Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Residents' Groups and This Site
I've approached all the residents' groups in Harringay and invited them to have a presence on this site. The response has been underwhelming. (The lcsp did join last year but have been almost completely silent since).
Now, this bemuses me. As I understand it residents' associations throughout Haringey and beyond are beset by falling membership numbers and Harringay's are no exception as far as I'm aware. With approaching 500 members, I'd have thought that this site provides a neutral street-corner-cum-over-the-garden-fence-cum-town-hall environment ideally suited to their getting their message across, keeping in touch with what the locals think and building support.
Have I missed something?
What do you guys think? Do you think those groups should get involved here or is their purpose and way of operating so distinct that this site is irrelevant to them? Let me know either on this thread and/or on the members' poll.
If any residents' groups reps are reading this I'd welcome getting a better understanding of your reluctance.
Now, this bemuses me. As I understand it residents' associations throughout Haringey and beyond are beset by falling membership numbers and Harringay's are no exception as far as I'm aware. With approaching 500 members, I'd have thought that this site provides a neutral street-corner-cum-over-the-garden-fence-cum-town-hall environment ideally suited to their getting their message across, keeping in touch with what the locals think and building support.
Have I missed something?
What do you guys think? Do you think those groups should get involved here or is their purpose and way of operating so distinct that this site is irrelevant to them? Let me know either on this thread and/or on the members' poll.
If any residents' groups reps are reading this I'd welcome getting a better understanding of your reluctance.
Tags for Forum Posts: Wightman Road, residents groups
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Liz on
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I am not clear as to why they are apparently so reluctant to get a presence on the site. I have emailed the LCSP and asked them to respond to my suggestion to use their page more often to 'blog' meetings or even just to post agenda/ minutes. Creating and maintaining a group on the site would make the best sense and I have even offered to run it for them (I will even 'blog' the meetings if they want) but for some reason they have not replied to either my comment on their page or a separate email I sent them. I will bring it up again in the meeting but really it should not be this hard to persuade them. I would suggest that recognition of their 'brand' has increased 100% simply through the discussions that mention their name.
I also contacted the Wightman Road N4 group via a site member about setting up a group and I hope that he will get back to me (personal reasons mean he is not about at present).
I am hoping that the Residents groups can see the value of setting up a microsite via the group function for advertising and recruiting. Like you Hugh I would like to know what their reasons are for not doing so.
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Yes, I know of this and fair enough, but it is not an either/or situation. If you are trying to recruit new members or advertising what you do, then you use all avenues open to you. No one is suggesting that hand delivered minutes shouldn't be delivered any longer or that established methods like talking to people don't work, of course they do, but when you have a website like this, you should use it (especially when someone is actually offering to organise it for you!).
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Permalink Reply by matt on
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Oh sure I see what you're saying. I just wonder if additionally people see their street's business as just that, something to be shared amongst neighours rather than shared publicly on an internet site for all to see.
Isn't this site more a forum for discussing general ideas rather than specifics like 'so and so at number 42 is playing their stereo till all hours of the morning and we are all going to sign a petition to that person's landlord ....', if you see what I mean.
This site may provide the wrong sort of exposure. Just a thought.
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Permalink Reply by Hugh on
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That might be the case, except none of the residents' groups I've been to aorund here focus on those sorts of issues. THe main concerns are the wider isues that we deal with here too.
By the way I'm equally keen to get the residents' groups working together. I hope we can find a project to get them all engaged on together,
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I agree with Hugh on this, there is a bit of the 'problem house' thing, but mainly it is big issues that concern the LCSP like betting shops, HMOs and especially traffic, which are explored on here. The groups may find that they have many things in common and could work together on them (Arena traffic being a case in point but I can think of others). If sensitive issues, not for public consumption, are minuted then you could publish a summary of the main points or even 'blog' a chatty version that just highlights key points of the discussion...no need to talk about the X at number 42.
Not sure what you mean by 'wrong sort of exposure' it is an interesting turn of phrase...could you elaborate?
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'wrong sort of exposure'
Oh nothing more than what you talked about in the rest of your comment. I think most streets, if they have a resemblance of a resident's group at all, find the same small group of individuals making their meetings, talking about certain trouble addresses, rubbish, teenagers hanging out on streets, fly tipping etc.
I actually voted in Hugh's little poll for the 'yes' option. I'm just trying to see why it might be why Hugh has encountered resistence to the idea of using this site to publicise resident's groups minutes/activities/thoughts.
If the LSCP are resisting then there may be no way forward on this without trying another tact. But don't ask me what!
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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I technology this is called NIH syndrome.
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Oh okay. I thought maybe you'd picked up on an attitude to the site and were hinting at something :). I am not sure quite what prevents the LCSP from moving forward because my memory of their early discussions of using the website were largely positive . The sensitivity of material discussed (which was one suggestion as to why they couldn't operate online from an LCSP member) seems a bit of a red herring as they email/deliver the minutes to anyone who joins their mailing list.
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Rhys, I post the agenda. Hugh has posted minutes in the past. We are asking the groups to set up the microsites to keep these things together and allow a bit more visibility. We are awaiting their responses.
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Permalink Reply by Dave Morris on
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Hi
I've just joined this site as the Secretary of the Haringey Federation of Residents Associations. We are the umbrella organisation for the growing number of residents associations of all kinds in every corner of the borough - 150 at the latest count.
I think that networking and sharing useful and empowering information among RAs, and among residents in general, is very important.
Whilst websites can be helpful in this (see our own site - www.haringeyresidents.org) I think we need to appreciate that local RAs are accountable to all their members and their own local community and there's no substitute for face to face meetings and networking.
At the same time groups often choose to set up their own email lists and websites to enhance such direct community contacts and collective working - as well as linking into other sites such as yours, GreenN8 and others.
So we are happy to share information with you, and happy for you to include news from us.
Meanwhile we will do our best to encourage and support the development of local associations in every street, neighbourhood and block of flats throughout the borough.
best wishes
Dave Morris
HFRA Secretary
Falmer Rd, N15
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Agreed Dave. There's no substitute for face-to-face and this site has never set up to be a substitute. But it's undeniable that many residents' associations simply don't get the support they need. As well as the other functions we fulfill here, this site can be a useful supplement for RAs. Not all people can or want to sit in church halls. This virtual community offers those people an alterative way of engaging. It's also a 24-7 tool for those who want to sit in church halls to discuss and share info beyond the meetings.
It's fine for RAs to set up their own webistes. But my genuinely open question is why? And a website's a website, but this is a virtual community. If all the Harringay RAs (and I do mean Harringay) set up a microsite here, then it would enable us all to share info join in debates, be better informed, gain from the strength of working together and build a stronger sense of community. Why encourage a fractured infrastructure?
PS: As it happens we don't have an accountable RA for the Ladder. We have the LCSP which is effective, but it is not accountable nor are decisions taken by reference to those who attend meetings. But that's another discussion.
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