Sharing best practice

Morning Mark, your weren't kidding,that really is one big dummy you've spat out.

I cannot understand why we have a number of residents associations contributing to this site, and yet unless you seriously dig around the net, cannot find out what they are doing to promote descent communities, and promote this side of the city, I find it very difficult to even find if there is a residents association, or NHW in my area.

You answer this question further down, but I'll help along here. The reason we have residents associations on this site is simple, it's a good effective way of communicating with a wide range of people in real time. It's a way of doing things faster, and not having to wait for quarterly meetings, and then an age for newsletters to come out. It allows more people to be part of the process. It's also going to be a way of bringing the people of Tunstall together I hope.

One of the reasons you find it so hard to find your local residents association is because of the poor quality of the council website, and it's out of date, or slowly updated.

I can understand that if information is sensitive to a particular area, that it should remain within that area, but find that each R/A around this area is like a closed shop. We voted in our councillors to help with problems around our area, and yet we do not know what they do to promote, or help in our area. when the NHW was operating on the Bankeyfields site, every meeting was minuted, and published on the website, and also newsletters were sent out.

Bankeyfields NHW 2 has not been able to print the quarterly newsletters, but we have been able to post our minutes up onto the internet. Now I know not everyone has immediate access to the internet, however in most cases a quick trip to Tunstall Library will offer a nice friendly solution.

I believe if all R/As were to talk to each other, and share best practice, then Tunstall, Goldenhill, and Sandyford would benefit.

Maybe a residence association conference may benefit the area, like the annual NHW conferences that the police run may help to solve local issues. I feel more in the dark now than I was 12 months ago.

Thats's the whole point of changing Bankeyfields into MyTunstall, which you seemed to be against. This process has already started.
This website has already allowed two or three communities to work on a common goal, I hope the rest soon follow.

It has been said that other areas have benefitted with plyground buiding, or refurbishment, one in particular is Abbey Hulton, their R/A are forward thinking, and publish what they intend to do, and have backbone to try and acheive their aims.

I thought we did that last year, not with a park, but with the roundabout. Jo, Steve, Gordy and Myself took on the council, got the Glynn Talbot and Mark Harden on-board , and then Megan Ryan (Tunstall Ward Councillor) and made a positive change to Reginald Mitchell roundabout.

I have found since living in this area, that there are more whingers than Doers, it is Ok to moan on this site, Pitts and potts, and even the Sentinel, but will not have the balls (sorry ladies) to actually do anything productive. I can back this up by the delayed construction of the Northern bypass, I can understand peoples resentment to its building, but it its building commenced with a serious overspend, monies that could have made a serious improvement to our city.

What better way to air your views than local media, it is after all a democracy. If it weren't for all three resources you mention, no one would have listened to our complaints over the roundabout, the councils transport department clearly didn't,

in fact they acted as a springboard to getting the changes implemented. In my opinion having a view, and trying to build support for that view by campaigning is all part of the process for change.

There, my dummy's spat out too.