new government’s Big Society concept. I am a Sutton resident and would like to know more about what is planned within Sutton, and how I can get involved. Please can you let me know.’

This was just one of a series of e-mails I received from members of the public in the days after [prime minister] David Cameron’s announcement that Sutton, in south London, was to be one of four vanguard local authorities for the Big Society project.

The words ‘Big Society’ don’t mean a great deal to some people. And certain commentators wonder whether a big society will damage fairness, others whether our culture of risk aversion will smother it, whether it’s a covert route to oversize cuts, or whether our highly-complex public sector will be impossible to alter anyway.

Most worryingly, some people, who have grown up in a time of ever-growing centralisation and growth, are astonished at the idea that the state might do less and they might do more.

But, as the leader of a council which is to be London’s testbed for the Big Society, I would say last Monday’s announcement was a cause for real optimism.

We mustn’t prematurely write the Big Society off as another feel good sentiment or big government by another name.

In Sutton, we have long held the view that it’s the man and woman on the street who need the freedom and power to help themselves and their communities. Because of this, we have managed to preserve a good old fashioned sense of community. Sutton is brimming with clubs and societies, and we have a very active voluntary sector.

For years, we’ve been encouraging unfashionable community activism through projects such as Smarter Travel Sutton, the Hackbridge sustainable community, the Sutton Life Centre and our ‘Take part take pride’ community season.

To bring the Big Society to life, we won’t be expecting massive new investment, nor will we wait for an army of advisers to be parachuted in from government departments. We all know the resources simply aren’t there.

Instead, the coalition government has asked us a simple question: What rules need to change so that we can make it easier for people to make a difference? And it has given a firm commitment to address the answers.

So, we will be talking to our community to agree which bureaucratic barriers should be dismantled to release a surge of groups and individuals willing to step forward and do the achingly-practical things which build a stronger, everyday society.

The first things we will look at are how government can give people more influence on local transport decisions, train a new generation of young community organisers, give communities the power to green their neighbourhoods, and give people a greater say in local health provision. This is just the beginning, but it marks an important cultural shift in which we can all take part. Together, we can put more power and decision-making in the hands of local people.

We can encourage people to volunteer, the voluntary sector can be paid to run certain services, businesses can be much more involved in their local community. We can reduce the cost of expensive services, and we can stimulate greater public sector entrepreneurialism.

As momentum gathers, we should then revisit the best of the dormant Sustainable Communities Act ideas and look at how communities can raise and spend money locally. In the meantime, we can all do our bit to make this work.

We can enable people to be participants in public services, rather than consumers of them, by helping to remove government red tape and by making it much easier to get involved.

Cllr Sean Brennan is leader of Sutton LBC