Evidence to Select Committee on House of Commons Reform

In response to the article on submitting evidence to Select Committee on House of Commons Reform, I have submitted my evidence as follows:

'Forums to provide direct input from public to Parliamentary debate and policy, enabling online evidence and debate between MPs and constituents within forum.

It is vitally important that a direct method should be open to the general public to influence matters discussed in Parliament that bypasses Members of Parliament and the Civil Service.

1) In my experience (Bridgwater constituency) Members of Parliament do not represent the views of their constituents (or even respond to communications).

2) Civil Service Departments are a barrier to policy communication not an enabler equally frequently ignoring and not responding to correspondence.

3) So called public consultation systems in England are completely outdated and unfair to the public. They are highly hierarchical favouring 'the great and the good' and highly paid lobbyists. Ordinary constituents are very effectively (and in my view deliberately) ignored by the system.

4) Consequently laws passed are frequently completely ludicrous and unwanted by decent law abiding English people eg. the Entertainment and Licensing Act - to name just one of many examples of bad law. (I am an amateur folk musician).

5) Therefore, an online forum should be set up to propose and discuss policy matters to be raised in Parliament including criticism of existing legislation (expect an avalanche!).

6) Constituents and MPs equally should be entitled and MPs obligated to engage in policy discussion within this forum.

7) Public feedback in the forum should also be used by Parliament to assess the effectiveness of Civil Service Departments. For example, I consider that the DCMS should be severely reprimanded and officers sacked for its treatment of musicians throughout the introduction of the Entertainment Licensing Bill, the subsequent Act and its implemention.

Conclusion

There is currently no effective way of genuinely involving the public in policy discussion resulting in bad law and complacent unaccountable Civil Service Departments with no recourse from ordinary constituents who have been gravely affected by legislation and Civil Service incompetence.

The Entertainment Licensing Act and its disasterous effect on amateur musicians in the UK is an example of the draconian and uncaring harm done to ordinary people as a result - there are many others.'

Free publicity for small businesses and home-based businesses from Government regeneration grants is key to building successful local communities

Ask any small business or home-based business what would really help their business and they are most likely to reply that they need more publicity in order to achieve more sales, especially in these recessionary times.

It would therefore seem quite straightforward to many small businesses that the millions of pounds currently available through various grants from the RDA and the European Union should be focused on providing more publicity for them so they can achieve these sales. As their businesses do better, they are able to spend more money locally on goods and services providing further regeneration to their local community.

Yet the reality is that consultants rather than home-based businesses are more likely to be the beneficiaries of these extremely large sums of money from the European Union, our own Government in Whitehall or the RDA.

Sadly, employing consultants has great advantages for local government officers. If properly qualified consultants are given a contract to recommend how money is spent and it does little to regenerate the local economy, the local government officers can always turn around and say 'Not me guv, it was the consultants that recommended this course of action and we pursued it in good faith'!

Also, the local government officer responsible for regeneration within a local authority might be a single individual without the manpower resources to implement a detailed plan involving millions of pounds of grant expenditure. Hiring consultants to implement the plan solves the manpower problem.

Finding the small businesses that should benefit from regeneration grants is likely to be time-consuming and difficult. Small businesses and home-based businesses, which often make up the greater part of rural economies, can be hidden away and difficult to find. They are also likely to be numerous. It was suggested to me recently that home-based businesses and small businesses could involve more than ten percent of the local rural population which could obviously involve thousands of individuals.

In addition to being difficult to find, small businesses and home-based businesses are involved in a very wide range of activities and supplying many different kinds of services and products to many different kinds of markets. They may provide services or products as a business to other businesses or as a business to consumers. They include artists, poets, writers,potters, software developers, web site owners, dog walkers, baby sitters, gardeners, cleaners, cooks - the list goes on and seems almost endless.

Yet each of these home based or small businesses needs publicity for its survival and if its owners are hard up and in need or regeneration, assuming there is a market for their products or services, the no-brainer is that they are not getting enough publicity or customers.

Handing the money over to a firm of consultants may also be perceived to be more palatable than simply handing public money to the general public.

