Dover District Neighbourhood Forums
The Dover District Neighbourhood Forums were set up in
November 2006 and involve all three tiers of local government
working together to give local people greater influence over
local services and give them the opportunity to talk to their
Members and service providers.
The forums are designed to help engage more closely with
residents throughout the district and to work together to tackle
common issues. The hope is for local residents to become better
informed and in a position to influence all tiers of local
government.
There are five forums within the district, made up of county,
district and town and parish council members, and they act as an
advisory body for the both County and District Councils. The Forums
may also consult residents’ opinions and views on local issues,
gathering suggestions at a neighbourhood level.
The Forums also have funding to award small capital grants
for community projects.
We publicise the dates, times and
venues of forthcoming Neighbourhood Forum meetings locally and in
the local media.
Meeting times can vary between each
forum, but there is always a half-hour period before a meeting
starts where you can have an informal chat with local
county, district, town and parish councillors'. There will also be
an opportunity to talk to a representative from the
Dover District Community Safety Partnership.
Come along, or contact, your
Neighbourhood Forums and tell us about issues affecting the quality
of life where you live.
2010-11 New Look Forums
Improving the Dover District Neighbourhood
Forums (Forums),to make them more effective, is a continuous
process.
From July 2010, we changed the way the
Forums are run to become more flexible and responsive to local
need - within existing resource.
Changes to the Forums included:
- Holding two fixed forum meetings a year
(instead of each quarter);
- The opportunity to hold a further two flexible forum meetings a
year; and
- Piloting "Participatory Budgeting" which aims to give
communities a say in recommending which projects should
receive funding.
Fixed Meetings
- The first meeting is dedicated to the grants given out
thorugh the Dover District Neighbourhood Forums and will
be a “You Decide: Participatory Budgeting” community voting
event.
- The second meeting is an annual partners
update meeting with representatives from partner agencies (such as
Kent Police, Primary Care Trust and Highway Services) updating
the community on what is happening in the area and answering
questions.
Flexible
Meetings
- The Forums will also be able to hold a
further two meetings on an “as and when” basis.
- By not tying them down to specific dates set
a year in advance, the Forums can deal with issues as they arise
and be of more interest to local communities.
- Criteria for calling a flexible meeting
can be viewed in the Protocol and Procedures for the Dover
District Neighbourhood Forums on our What's Hot in the district? page.
Participatory
Budgeting
- During 2010-11, the Dover District
Neighbourhood Forums piloted Participatory Budgeting (PB) as a
way to recommend awarding the Small Community Capital
Projects grant fund. After the success of this pilot,
Participatory Budgeting returned for 2011-12.
- Please see our “Funding Information” page for more
details on Participatory Budgeting.
Please see our Meeting Dates pages for the latest news on
meetings planned.
Neighbourhood Forum Links
- The Dover District Neighbourhood Forums are developing
strong communication channels to ensure views expressed through the
Forums are reported back to the Executive or other relevant
body.
- The DDC Scrutiny (Community and Regeneration) Committee has a
standing item for the notes of Neighbourhood Forum meetings on its
agenda in order to build a link between its work programme and that
of the Neighbourhood Forums. As the recent example with
Southeastern Trains highlighted, it is possible for the Council's
Overview and Scrutiny Committees to champion topics that have been
unsuccessfully resolved at a neighbourhood forum level.
- The Dover Joint Transportation Board now also has a standing
item for the Neighburhood Forum meetings to feed any issues and
concerns raised.
- The DDC Cabinet Member responsible for Dover
District Neighbourhood Forums will brief Strategic Management Team
on issues arising from Forum meetings and will report back to the
Forums. Any decisions required will be sought from Cabinet.
- In addition KCC Officers will ensure that any
issues or actions arising from a Dover District Neighbourhood Forum
meeting will be fed back to the KCC Cabinet on a regular
basis.
Reports and Actions
Annual Reports from the Dover District Neighbourhood Forums.
Contact
