Get yourself heard at new forums designed encourage greater involvement in local democracy
Thursday, 4 September, will see the first of a new, more local and democratic process to replace the Council's old area committee meetings.
The move comes after the Council voted to abolish the old poorly attended area committees in favour of 23 ward forums, with the aim of getting more people involved.
Each forum covers a much smaller area and is expected to focus on local issues. The hope is that this will encourage more people to attend.
Led by ward councillors, the forums will feature joint problem solving on local concerns, including round table discussions on issues such as community safety, traffic and transport schemes, parks and street improvements. Plus each ward will have the chance to influence an annual budget of £40,000 for local improvements.
Council Leader, Councillor Jason Stacey, said: “The area forums were usually quite poorly attended and people would often turn up to the one item that was of interest to them and then leave.
"I hope more residents will want to attend the ward forums because they cover smaller areas so the discussions should be more relevant and people can really influence the decisions.”
Northfields councillors David Millican, Mark Reen and Phil Taylor have already held three forums as a pilot and will be the first to officially hold a meeting as part of the switch from area committees.
Meetings for each of the other wards are being arranged and are expected to begin in the autumn. Forums will meet at least three times a year and will be publicised through ward newsletters.
Copies of the newsletters and details of the meetings will be available via the Council’s website at www.ealing.gov.uk/committees from next week.
August 26, 2008
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