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STEVE C-L
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 14, 2007 11:55 am    Post subject: COMMUNITY NETWORKS AND FOCUS GROUPS Reply with quote

Hello - I'm a Parish Councillor in South Devon. In order to try and be a wee bit more accountable than I like to think I am - I have started an informal email network of local electors - stands at about 30 scattered members now. Basically as issues arise I use the group as a sounding-board / focus group to get a better idea of what the electorate are thinking - it's very unscientific - but very helpful. Equally it gets people talking about local issues and alerts them to things that are going on which frankly they weren't necessarily aware of --- as a recent example we have a major planning application in our Parish which is controversial to say the least. As a result of my emails several people have lodged official objections with the local determining authority - and their feedback presented to the Parish council persuaded the Parish to recommend refusal to the District Council.

I do talk to people as well ! ( before people get the idea that I sit closeted at home firing off emails - detatched from reality ) but for a quick fairly instant bit of coverage on a topic and fresh perspectives it works really well.

Does anyone else out there do this sort of thing - and how does it work - are there are other examples that people are aware of ?


Steve C-L


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ParishCouncil.net
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 10:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Steve,

Thanks for the post - and welcome to the Forum. It has been sadly underused since we had to take it off-line and then tighten security following attacks by hackers and the like!

In answer to your question, we have heard of a couple of similar things.

One was not so much a Parish Council, but rather a collective of nearby councils in an area called Uttlesford (I believe). From memory they were putting together a discussion forum for local people to come online and talk about local issues. I am afraid that I rather lost contact with the group and am not sure about the outcome, though it did seem like rather a lot of work for moderators and the like.

The second one that we have heard of is a Parish Council in Cambridgeshire called Houghton & Wyton Parish Council. They have an electronic Newsletter which collects people's email addresses via their website, and they use the application to send questions and statements about local issues, as well as details of upcoming meetings and postings of minutes etc. I understand that it has been very successful to date. Their website is at www.houghtonwytonpc.org.uk.

Incidentally, what council are you from - please feel free to use this site for some blatant free publicity!

Best regards,
Neil Pfister,
Director - Parish Websites Ltd.
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STEVE C-L
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 10:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

[b]Thanks for that - that's a good lead - I'm actually from Bickleigh Parish Council in South Devon - our website - www.bickleigh.gov.uk is sadly quite out of date and , as a new councillor have taken on the responsibility for it and will shortly be looking at options for a redesign . One of the things I have identified through my informal network is exactly that notion of building a newsletter network through contacts made via the website - I'll have a look at the site(s) you mention.

Thanks again

Steve
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PostPosted: Wed Aug 15, 2007 10:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

With the greatest of respect, I can see why you may want to update your site. I understand that the websites developed by West Web are not the easiest to update and manage, and there are also the issues of the websites not being compliant with the basic levels of compliance with the Governments Website Accessibility Guidelines.

I wish you all the best of luck with your searches for an update, and if we can be of any further help, please let me know - we do consider Parish Council websites something of our speciality Wink

Best regards,
Neil


ps. some of our previous sites can be seen at www.parishcouncil.net/example.php
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RsC
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PostPosted: Sat May 31, 2008 8:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Although not a direct solution to your idea I am Vice chair on our local Parish Council and Chair on a very active Residents Association. On our Residents Association - Langley & Pyhill Residents Association in Peterborough representing 262 households and over 500 residents we have an email database of 150+ which we use constantly to understand residents feelings, attitudes and expectations towards a number of local matters which may affect our residents. Additionally we constantly request comment via our web-site on a host of matters. Therefore I see no reason why this could not be taken up by Parish Councils in an effort to get away from the attitude of 'Our Parish Council tells us of decisions made on our behalf which is what they think we want, rather than what we know we need'
This has worked particularly well at Residents Association level where residents are prepared to respond to a selective email enquiry rather than attend an evening meeting to listen to many additional items which are of little interest to them before hearing and understanding the item in question.
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