Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Find out about starting a local council for your neighbourhood
In my mailbag this morning:
You may well have considered the possibilities of local - truly local - governance. We at NALC (the National Association of Local Councils) are currently working with Queens Park (and other areas of London) who are looking to form their own local (neighbourhood / town) council.
We are holding two free informal drop in events (with refreshments) to discuss how a local community might go about forming a new local council for their area. The events are being held at the Coin Street Neighbourhood Centre (just near Waterloo on the South Bank). If you can't make the first event on 25th October, we're holding a second on 29th November. Both are evening events, both are free, but as numbers are limited we invite people to register to attend at http://createacouncil25oct.eventbrite.com and http://createacouncil29nov.eventbrite.com
If you are unable to attend but are interested, you may find information on http://www.createacouncil.nalc.gov.uk helpful.
Please see full details on the events below:
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Why Create A New Local Council? - FREE NALC Networking Events
Coin Street Neighbourhood Centre, 108 Stamford Street, South Bank, London, SE1 9NH
25 October, 2011 (Fred Miller Room); and 29 November, 2011 (Doreen Ramsay Room) - Both events from 17:30 - 19:30
Why attend?:
- Do you want to give power to the people in your community?
- Does your community want the chance to manage its own assets?
- Does your community want to influence and take local decisions?
- Do you want to provide services to meet local needs?
If the answer is yes to any of the above, please book on to the 'Why Create A New Local Council?' Networking Events. These interesting free will give delegates the chance to answer these questions as NALC embarks on its broader campaign to create new local (parish / town /neighbourhood / community) councils in London.
Who should attend?
Community group representatives; voluntary association / group representatives; Charity organisations; Think Tanks; Tenants' and Residents' Associations representatives; Neighbourhood Watch activists; and residents wanting more say in their local community.
Who are the speakers?
These two events are very informal networking events (un-programmed). There will be a few speakers at both events including Justin Griggs (NALC Head of Policy and Development) - who will be speaking about the benefits of creating new local councils nationally. Cllr. David Drew (Chairman, Andover Town Council, Hants.) will say a few words at the 25/10 event about the benefits a new local council has brought to Andover; and Cllr. Rob Gifford (Chairman, Stony Stratford Town Council, Bucks.) will say a few words at the 29/11 event about the benefits a new local council has brought to Stony Stratford. Other than that you will have the chance to discuss issues over some light refreshments and meet other like minded individuals and organisations.
How to book:
Please click either of these web links - or cut and paste them into your web-browsers (http://createacouncil25oct.eventbrite.com/) - to book onto the event on 25/10 and (http://createacouncil29nov.eventbrite.com/) - to book onto the event on 29/11.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Alan Stanton on
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The other week a similar idea crossed my mind. But I thought it was so weird and off-the-wall that people would just laugh. Nobody could possibly take it seriously. However, encouraged by this posting, here it is.
Government funding is given to London Boroughs. So just suppose we divided-up Haringey into local areas - they could be called something like, say, wards. Then suppose each of those areas had an election for, say, three people who promised to listen to and represent the people in that area. All the elected reps across Haringey could then meet together and constitute a council along the lines of this NALC proposal. They could engage with local residents, and take up and discuss issues etc etc.
Obviously, this is naive and totally impractical. Chasing rainbows along the yellow brick road. But hey, you gotta have a dream.
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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Whacky as it sounds, Alan, your idea may have some merit in it. How on earth would you make it work in reality, though?
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Permalink Reply by John D on
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The big question is - would the council, once elected, engage with the residents, or just ignore them ?
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Come now, John. No faith in those ruby slippers? The new councils will follow the yellow brick road. (Tune: "If I only had a heart.")
They will pass such happy hours, excercisin’ all their powers
And consultin' with the folks.
No more rules, petty-fogging. They will fill each morning bloggingAnd tweetin’ witty jokes.
So don’t fret about solutions. Just keep passing resolutions.
Who would guess it’s all a hoax?
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Just for information - there are Parish Councils in country areas. Is this the same thing ?
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Permalink Reply by 1jqeygkz123lg on
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Hello John, another way to engage people would be to implement partipatory budgeting within this new council. A worshop is held in London about this issue soon (26 January), feel free to share the event ;-) If you want to help us to organize another workshop wherever you are in London, please contact us ! http://bethnalgreen.eventbrite.com
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