All of which tends to make handing regeneration money over to consultants seem a jolly good idea to hard pressed local government officials. First they issue a contract to the consultants to develop a plan and then they instruct the same or different consultants to execute the plan. The solutions are nicely at arms length, tidy and without repercussions.

And what better plan could there be than to give advice to the small and home-based businesses? This may be particularly attractive to consultants because giving advice is what consultants do and, if the words 'education' and 'training' are added into the formula, the plan starts ticking boxes and getting through committees.

Eventually, the consultants find themselves face to face with the small businesses, analyse their small or home-based enterprises and recommend that they need more publicity - which they knew already but could not afford. The small business asks if this can come out of the government regeneration funds and they are told it is not available for these purposes.

So what is the self-employed gardener, plumber, electrician, baby-sitter or whatever going to think about the way the local government officers are spending their, the tax-payers, money?

Perhaps they will shrug their shoulders in a resigned sort of way and mutter something about posh consultants in expensive cars.

Perhaps, as the local locksmith comes around with the bailiffs to change the locks on their repossessed home, they will feel a personal sense of failure.

Perhaps they will think that if only a small part of their local authorities regeneration grant money had been spent on giving their business more publicity, they wouldn't be trudging down the road with their wife and children and heading for bed and breakfast accommodation for the homeless.

It may not be easy to identify all the home-based businesses and small businesses in a rural area and give them free publicity but it is the best way for Government regeneration grants to be used to build strong successful local communities and, in these recessionary times, limit the total sum of human misery. But, since it is not an easy policy for local authorities to implement, if you are a small home-based business, I wouldn't hold your breath.

Bye for now

Rob

Rob Hopcott - online author

West Somerset New Economic Development Strategy fatally flawed by old fashioned consultation systems

I read in the West Somerset Free Press (October 10th, 2008) that local business leader Graham Sizer had complained that the 'wrong people' have been invited to a workshop to help create a 'new economic strategy' for West Somerset driven by consultants EKOS.

The truth is that any consultation using the outdated and old fashioned systems of selective invitation, secretive committee meetings and hierarchical structures stubbornly supported by West Somerset Council is unlikely to achieve innovative ideas or any breakthrough in creative thinking for the local economy.

Mr Sizer complained that shopkeepers and service industries in Minehead's industrial parks and the local 'care industry' had been left out and that the list of attendees read like an 'estate agent's convention'.

But what about all the people in this area who work from home using online auction sites or otherwise with an involvement in online marketing? The list of people who may be working in this area who are not involved is theoretically endless. Who compiled the list anyway?

If the West Somerset Council really wanted broadly based and innovative thinking they would implement consultation structures based on Internet forums, as I have suggested to them over many years. Only when ALL people who have an interest in making decisions are able to contribute to reasoned debate and forensic analysis of alternatives is there any real possibility of movement forward and original thinking. It may not even happen then!

Unfortunately, although the new intake of Independent councillors have proved to be a huge step up from the previous administration, my pleas on the subject of improved consultation systems have been completely ignored.

I've written to councillors, to the local newspapers and, complaining loudly, taken part in many old fashioned and flawed local consultations. I have attempted to write to the West Somerset Strategic Partnership whose Chairman completely ignored me. I work online on the Internet, surely this industry should be represented? Where is my invitation? I feel excluded, disregarded and insulted! Not for the first time, sadly.

Frankly, I've more or less given up on West Somerset. It has huge challenges economically but the people in power, especially the Local Authority Officers, show no sign of the sort of leadership that is likely to make a difference.

I could give specific examples but, in doing so, I would almost certainly be wasting my time. The people locally in power and possibly the local population probably just don't really care.

These days, I rarely waste my time writing about West Somerset. I have too many others things to worry about.

The best thing about this area is the countryside and the natural scenery.

The West Somerset mandarins, at least, can't do anything to harm that.

Bye for now

Rob

Cllr Mitch Wicking pleads for 'vision' at West Somerset Council to use old Council Chambers for community instead of for parking spaces

Passed to me by Cllr Mitch Wicking and published here with his permission. I think it speaks louder than anything I could say in favour of community driven regeneration.

The meeting to discuss this matter is on 4th June 2008. They need your support.

