Community representation

[seanie]

There’s been a fair bit of talk recently about the Community Council, how the community is represented, how action can be taken on various things etc. These are things I’ve been giving consideration to for some time but not really got very far with, not least because I’ve been busy with other things. However I thought I’d throw this into the mix.

Community Councils

First off Community Councils, and this seems to be true generally, struggle to fulfil their core duty. That’s not to say they don’t do good things, but they’re really meant to find out what their community thinks about things and relay that back to the Local Authority and other parties. But most Community Councils do precious little finding out what their community thinks, and instead rely on what the couple of dozen people who happen to be on the Community Council think instead.

There are reasons for that. There are constraints of time and energy. People who end up on a Community Councils are frequently involved in other organisations and turning up to meetings may be the extent of the commitment they can make; they don’t have time to run consultations in between as well. Also it may well be impractical to consult on every issue that arises and you’d hope that a couple of dozen people talking things through might be at least reasonably representative of the Community. However it remains true that many Community Councils fly under the radar of the communities they serve, which has to raise questions.

However there’s another aspect to this. People who choose to serve on Community Councils are generally well-intentioned and civic minded. They care about the communities they live in and are willing to give up their time to attend (rather dull) meetings and familiarise themselves with issues. Quite often they will have, or will develop, strong opinions about what is and isn’t good for their community. Which may make it difficult for them to set aside their own opinions if they appear to conflict with the wider community. Alternatively, it may make them reluctant to ask the community what it thinks in case the community comes back with the wrong answer.

If a Community Council falls under the control of people who think like that then real problems arise. It simply becomes a vehicle to amplify the voices of a few who, however well intentioned, have lost sight of what a Community Council is supposed to do and are simply following their own agenda.

Consultation

Clearly, if a Community Council is to operate effectively, there needs to be consultation with the Community. But for the reasons above I think that a Community Council itself may not be the best vehicle for carrying out such consultation.

Partly that’s because constraints on time, energy etc. but it’s also to do with control: When is the community consulted? What is the question asked? How is the result reported?

What I’d suggest is that it would be better to have an independent body carrying out such consultation. Ideally they’d work in parallel with a Community Council, and the two bodies could almost act as a check and balance on each other. And actually it would be fine if they didn’t always match up. It would be perfectly reasonable for a Community Council to say that, as a body they lean towards A, but consultation with the community appears to favour B, as long as everything is clear and in the open. A Community Council DOESN’T have to make decisions on things; it only has to try to reflect the views of the community as best it can.

In our circumstances I’d suggest an ‘Ask Porty’; blog, Facebook, twitter etc. Issues are raised in a neutral way and views canvassed by a variety of means. Maybe set up an e-mail pool so 30 people are asked at random what they think of an issue, and they can expect to be asked a couple of times a year. And for each issue we have a mini-report; here’s the question asked, here are the answers, and here are any caveats or limitations with the exercise.

A consultative vehicle like that might also be useful for other local organisations seeking to find out what people think about things. As long as it’s done properly, in an open and transparent way, I think you could quickly build up trust.

Development Trust

Another issue for Community Councils is that it can be hard to be pro-active. They’re a statutory body that fulfils the consultation tick-box for a variety of organisations. So they tend to be deluged with things they’re expected to respond to. Finding time progress their own projects or ideas can be difficult.

They’re also limited in what they can do. Community Councils aren’t actually corporate bodies, so there are all kinds of grants and funds they can’t apply for, and things they can’t do. Something like a Development Trust may be a better vehicle if people are looking at regeneration projects of initiatives. Community Council have set up a Development Trust for that very reason; to do things they can’t.

For it to work you really need a wide buy in, so involving the Community Council and existing local organisations, along with local Cllrs etc. would be a good idea. But ideally it might attract people with the energy and enthusiasm to make things happen, who don’t necessarily want to go through the minutiae of planning applications and how many tables a local cafe has.

Summary

Firstly, I think our Community Council needs to take stock and look at what it’s doing. There are many good people on the Community Council, but in recent years I think it has at times lost sight of its core duty.

Secondly, I think an independent consultative vehicle could provide a useful function to the community and assist the Community Council.

Thirdly, I think a Development Trust type organisation might have a useful role, if only as a mechanism to support other projects and ideas that people bring forward.

[Sceptic]

Reading through many posts, the Community Council seems to come under fire for two main things. Firstly, not getting or reflecting the views of the people of Portobello. It only seems to air the views of those on the PCC itself. Petitions are raised based on the views of a few on the PCC, not from the Community at large. Secondly, I suppose the PHS story illustrates it, it will sit on the fence when it comes to contraversy, rather than decide to follow any particular path. If the CC had decided that the need for a new school, regardless of site, was the most important thing, this might have been finished some time ago.

Pehaps it is time to reevaluate itself, why are we here and what and who do we represent? It does seem, from the outside, that unless one is from the Brightons and Rosefields or use the Joppa tennis Courts, one is not represented.

This might create a storm of protest, but, as I stated, this is a view from the outside. Who represents the Christians? Mountcastle? The Durhams? Who, in these areas, even knows that there is a Community Council?

Ladies & gentlemen, the floor is yours, but remember the ceiling belongs to the CEC!

[urchaidh]

The CC does not have wards and while it would be best to have people from as wide a range of backgrounds as possible serve on the council it's not likely to happen. A community council will always attract more members from the chattering classes, and while not ideal it does have some benefits. These are more often than not people with the time, motivation and, in many cases, experience to get things done.

To compensate for any representational bias every CC is required to actively seek out the opinions and mood of the community and, more importantly, reflect these opinions rather than the opinions of the councillors themselves. This is where PCC has let the community down - there is nothing broken in the CC system as such, we simply have some councillors (enough to make a difference) openly pushing their own agendas in clear contradiction to the consensus within the community.

Where the personal agendas of these councillors and the wishes of the community align, everything is rosy. This was the case in the Virridor and Superstore issues. However, other issues such as the house in Bellfield Lane and the High Street Cafes clearly show personal agendas being pushed. This is simply not acceptable.

Apparently there's some minor local issue over a new school. There is clear and overwhelming support in the local community for this new school to be built as planned but the CC has so far remained 'neutral'. This is a litmus test for the current PCC. Historical neutrality aside, if the CC does not now come out in support of the new school then those councillors opposing it need to be held to account as they are clearly not acting within CEC's guidelines.

[Snow White]

Last night's meeting was quite revealing to those of us who are unfamiliar with the PCC. The relationship between the Diana Cairns and the Chair was rather like puppet master and puppet. It was self-evident how decisions are made. Truly disappointing.

[Makaveli]

Snow White I think if the meeting last night achieved one thing it was to expose to a wider audience the influence that some on the PCC have one decision making to suit there own agenda!!!

Your post confirms that

[Porty]

[Porty]

And as for 50/50 that's quite insulting for those impassioned mothers and dads who spoke out, desperate to understand why PPAG seek to quash their kids hopes.