David Mentiply reports on the Lee Green local Assembly.
In 2008, local assemblies were established in each of Lewisham’s eighteen wards. This initiative was designed to engage and involve people in the running of their neighbourhoods and communities. Each assembly was given an initial budget of £10,000 and was able to set its own agenda.
The Lee Green assembly identified priorities including youth provision, the environment, services for the elderly, and improving the Leegate shopping centre.
After working with local young people, the Lee Green Lives group, and Lewisham Council, a brand new community centre was opened in a vacant Leegate shop unit in 2010. The centre is now a hub for local groups and provides social activities such as coffee mornings, health and lifestyle sessions, and art exhibitions.
The assembly has seen its influence increase over the past four years and it now funds a range of projects in the local area. All of this is, of course, to be congratulated.
The only quibble I have with projects like this is one that I fear has been an issue for time immemorial. In the beginning, there is always a great rush of energy and enthusiasm. After time, some people begin to slip away. Others tend not to notice – or at least they don’t make a big deal out of it – and eventually the group is left with a hard core.
Generally speaking, in my experience, you can guess who the hard core will be right from the start. They are not the shy and retiring ones. They are the “familiar” faces. Ones you might encounter at different, yet not so dissimilar meetings, steering groups, or local campaigns in and around the community. Once this is the case, it is very difficult to reverse. Unless you are someone who is in the know or supremely confident of your own abilities, it’s unlikely you’ll want to join the established set of “community leaders”. Even if you do, you’ll find it in your best interest not to rock the boat.
Unfortunate, but sadly a fact of life that might yet take some time to overcome.
I’m just glad online discussion forums and social media tools like Twitter and Facebook can sometimes break down these old cliques and engrained ways of doing things. Anything that enables the quiet, shy, reserved, disengaged, anonymous or armchair voices to be heard once in a while is surely a good thing?
The next Lee Green assembly meeting is on Tuesday 7 February 7.30-9.30pm Trinity Church of England Secondary School (Formerly Northbrook CofE School), Taunton Road, SE12 8PD.
3 Comments
I think these ward assemblies are a great idea, but they do have their problems.
Islington Green Party have been doing some interesting work on this and have been in the local press trying to big them up. Although they are a Labour invention (I think) the local Labour Party don’t like it because it gives people the chance to bend the councillors’ ears.
Strangely that’s one of the reasons I like them!
Perhaps one of the main problems – one that puts some people off attending and getting involved – is that the assemblies can become dominated by party politics and the usual suspects from local activist groups. Not sure how this can be resolved though.
Advertising when the assemblies are held so that as many people in the community are aware of them would be a start. That certainly doesn’t happen in my neck of the woods.
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