Dear Cabinet Member,

Check this out.

http://www.southvillecentre.org.uk/

With a bit of "vision" it's exactly the kind of thing that could happen in Williton... if you got behind it...it's not too late...and if it's reputations everyone is worried about, surely supporting and backing a project like an arts and community centre can only be BETTER for the council's reputation than not supporting it.

Council's reputation is low enough as it is but it could get even lower the longer it continues to dismiss the views of the community and people who are willing to get things up and running AT NO COST to the council.

What is the problem? Non-compliance with a planning condition that council imposed on itself in the first place? In other words the provision of a few car park spaces.

Alternative car parking is available and with the Bridge Farm space only available until September, something drastic needs to be done otherwise there really will be a problem for staff as well as public.

How many NEW spaces are being created if the chamber were to be demolished - that is the question. At least 8 of the 19 that have been drawn up in the plans for that area are ALREADY THERE. That makes only 11 NEW spaces - hardly fantastic when you consider the amount of previous spaces that the new offices have actually taken up to cause the shortage.

Council is going to need way more than that if the Bridge Farm provision is not going to continue. If it does continue after
September, then the demolition of a building for just 11 NEW spaces is hardly worth the effort when you consider the use the building would be to hundreds of people locally and across the region.

In fact, if you analyse it, if the council was offering £85,000 for the land offered by the social club and council stands to save around £20,000 by NOT demolishing the council chamber then in fact council could offer that saving of £20,000 to the social club to go some way nearer to meeting their valuation. If cabinet really wanted to.

Let’s look at this in reverse.

If it was Cabinet’s idea to set up a community center in the old chamber, I can’t see it worrying about a few car parking spaces. Even if it was worried, it would do everything in its’ power to achieve what it wanted by finding an alternative. It would probably be saying exactly what we are – a few car park spaces compared to the future potential of a functional building? There is no comparison.

Look at this positively – not negatively. All the “problems” can easily be resolved.

The truth is out - demolition HAS NOT already been paid for as has been repeatedly stressed over the past few weeks. SAVINGS can be made. Council could raise £150,000 for its’ empty coffers.

All Cabinet needs to do is SUPPORT the idea. Make it accessible, help set it up. We'll handle the running and council can get all the plaudits for being forward-thinking, co-operative, socially-minded, community-spirited. Think of the brilliantly positive headlines! You’ d all be heroes!

With one gesture of community spirit, you could sweep away years of negativity and disrepute and start making the council look "human".

Retain the council chamber, transfer it into the hands of the community, let local people make use of this wonderful opportunity and do the council an image favour at the same time.

There’s more to “regeneration” than shops!!!!

Williton needs more than that – and besides, it is perfectly feasible that the re-designing of the center of Williton could be worked around the retention of the chamber with, again, a little imagination. Let’s face it, those of you who don’t live in Williton, do you really care what happens to Williton?

If you DO, then look at it from the community point of view. It needs facilities – not shops. Shops have been shutting in Williton for years concentrating retail into the very centre. And if the centre of the village does become more developed – ie: 95 new homes at the back of Gliddon’s - then it will need a social/community focal-point not more shops.

People need more than that. And we have enough pubs – it’s the provision of cultural facilities and activities that is important and most needed. A number of clubs and associations and groups from Williton have had to meet in other villages since the demolition of the Red Cross hut! That Red Cross hut was built using funds raised by the community. Council is not going to replace this.

And a community center IS NOT a village hall. It does different things – it is open all day and through the evening and provides a number of facilities all at once. It is an every-day multi-functional social place. It can exist alongside a village hall quite happily.

Have a look at Southville. Marvel at the potential. Imagine the possibilities. Now use the power of the creative mind and transfer that energy to Williton. How good does that feel?

Don’t demolish the chamber. It doesn’t need to be done, it’s not too late to stop it but more importantly, think positively, join the effort and help create something really socially meaningful…

What more can I say?

Bye for now

Rob

West Somerset Council - Car Parks or Culture - Campaign for a Creative Centre in Williton seeks support at Key Council Meeting

The campaigners who want to use the old Council Chamber in Williton as a Creative Centre are hanging on by their fingertips against the corporate will of the West Somerset Council which seems to prefer car parking to culture.

