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breXit.North Ken
Bringing real demoXracy into... North Kensington (& beyond.)
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Dear Colleagues,
Today is the latest GNG meeting. We have secured the presence of Heather Wills, Interim Director of Governance and Co-ordination for RBKC. Heather will take us through the proposed options for limited devolved decision making across the borough. These ideas will be before decision-makers on the 5th of February. I would like to see if the Network can bring forward its own paper/proposal that reflects a collective vision for the North Kensington community - if of course people do not believe the propositions, two of which are highlighted below, offer enough co-production. The papers for the Council Governance meeting are obtained on the 5th of February are via this link.
Two of the proposals are:
Colville Community Forum The aim of the Colville Community Forum is to improve the quality of life for local people in the Colville Ward of the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea. The purposes of the charity are:
1. To provide a voice for the local community.
2. To influence and improve local services.
3. To identify opportunities to tackle the unmet needs of local residents.
4. To strengthen partnerships between the local community and service providers (i.e. the Council, Housing Associations etc.).
Queen’s Park Community Council Queen’s Park Community Council is the only community (or parish or town) council in London, covering the same area as Queen’s Park ward in Westminster. It was set up in 2014, following a local campaign, and the second cohort of councillors was elected in May 2018. The community council receives most of its income from a precept – which is an extra amount of Westminster council tax added to local bills. For 2018-2019, this is £46.38 for the average Band D household per year – or 89p a week. The council funds a variety of local projects and initiatives and has two part-time officers: a chief officer and a community officer.
The Council Meeting on Governance is next on the 5th of February 6:30 pm, in the Freeman Suite KTH, is intended to address there following:
Other business
Grenfell Network Group
Due to the urgency of the above, I hope to raise the two items below at the next meeting... I have had feedback from Howard Taylor of Grenfell United who has suggested a name change is a good idea and that using United in the title is fine, as is mentioning Grenfell in a strapline, such as "North Kensington Network of Unity" with a strapline Remembering Grenfell, sharing information, working for change). It is appropriate that soon we adopt a new name, and perhaps a logo?
Terms of Reference
In February/March we can discuss a T.O.R. Though not the most engaging of discussions to have, the matter was raised (rightly) at the last meeting and have appealed for feedback on this matter, I have had no responses as of yet but we have a month or so to go. It is clear that this group needs to be light on its feet and as unencumbered by bureaucracy as possible but it does need some terms of reference to enable it to discuss with the council, for example, as an entity to be listened to.
A reminder of why people felt we needed a forum:
- To disseminate information
- Spread valuable information
- Networking
- United Front
- Combat silence
- Power
- Useful Meetings
- Useful links
- Great discussions
- To Focus on Lancaster West
- Good for information sharing
And what more could be done by us?
- Embrace the wider community.
- Follow up, make things happen.
- Email/web/letterhead – voice for all.
- Look at how money could be brought into the area.
- We need a logo, tagline (Grenfell needs remembering).
- Bulletins sent to all “members”.
- Concrete outcomes.
- Membership – have terms of reference.
- Factor in the larger amount of time for discussions as they often feel pressed for time.
Kind Regards
Joe Batty
If you have any questions please contact Joe Batty at [email protected].
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