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________________________________
From: N Sent: 10 March 2011 19:27
… At the moment it seems anyone can come up with an idea, and have it
financially supported - that is, anyone who is in the supported group!
Such people can also come up with proposals which then go out for
consultation – tick box, multiple choice answers - to the rest of us.
The problem is that some of the suggestions may be very good. And who
are we to say that they aren't the wishes of the people? How many
people would that be? The accusation could be that they just aren't
OUR wishes.
We know what it's like. You ask the question in a particular way, and
people who will give you the answer you want. So some people have
said "yes" to some initiatives.
We have the same problem as TDC. How do we count our numbers? And
how can we legitimately say it's a sufficient pool of the population
to justify our stance? How else would we do it? And at what point
could we say we have truly got the people's vote on something? …
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From: b Sent: 11 March 2011 00:25
I know the whole issue of consultation is difficult, but a good
starting point would be to give people the true facts. The Walkie
Talkie team asked X, and others, ...
"Do you think it's a good idea if the two disused areas of land in the
old town were turned into gardens?"
The obvious answer, from most if not all, was "yes".
The question could have been
"Do you think it's a good idea for the Council to spend £40,000,
through Groundwork, who we represent, to convert two vacant building
plots, scheduled for re-development in the near future, into gardens
to make the Old Town look better for the opening of the Turner
Contemporary?"
To this question, I am sure the answer would be very different.
As for whether or not you have accessed a large enough sample of
people, if the people felt that what they said was listened to and
acted upon, then public participation would surely increase. …
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Report on the Public Consultation for the Improvement of Queen's Arms
Yard & Margate Media Centre Sites [extract about the disused land –
from report produced by Groundwork]
December 2010
Groundwork was commissioned by Derek Harding, the Programme Director
of Margate Renewal Partnership, to carry out a consultation with
regard to the future development of two disused green spaces in
Margate Old Town. The sites are located at Queen's Arms Yard and
Cobb's Place (land adjacent to the Margate Media Centre).
Using our team of Walkie Talkies and community development workers,
with their local knowledge and existing social networks, the team were
employed to visit residents, shop-keepers and businesses in Margate
Old Town and ask their opinions regarding proposed physical
improvements to the two sites.
Improvements to these green spaces are part of a programme of works to
the town ('The Countdown Plan') to ensure that it looks its best when
the new Turner Contemporary Gallery opens in April 2011.
A questionnaire was developed to enable us to capture people's views
and to come up with some creative temporary solutions for these green
spaces, bearing in mind that use of the sites may need to change over
time. We wanted to get the views of as many people as possible who
have a good understanding of the local area, including the needs of
visitors to the Old Town.
During the month of December the Walkie talkies team took the
questionnaires out into the Old Town and completed a door-knocking
exercise.
We also held an evening drop-in consultation event on Thursday 16th
December (delayed from earlier date due to the snow). This was not
particularly well attended due to the very cold weather, but the
landscape architect team and Walkie Talkies were able to have some
useful discussions with several local stakeholders and manager to come
up with some innovative ideas, many of which were reflected in the
results of the survey. People who were unable to make the evening
event did phone or email their questionnaires or opinions through to
us.
Additionally, we facilitated an all-day workshop with a group of local
adults with learning disabilities from the nearby Tivoli Centre,
exploring ideas for the two spaces, including creating mosaics and
using patterns such as spirals and shells to create design features.
Results
We had a total of 92 questionnaires returned/completed by the end of
the consultation process and the results of the survey are set out on
the following pages: [extract ends – ask Margate Renewal Partnership,
or Groundwork, if you want to know more.]
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