Issue - meetings

Claire Kowalska encouraged people to respond to the consultation either via the Council’s website or using the forms distributed at the meeting. It was intended that a planning exercise would be undertaken, based on the key issues identified during the consultation, at the next meeting in January.

The Committee suggested that the consultation be posted on Harringay Online as a useful community resource, in addition to which the consultation should be sent to key organisations such as residents’ associations and existing mailing lists.

The Committee raised the issue of how items were added to the agendas for the area forums and committees, and it was agreed that there should be a greater community input into the agenda items. In response to a suggestion from the Committee, the Chief Executive stated that he would work with the Chair on a process by which residents could feed into the agenda-setting for future meetings. It was also suggested that the Members of the Committee should meet at an early stage in the agenda-setting process, in order to develop agenda items together.

With regard to the types of item which should be on the agenda, the Committee suggested that more strategic issues such as the Localism Bill should be covered, as well as local issues, for example Enforcement updates for the local area and the roll-out of the HMO discretionary licence scheme, as these were the sorts of issues that residents felt strongly about. It was felt that the new format meetings were still not fully engaging with local residents, and that the more people who were attracted to the meetings, the more they could then feed into future agenda items. It was reported that under the former Area Assemblies, groups such as the Green Lanes Strategy Group fed back on their work to the meetings, and enforcement updates were also reported; ideas like this could be incorporated into the new format meetings, which it was acknowledged were still in a development stage.

It was agreed that increasing attendance was a long-term issue for making the meetings reach their potential, and that thought needed to be given as to how best to reach people, including using new technologies. It was further felt that if agendas were made more engaging and more locally-focussed then attendances would begin to increase.

It was noted that local residents’ groups could feed updates on their work into the Committee, and a specific request was made at the meeting for an agenda item at the next meeting on affordable additions to the Area Plan consisting of estate agents’ boards, obsolete street signs, more tree planting more dog litter bins etc.