Although the rule driven mandarins of the West Somerset Council don't have an alternative project in place to provide a cultural centre in Williton, they still seem more than happy to oppose anybody else creating one, especially, if it gets in the way of providing parking spaces for their new offices.

In this blog, I have often referred to the importance to local communities of people orientated projects as opposed to building projects.

The West Somerset Council don't seem to agree.

Furthermore, the contempt that the Council and its officers hold for the opinions of the ordinary people of West Somerset seems clear from the fact that systems for interactive public debate between Council and the West Somerset public have still not been put in place despite improvements in moderns technology that have brought the cost of such a facility down to practically nothing.

However, at least the organisers of the Creative Centre Campaign want to talk to me and I am pleased to detail their latest appeal for help below.

PUT THE “WILL” INTO WILLITON
&
SAVE THE OLD COUNCIL CHAMBER!

This is a wake up call to the people of Williton and West Somerset…

The chance to influence your Elected Representatives is fast disappearing.

If you are interested in having a community centre in the heart of Williton, for Music, Big Screen Film Shows, Theatre and Drama, an Art Gallery, Talks, Demonstrations, as well as rooms for Exercise, Dance, Workshops, Exhibitions, Information, Books and Crafts, a Coffee Shop, Internet Café and Produce Market, that is open Day and Evening and suitable for all ages, you must help to create this.

All you have to do is attend next week’s Cabinet meeting in the Chamber and simply say to the Councillors -

“I want you to save this building for
community good”

Register to speak by 4pm Tuesday, June 3rd.
Ring 01643 703704, or drop into the offices in Williton or email: customerservices@westsomerset.gov.uk

And then turn up on

Wednesday, June 4th, 6.30pm

and tell them exactly what you want them to do with your Public Asset!
(If you don’t want to speak, turn up anyway and show your support).

REMEMBER, this building will never be replaced, this opportunity will be lost forever…

The key to this issue, I believe, is that the West Somerset Council have no plan to provide a Creative of Cultural Centre that will bring the community benefits outlined by the members of this campaign. Their only plan is to say 'no' and get on with the demolition to provide parking spaces for their new offices which have been massively opposed by public opinion for many years.

Frankly, I'm fed up with being negative about the West Somerset Council. It doesn't make me feel good to criticise public officials who I realise are human beings like the rest of us and I'm sure have feelings too.

However, since the Independent administration gained office in May 2007, there has been no improvement in public involvement in Council decision-making and no expression of a 'vision' for West Somerset. (The West Somerset Sustainable Community Strategy 2007-2010 really doesn't cut the mustard, in my opinion.)

More and more, I am now looking to find forward thinking and opportunity outside West Somerset. The sad thing is that the vast majority of West Somerset, including the West Somerset Council, will not give a damn and will happily continue slumbering on into obscurity.

Bye for now

Rob

Folk music festivals - sources of finance

Regular readers of this blog will know that I believe passionately that the answer to most regeneration problems can be found in people related solutions and not in the multi-million pound building projects that seem most favoured by Government organisations.

When I reported yesterday that the Wessex Folk Festival (6 - 8 June 2008) had failed to win any Governmental financial support for its annual, volunteer organised and very public weekend feast of music in Weymouth, it was like a red rag to a bull and I described the decision as 'incomprehensible'.

Paul Openshaw (photo on right), who is one of the very hard working volunteer organisers of the festival in 2008 (and a very fine guitar player), contacted me and put up a spirited defence of Government organisations he had spoken to about support funding and to point out that because of other sources of income the festival was currently financially secure.

Impressed by his arguments, I decided to do some research into sources of finance for folk music and other festivals and came up with some very interesting analyses contained in a study entitled:

Where Have All the Flowers Gone? Coase Theorem Failures in English Summer Cultural Events: The Case of Sidmouth International Festival Julia Hiscock and David E. Hojman which is published on www.seered.co.uk with some comment.

I have to confess that I haven't fully digested all the interesting points that are made in this paper, however, what has become clear to me is the complexity of the issues surrounding public events such as music festivals.

