(Comments posted on the Walthamstow Yahoo Group in response to a stimulating question posed there.)
... I first thought of involving myself with the Community Council precisely because I was struck by how "enthusiasts" (evidently the "usual" ones) dominated the first meeting. I thought at the time - if "ordinary" folk like me (??) don't participate, these characters will have the meetings to themselves. We also know from feedback forms that many "ordinary" people are put off by this vociferous few.
And yet, how could it be different? The people who turn up will always be the most involved and interested in what's going on, and that must include those who make local issues a "hobby".
Here's a proposition: We don't have any "cranks" at Walthamstow West. There isn't anyone (!) that I'd want to see the back of. We do have individuals with arcane hobby-horses, and sometimes their views are expressed with a passion that the Chairs struggle to contain, but I can honestly say that there is noone among our "regulars" who hasn't at some point made a significant positive contribution. We do not, and will not, discourage activists, enthusiasts or anyone with a burning issue. The Chairs may, however, ask you to defer to the wishes of the meeting as a whole.
That doesn't mean we're not keen to make the meetings more accessible to "ordinary" residents - quite the contrary. I've been agitating for more resources in the CC support team so that we can handle a larger volume of issues by taking them "offline" in writing. (The jury is still out on that one.) The Chairs and support team have also discussed (many times!) how to make the meetings more relevant to all strands of our community - young people, black & minority ethnic people to name just two. Overall, though, the challenge for the Chairs is to manage the meetings so that they are effective and relevant for most people, and that sometimes means disappointing one passionate individual to keep the body of the meeting on board.
Feedback on how we're doing is actively sought and positively welcomed - especially where you can offer suggestions for improvement. I think they are getting steadily better.
Simon also raises the issue of "content" - the matters discussed. This is a thorny problem for the Chairs and the support team who meet in advance to agree the Agenda. We have to choose (no practical alternative has emerged) which items are most important, timely and relevant. We're limited by a constitution which forbids topics whose scope has no local manifestation, so we can talk about litter but not about Iraq, for example. Otherwise, we preserve a substantial slot in which any resident can raise any issue of local concern, and as I've indicated above, we're looking into extending this process "offline". Where questions raised can't be resolved by officers present, we subsequently chase the department concerned for a response in time for the next meeting.
I feel that the important thing at the moment is the process itself. If we can evolve these meetings so that there is a reasonable expectation of an interesting (even entertaining) event in which issues relevant to "ordinary" (that word again) residents are given a public airing, then we'll be succeeding. Over time, there should be opportunity to go into most if not all issues that affect our patch.
Finally, one minor comment on the issue of "Match Funding". This was raised (by our Vice-Chair), and the suggestion fell with a thud on the floor. The difficulty is that it takes time and effort to make it happen, and there isn't anyone we can ask to do it. The support team are fully stretched (they work very hard!) and my situation is such that I can't take it on. Now if we had a volunteer....
PH
--- In walthamstow@yahoogroups.com, "Simon M" <simon@b...> wrote:
> ...
> While we're on the subject of community councils - has everyone else
> on here been to them? What do they think of them? Is it just me that
> finds them over-stuffed with community activists (eg nice people like
> me) and under-stuffed with the actual community? I think this is
> having a knock-on effect on the issues and funding bids raised.
>
> I also think there is an issue (although I can't quite put my finger
> on what exactly it is) in terms of the way the councillors/the
> council and the community interact at these things. A pattern of
> small questions from residents isn't spotted as a larger issue for
> the borough perhaps? And/or big issues (like trying to get "matched
> funding" for the budget at Walthamstow West) are shied away from.
> Perhaps there's a failure on the part of all of us too. Some of the
> big, big issues I've seen people raise on this forum haven't turned
> up at the community council meetings I've attended. Then again, I've
> not attended them all...
>
> Thoughts?
>
> Si M