More control of council resources and budgets should be devolved to communities, councillors say.

As Kirklees councillors fear budget and service cuts, one group has launched its own vision for the future.

The Green Party and Valley Independents are the first to draw up and release their own way forward and they say cutting services but operating in the same, traditional way is wrong.

Among their proposals:

Community budgets: priorities and spending decisions set at local levels.

Council staff located in more areas and working within communities rather than centrally.

Replace Area Committees – public meetings of councillors for residents – with Community Forums.

‘Hard’ services delivered by outside organisations.

Voluntary sector to have equal relationship with council, not merely run services.

They will lobby for a council which embodies three themes – partnership, facilitation and innovation.

Clr Edgar Holroyd-Doveton, a Holme Valley North Independent, said: “We require a change in attitude, we think the council is very centralist with a ‘top down’ approach.”

Ideas include allowing Community Forums to set budget priorities which would cover spending on local highways, early years pre-schools and libraries.

They say strategic highways, education, adults services for vulnerable and children’s safeguarding would remain centralised.

Asked how it differed from the current area committees, Clr Holroyd-Doveton added: “They are very limited in what they can do, we’re not talking about giving communities £50,000 on holiday spends but hundreds of thousands of pounds to spend on a ward’s own individual priorities.

“At the moment council officers work in the town halls or civic centres; we’re saying there should be three to five council officers working from libraries, which would make libraries multi-functional.

“Layers of management can also be removed.”

Asked how the work would be scrutinised and equal in each ward, the Independent councillor said: “Apple workers in New York report directly to directors, there are fewer layers of management and that’s a successful model.

“We’d have safeguards in place and still have a Cabinet and Scrutiny process.

“The difference would be the council staff will be accessible and there will be a ‘bottom up’ approach.

“In terms of equality, some areas are seen as poor or rich but there are pockets of deprivation in each ward which should not be ignored.”

He said the Newsome Forum, led by councillors and residents, as well as a volunteer time bank project in Holmfirth, were good examples.

“If we want to get the community involved the wrong way is to say ‘here’s the services we can’t afford’ and hand them over.

“In Holmfirth there’s a time banking project, I’m good at computers so I offer to help someone, in turn they may be good at gardening so they do a bit for me.

“It’s all voluntary but it touches services which are the backbone of communities.”

Clr Julie Stewart-Turner, Newsome Green member, said: “If people feel involved in their neighbourhood they feel a better sense of security.

“In Newsome people have taken an active role in the community, from allotment management to play schemes – typical councils services.

“We understand people have busy lives but we need to give people the confidence to get involved.”