It was, however, reassuring that researching other people's experiences and academic analysis might lead to best practice models for financing folk music festivals and other regenerative public activities.

It was also interesting to see that the solution preferred by the authors (if I have got it right) was to seek community ownership of the project through a wide-spread system of beneficial shareholders.

Now getting the public involved is something that I can understand and support.

Bye for now

Rob

Community orientated folk music festival denied grant aid funding by Government

I have just heard that the Wessex Folk Festival held each year in Weymouth and which packs Hope Square in the Harbour area and local pubs with visitors each year has not been supported by grant aid from any Government organisation.

I find this decision incomprehensible.

In my article which described the dedication of the hard working group of people that have made such a success of the Wessex Folk Festival at Weymouth, I described the economic benefits and regeneration brought by this popular weekend music entertainment that is due to take place 6 - 8 June 2008.

The list of local small businesses in Weymouth that benefit from this popular folk festival is almost endless but includes pubs and cafes, bed and breakfast guest houses, hotels, campsites, fast food take-aways and gift shops.

But there are other non-monetary benefits. The organisers of the Wessex Folk Festival passionately believe in the benefits to the community arising out of the public being involved in performances.

As well as well known musicians and singers, talented but less well known performers are also given an opportunity to play on the main free performance stage in Hope Square and local pubs and bars are encouraged to host joining in music sessions or 'bashes' where the public can bring along their instruments and play a tune or sing a traditional song. The success of this music 'rooted in the community' is plain to see by anybody who has visited the Kings Arms or the Sailors Return during the festival weekend (see below).


In a year when huge sums of money are being spent in Liverpool to turn it into the Capital of Culture, it seems odd to deny this Weymouth folk festival a few thousand pounds of support.

In my view, supporting community activities is much more important for regeneration and has hugely more social value than millions pumped into posh buildings?

What do you think? Please comment, especially if you are one of the hard working organisers who have wasted a lot of time on making grant applications.

If you are a philanthropic organisation or person who believes in worthy projects that help communities achieve social cohesion, I'm sure the volunteer organisers of the Wessex Folk Festival would like to hear from you.

Bye for now

Rob

West Somerset Council corporate machine moves to squash hopes for new Williton Creative Centre

Hopes for a new Williton Creative Centre seem likely to be squashed this Wednesday 7th May 2008, when members are to be asked to change their minds about marketing the authority's existing chamber and reception building and return to the idea of demolishing it.

In this blog, I have many times discussed the need for a new approach by the West Somerset Council based on community values and ethics where people are put centre stage and their needs and aspirations catered for in a better way than they are at present.

The West Somerset Council is clearly not listening.

To make their feelings felt, the only way open to the public is to turn up and speak at the Council Meeting Wednesday 7th May 2008.

This is an old fashioned, inflexible method of communication.

It is mean spirited because it relies on excluding people from public debate knowing that many will be too nervous to stand up and speak in public. I've seen people trembling in the past as they have spoken. For them it was a dreadful and disgraceful ordeal.

It is inefficient because the public only get a short length of time to make their point and no debate is offered.

Public forums where Council policy can be forensically discussed and the people of West Somerset can have their say and where both West Somerset Council officers and West Somerset Council councillors will join in the discussion are a simple method solving the huge problem of poor communication in West Somerset.

Such forums would be easy to implement, low cost to administer and would give public wishes a reasonable voice.

Perhaps it is time for the Audit Commission to step in and bring to an end this absurd situation where the gulf between public sentiments and the West Somerset Council corporate machine now seems to have widened beyond repair.

Sadly, I have to conclude that perhaps the time has come for West Somerset Council to close down and hand the management of West Somerset over to another Council. There must be one somewhere that is more enlightened than this lot.

I remain sad, depressed, disgusted and completely fed up.

Bye for now

Rob

Workspace Units in Williton, West Somerset discount rents

If you are looking for a bargain rented unit for your business and West Somerset is the place you want to be then check out the workspace units in Williton, West Somerset, UK where, according to the Free Press May 2nd 2008, discounts are likely to be offered to incoming tenants to promote occupancy.

