LOCAL people's vision of how Pendle should take shape in the 21st century is to be launched at Pendle Heritage Centre.

Our Place - Our Pendle is the local authority's Local Agenda 21 to meet the government's pledge to protect the planet made at the Earth Summit in Rio.

The initiative is the widest consultation exercise carried out by the council and represents the ideas, fears and hopes of nearly 1,000 local people.

Pendle is the only council in the North West to take the innovative approach of launching the plan on a CD Rom in a bid to influence other key decision makers to make Pendle's people's vision a reality. The CD Rom includes pictures from the Our Place - Our Pendle roadshows held in the district recently and features local band Tidy with their catchy track: "It's a lovely day".

Environmental policy officer Jane Wright who is co-ordinating LA 21 in the borough said they were faced with a delicate balancing act of improving the qualify of life and creating jobs while protecting the environment.

Chief executive Stephen Barnes said: "This plan has taken us from Rio to Blacko, with Pendle people thinking locally and globally to give us many ambitious ideas and to set a course for a more sustainable future."

Pendle Council is already sitting up and taking notice of the concerns by local people about pollution, safe, fresh food, public transport and recycling.

Their sustainability action plan includes:

deign of new environmentally friendly buildings

cutting down on car use

tougher fines on polluters

new conservation areas to preserve Pendle's heritage

rapid expansion of recycling initiatives

saving energy and cutting fuel bills

supporting local growers through farmers' markets, food co-ops and by providing fresh food for oap luncheon clubs.

The vision for the future will be launched on Tuesday at Pendle Heritage Centre.