Tag: democracy

West Pilton West Granton: your community needs YOU!

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Please get your application to be a Community Councillor form in to our Returning Officer, Councillor Vicki Redpath immediately!!
A nomination form is attached (see below)
You have to get it signed by 2 other residents who propose and second your nomination.
Please send the completed form to Vicki. Her email address is below but your form has to be actually signed.
Either give it to her directly or leave your form at the West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre early on Monday where I will pick it up and deliver it to Vicki.
Vicki is on 0131 529 3262 or vicki.redpath@edinburgh.gov.uk
Vicki will leave some blank forms at West Pilton Neighbourhood Centre at about 11 o’ clock this morning. Forms can be filled in and then left at Muirhouse Library for her to collect when she does her surgery on Monday at 6pm.
Please tell anyone else you know would be interested in becoming a Community Councillor. We only have till Monday night to get nominations in!
Please make this a priority, we need you!!
Barbara Robertson

Community councillors: get your nomination papers in NOW!

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The deadline is fast approaching for local people taking part in this year’s community council elections in Edinburgh – nominations close on Monday (26 September).

This year, nominations are being sought for 44 community councils. By becoming a member, local residents are given the opportunity to influence what happens in their area. Members can get involved in a wide range of activities, comment on planning and licensing applications, take part in community campaigns and work with others to improve the local area.

Community councils are made up of local residents and community groups such as youth forums, parent councils and student bodies. Each one is represented on the Neighbourhood Partnership for their area, where they work with local elected members, Police Scotland, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, NHS Lothian and the voluntary sector to identify and deliver local priorities.

The first community councils were established in Edinburgh in 1980 in Merchiston and Longstone, and there are more than 500 community councillors across the city.

Cllr Maureen Child, Communities and Neighbourhoods Committee Convener, said: “Community councils are an ideal way to support communities to thrive. They allow people of all ages and from all backgrounds to meet and share ideas and to make change happen. They are a fantastic way of making public sector agencies aware of the needs of local areas, and can really help to make changes for the better.

“With only three days left until nominations close, I’d like to encourage anyone who’s interested in local democracy to get involved – be part of something great.”

People aged 16 years or older who are registered to vote can join. The nomination period for the community council elections runs until 4pm on Monday 26 September 2016. Elections, where required, will take place on Thursday 27 October 2016. Residents can apply as an individual or as a local interest group, such as a Parent Council, Friends of Parks or sports club.

Nomination forms are available on the City of Edinburgh Council’s website.

You can find information on each individual community council, including maps, on the Neighbourhood Partnership website, telephone 0131 469 3838 or email community.councils@edinburgh.gov.uk  

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Karen Lloyd
0131 469 357

End of summer and time for new faces at Trinity CC

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Here’s your first update of the autumn together with details of how to join Trinity Community Council.  It’s really very simple.  Just get two other residents who haven’t already nominated someone to sign the attached form (below) , fill in your own details, sign the second side of it and return both to Cllr Allan Jackson at Edinburgh City Chambers by 4pm on Monday 26th September.

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Building unity after EU Referendum

People’s Assembly Scotland Conference this Saturday

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The People’s Assembly Scotland is organising an industrial and political conference on Saturday 17 September in the Renfield St Stephens Centre, 260 Bath St, Glasgow G2 4JP starting at 10.30am where leading trade unionists from UNITE, UNISON, RMT, FBU and others will address activists to discuss and organise building unity in the fight against austerity in a post-EU Scotland. Continue reading Building unity after EU Referendum

Your community needs YOU! – be part of something great!

Community Council nominations open on Monday

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Nominations for Edinburgh’s community councils open on Monday (5 September) and the city council is calling on people passionate about their area to play an active role and be part of something great! Continue reading Your community needs YOU! – be part of something great!

Quiet desperation: people ‘pushed to the margins’ secured Brexit victory

Continue reading Quiet desperation: people ‘pushed to the margins’ secured Brexit victory

Doing referendums differently: Electoral Reform Society says lessons must be learnt

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It’s official: the EU referendum debate left voters totally in the dark.

The final result could not have been clearer. But the actual campaign was anything but. Today we’ve set out what went wrong – how people from both sides of the EU debate found the experience top-down, negative and personality-dominated – but more importantly, how to make referendums better in the future.

We’re proud to launch our definitive analysis of the EU referendum debate, ‘It’s Good to Talk: Doing Referendums Differently After the EU Vote’. Because now that the dust is starting to settle, we need to learn the lessons from the EU campaign.

So today, we’re calling for a root-and-branch review into how we do referendums in the UK, with nine key recommendations on how to ensure voters get the debate they deserve in any future vote

From giving an official body the power to censure claims that are misleading, to ensuring grassroots citizen involvement at every stage of the process, we’ve laid out the ‘referendum reforms’ that are needed to prevent us making the same mistakes again.

We hope you find the report interesting and useful. Instead of leaving voters out in the cold, together we can make sure that future referendums offer the kind of informed and engaging debate we need. Thanks for your support.

 

READ THE REPORT

Best wishes,

Katie Ghose,
Chief Executive,
Electoral Reform Society

 

Male, pale and stale? Reinvigorating Community Councils

ELREC (Edinburgh & Lothian Regional Equality Council) and Granton & District Community Council have organised an event to encourage more BME residents to get involved in neighbourhood activities through Community Councils …

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You are invited to an event:

Celebrating Diversity in Community Councils

Thursday, 11 August, 6 – 8.30pm

Royston Wardieburn Community Centre, 11 Pilton Drive North

The key aim of the event is to increase the representation of BME communities in community councils and  hosted jointly by ELREC- Diversity in Public Life project and the Granton & District Community Council.

Edinburgh & Lothians Regional Equality Council (ELREC) has been working on Diversity in Public Life project since last year, aiming to increase the participation of the BME community in public life and in the democratic process. The project works with the diverse communities and it is funded by the Scottish Government. Under this project, a special scheme, Public Life Champion (PLC) has been launched to provide advice, training and mentoring to BME individuals who live/work across Edinburgh and the Lothians.

Community council triennial elections will take place in Sept-Oct 2016. In the wake of oncoming election, the event will provide useful information (i.e.: nomination/registration process) and practical advice for those who are interested to stand as a community councillor. This event will also help establish a link between community councillors and the prospective BME candidates.

If you are interested to represent the views of your local community to the local authority and other public bodies, then joining the community council would be an ideal vehicle as well as an entry point to get into public life.

See details about: what is community council ? 

The event is open to BME residents lived across Edinburgh & Lothians and community council members. Tea/Coffee and refreshments will be provided. Booking is required to give us an estimate for the catering service. Please let us know if you have any special requirements. Please circulate among your contacts/networks who might be interested on this.

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To book your place online, please click here. 

For more information, please contact us by email:publiclife@elrec.org.uk or Tel: 0131 556 0441