BOROUGH-wide regeneration is being held back by a lack of vision and leadership from Waltham Forest Council.

A council-approved report praises the authority for its financial management and ability to deliver basic services, but also says opportunities are being missed because there is no clear plan for the future.

The peer review study, conducted by leading council officials from Oldham, Southwark, Salford and Portsmouth, assesses Waltham Forest's performance in areas such as ambition, prioritisation and performance management.

It says: "The priorities for the council and the community in the longer-term are unclear. Similarly regeneration priorities are unclear."Another extract reads: "Although there are examples of specific initiatives that have benefited local people in terms of regeneration and redevelopment, these are not on a scale that would impact significantly on their localities."

The report calls for councillors and senior managers to develop an imaginative long-term vision for the borough that is based on what residents and organisations want.

It goes on to state that the council's Sustainable Communities Strategy (SCS), due to be published in May 2008, should provide a more coherent development plan.

However it also notes a "lack of clarity on what sustainable' and communities' means to the borough".

Elsewhere the council is criticised for not making the most of the 2012 Olympics and the borough's Building Schools for the Future project.

But praise is given for the council's improving performance, its ability to attract external funding and tackling anti-social behaviour.

Conservative group leader Matt Davis backed the report's conclusions, saying: "It's absolutely correct.

"I think there's a wholesale lack of joined-up thinking in the administration.

"The SCS is supposed to solve the problem and be reflective of the views, wants and desires of local residents rather than central Government and that lunatic, the Mayor of London.

"But I don't hold out much hope for it because the administration could not be more contemptuous of the views of their own residents."

THE council says it is working hard to address the concerns raised in a review of its performance.

It claims it will talk more to Ascham Homes, the organisation which manages council housing, after the review found a lack of communication was stifling repairs and rent collection.

Under-performance in all areas identified will be challenged, the council has promised.

A review of the scrutiny processes are currently under way after criticisms in the report that it does not add value.

Council leader Clyde Loakes said: "The council has made real progress to improve services over the past few years but we know that we still have much to do to provide truly excellent services across the board.

"We try to make honest and realistic assessments of our performance. I'm very pleased with the peer review team's overwhelmingly positive and constructive findings.

"We have just started developing a long-term plan for the future of the borough called the Sustainable Communities Strategy (SCS). This work is being undertaken with the police, local health services and the voluntary and community sector.

"The SCS will be drawn up through widespread engagement with residents and will be based on their ambitions and priorities for the area. This will provide a clear set of new priorities to take the borough forward."