Civic Societies Forum

Friends of Parks Groups

2008-04-23T18:47:41+00:00

I would like to know what other Civic Societies think of the following.

2 Committee Members of the Civic Society have instructed the rest of the Civic Society that they are relaxing the amount of work they are doing with us as they want to be working more on setting up a Friends of Park. They feel we do not take into consideration “parks and green spaces” enough on our agenda (which admittedly can be true at times) but instead of losing 2 committed members we are considering setting up a “Friends of Park Committee” but to tell you the truth we do not know where to start. I have approached other organisations for help and have registered on other Forums but no one has really told us what we need to do other than “organise a protest at the site involved”.

We are not involved in any protests to save green space as no protests exists like this but what we want to do is try and get the other Friends of Parks talking to us and each other so we can all know what is going on.

Any help would be very much appreciated

Charities and Fundraising

2008-11-21T16:13:27+00:00

If you are a charity and you want to conduct some fundraising activities, do we need to take into consideration any sort of legal trading agreements? Has any other Civic Society experienced this problem?

City Centre television screens - Griff Rhys Jones’ views in The Times

2008-07-29T07:20:41+00:00

Griff Rhys Jones has aired his views on the Government’s proposals to introduce large city centre television screens across the country. Click on the link below and read his comments.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article4419260.ece

Local Policy Discussion

2008-11-17T21:14:40+00:00

Have the Civic Trust ever considered holding grassroots “brainstorming events” where local communities could propose policy reforms. This could increase pressure on Government to accept ideas that are firmly rooted in local communities. I would like to hear what other people think

Griff Rhys Jones joins the Civic Trust as President - your views?

2008-06-17T07:58:37+00:00

The Civic Trust launched Griff Rhys Jones as our new President on Tuesday 17th June. Griff is passionate about the things that matter to the Trust and our members - the quality of our environment, heritage - and making better places. He holds a strong belief that people should take responsibility for improving the places that matter to them - and that joining a civic society is a perfect way in which to do this.

What do you think about Griff joining as our President? Is there something that you would like to see him talk about, publicise or comment upon?

Civic Societies can now exchange news and views!!!!

2008-04-01T13:15:25+00:00

Available to both Civic Societies and the public, this website highlights the issues facing citizens today - from buying locally to town centre management. The website encourages and helps people to take action, make their views heard, and play their part in shaping their local communities.

The Civic Trust would be delighted to hear your opinions on this website. We have been working hard to meet the needs of Civic Society Members over the past 3 months but we wiill not end here.

We have many more thoughts about how we can improve this site and ensure we can offer all the necessary support to the Civic Society Movement but first we would like to hear what you think

Eco-Towns

2008-04-07T14:00:18+00:00

It is a concern that eco-towns appear to be announced without any real prior consultation within the areas affected, and without any real idea of what they will look like, what infrastructure support they will be given and what say will local people be given. It makes the consultation exercise about unlocking local talent and finding local leadership a bit hollow, when so much lands on us from on high. Is it the intention of central government to remove all planning from the democratic process, such as already proposed for major projects?

Demise of the Red Phone Box

2008-05-17T08:56:41+00:00

BT has recently announced that it intends to remove a significant number of phone boxes from our streets. I understand their argument for wanting to do this but, as far as the red phone boxes are concerned, for me these pieces of street furniture have become iconic the world over. I for one will be very saddened to see them go. They have enriched both our urban and rural landscape. There arn’t many pieces of street furniture you can say that about.

Young and Old!!!

2008-04-23T18:17:19+00:00

We have come up with a way to get the local school children involved in the a project we are running about learning and understanding their heritage in the local environment.

We have asked them to produce a leaflet in conjunction with “the older members of the community”. If this is successful we hope to follow this with various activity packs and workshops to encourage discussion between us oldies and the younger ones!!

Anybody else tried this? Any young people any other ideas for involvement? We are thinking about seeking additional funding so advice would be very welcome

Return Planning to Local Authorities

2008-06-09T08:59:45+00:00

If Regional Assemblies are abolished, we should NOT accept that regional planning is given to Regional Development Agencies. The South East England Regional Assembly has passed the following resolution:

“South East Councils oppose the government’s proposals to transfer strategic planning, housing and transport powers to the unelected development agencies. Given the government’s decision to abolish regional assemblies, these powers should be returned to local government and the South East Councils are ready and willing to exercise them.
South East Councils warn the government that they believe the proposals in the Sub-National Review are not only strongly anti-democratic but are likely to prove unworkable and will delay the delivery of the South East Plan that the Assembly has worked hard to bring to its present stage.”

The Sub National Review is another planning policy driven by the Treasury and primarily focused on economic issues. It is inadequate for formulating a planning system let alone a procedure for local governance.
For the terms of reference see: http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/5/E/csr07_subnatecon_tor.pdf