One of the favourite stories about my Nanna Davey is of a broken church window. She ran the local Youth Club at the village church in Brooke, near Norwich, where she and granddad are now resting side by side. One day the kids were playing, 100 children mind, just nanna on duty and one of the church windows got broken. She didn’t run around, clipping kids’ ears, shouting for the culprit to step forward, not her style. She simply concluded the window would cost £1 to repair and so every child would bring 1p to the next club meeting and that would sort the problem. She put the responsibility back on the group to self manage and take responsibility for their actions… not many things got damaged on Dorothy’s watch 😉
We’ve only been in post for 2 months but it’s very apparent that many people feel isolated, angry with the council and society at large for a million different reasons. As individuals it is hard to fight, you need a ton of energy, you need to be single minded, you need to not worry too much about what others think of you and focus on your belief in yourself…
That’s what I had to do to win my seat at council from which I can now have a real impact on my community. Not for my own ego but because I get a buzz from seeing people smile, it’s infectious and makes the day more enjoyable.
Some folk must have really long days, all that tension inside of them… let’s release that and turn it into positive energy… we’ll feel better, drive slower, smile more, live longer, know our neighbours and a bunch of other stuff that you can tell us about later.
So if people take time to talk to each other, to hear what their neighbour has to say, they will find they are mostly on the same page and with a few tweaks can live in harmony. To do that we need to slow down and spend 10 – 20 minutes, over a brew, talking and listening… CHEWing the cudd…
As local councillors we have the power to ask “six honest serving men” what, why, when, how, where and who of the RBWM council officers and bring back answers and hopefully some solutions… others issues will require further evaluation and refining into manageable projects that can be resolved by local people themselves or with wider help from the community.
We can’t solve all the problems but we can help you to work towards solutions.
We’d like you to speak to your neighbours and form into small groups, discuss your local issues, resolve those you can yourselves and then invite us along to your meetings to discuss those local issues you’d like our assistance with.
“Building Communities for People” was the title of the WWRA manifesto and so let’s get started…
Hemwood Dell got the party started and if you live up that neck of the woods ask to speak to Pam or Michelle, they are leading the way. I’ve been up there with officers and the ladies know who to talk to about what when they need support.
Bruce Walk is a new hub we started yesterday, Louise is leading the way on that one… lots to fix around there, such a disconnect between Radian and the council is the feeling of the people. I’ll be visiting with officers in the near future to discuss the current list of stuff that needs evaluating and sorting.
We’ve been talking to Wates and Wyevales about the garden centre and hopefully Wyevales will be sticking around a good while yet, Wates are happy for them to do so…
Following our meeting and your subsequent email the following is a quote on behalf of Wates Developments:
‘After a meeting with WWRA, Wates has confirmed that Wyevale is at present occupying the Windsor site on a rent free basis with a flexible notice period. This is enabling Wyevale to maintain continuity of employment and occupancy of the site, including facilities such as a coffee shop. In the coming years, a more certain future solution is necessary. Wates is committed to constructive engagement with local community groups and key stakeholders in the formation of future proposals to meet local needs within the HA11 proposed housing development allocation.’
MEETING 9TH JULY GO-GO’S, RACECOURCE MARINA 6PM >>> FIND OUT MORE >>>
So who’s next?
If you don’t know who your local councillor is then I’m happy for you to phone, text 07717 820823 or email me [email protected] and I’ll join the dots with the right people.
Thank you.
Jon