Winners of the latest Beacon Awards, which recognise excellence and innovation in local government, were announced at a ceremony on 20 March at the Royal Horticultural Halls in London.

To complement our work supporting community engagement in sustainable development, WWF sponsored the 'Promoting Sustainable Communities through the Planning Process' award. Four exceptional local authorities were awarded Beacon status in this category: Ashford Borough Council, Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council, Hambleton District Council and Woking Borough Council.

"WWF is delighted to be sponsoring this Beacon Award," said Paul King, WWF's Director of Campaigns. "We applaud the work of the winning local authorities and look forward to working with them over the coming year."

WWF believes that sustainable development will not happen unless we address it at all levels of governance. That's why we're working with local government and communities to effect change at grass roots.

Criteria for the award include ensuring that people have a say in how their community is run, improving access to affordable housing, jobs and local amenities, and ensuring new developments are building more mixed communities. Local authorities should address quality of life in ways that safeguard the environment for future generations and have regard to wider regional impacts, as well as providing good transport links to help people get to work. The authorities should also negotiate appropriate contributions from and amendments to schemes to reflect community needs and concerns.

Ashford Council was recognised for its community engagement in addressing the area's growth issues. Woking Council has an exemplary approach to low carbon development, and has taken a long term view of environmental sustainability which threads through all the Council's work. In Hambleton, the Council is promoting sustainable communities in an overwhelmingly large rural district. And the planning process in Basingstoke and Deane is forging constructive relationships between communities and developers, as part of its commitment towards achieving sustainable communities.

The Beacon Awards were established in 1999, to act as a catalyst to improve public services. They are sponsored by the Department for Communities and Local Government and facilitated by the Improvement and Development Agency. Beacon status is not just an award, but also a responsibility to share best practice and knowledge with other local authorities.