Readers of this blog will know that I'm passionate about regeneration in West Somerset. They will also know that I do not believe large capital projects are the way to improve rates of pay in this area or increase wealth generally.

I was always dubious about the 1.75 million pounds sterling development at the Wrigleys site on the Roughmoor industrial estate. Some workspace units were advertised in Alcombe for a long time and never taken up. Now they have been converted to retail use and are occupied.

Presumably, there is a price that these workspace units at Williton will rent for and, when they are rented to businesses, nobody can deny that benefit will accrue to the area. However, it seems an expensive and slow approach to regeneration with dubious outcomes.

Exactly what grounds there were for undertaking this theoretical regeneration project unfortunately will probably never be known to the local general public because the West Somerset Council does not provide this sort of policy making information to us.

I have made the following point many times before and will make it many times again, probably with an equal lack of success.

Only when the West Somerset Council trusts the public in West Somerset enough to provide full information on policy making matters in open forum debate and also enables the systems for the public to forensically argue through options will the difficult task of regenerating West Somerset in a meaningful way be possible.

The way decisions are made at present relies on the knowledge and innovatory skills of a couple of local government beaurocrats and a handful of councillors each having individual skills which may be quite unrelated to the issue in question. However well motivated or however hard they try, the odds are stacked against them.

The way decisions should be made is after consulting with the best and most knowledgable forensic thinkers in West Somerset in open public debate using Internet discussion boards. After which councillors and officers of West Somerset could and should act as arbitrators as is the rightful democratic representative system in this country, probably choosing between options.

I say to West Somerset Council, don't keep the facts and decision-making to yourselves. Unleash the power of public debate and expertise on the problem of regeneration in this area. You might be surprised at what people come up with. Unless you try this option, you will never know if it would have helped or not.

Sadly, I suspect the West Somerset Council will head away from such innovatory thinking and just bumble along as it has in the past.

Consequently, the general public in West Somerset will continue to suffer from highly questionable policy decisions.

Bye for now

Rob

Action Plan for West Somerset Sustainable Community Strategy 2007-2010

The West Somerset Sustainable Partnership Co-ordination Group have emailed me to say that their action plan is available to download at the foot of the home page of their web site just below the strategy.

They have also said that they will pursue making their web site more interactive but have not, as yet, stated any time scale.

I've had a brief look at the action plan which is significant in size and scope. I don't think it is possible to make overall statements about it. Consequently, I have asked, by email, if the individual parts of the plan will be availably interactively for public discussion and scrutiny.

I have also suggested something I call the 'litmus test' should be applied to each part of their 'action plan'.

The 'litmus test' involves taking a specific type of individual who is suffering because of the need for regeneration in West Somerset and asking precisely what each 'action' will do to quantifiably help this type of person.


For example, last week I was talking to a single parent with strong management skills and living in West Somerset who needed to provide for her family in 2008. She had looked at the local jobs market and found it extremely limited. She had also looked at the self employment route and
also found no ready solution. She had excellent skills and didn't appear to need further training. How will the West Somerset Sustainable Partnership plan help her in 2008?

I would suggest that similar litmus tests would be productive for all types of individuals economically challenged in our West Somerset community from unemployed retired to school leavers.

Applying my suggested litmus test to their action plan for 'economic development and enterprise' leaves me wondering how their plan will help this single parent in 2008 or indeed all the other women who share her economic difficulties that together are only a part of West Somerset's
urgent need for regeneration.

What do you think? Comments are welcomed below.

Bye for now

Rob

Economic regeneration benefits flow from committed social entrepreneurs at the Wessex Folk Festival 2008

Community events are a great way to achieve regeneration and improve an area's economic activity and no better example can be found than the Wessex Folk Festival at Weymouth, Dorset which is a model West Country rural areas in need of economic and community regeneration like West Somerset and Exmoor would do well to emulate.

The Wessex folk festival is a splendid example of how community action with a clear entrepreneurial leadership, even without the profit incentive, can bring great economic benefits.

In West Somerset we have a folk festival held in carhampton run voluntarily by some hard working local supporters but the Wessex Folk Festival is of a different order of magnitude and therefore brings correspondingly greater benefits.

I attended the Wessex Folk Festival last year and I'm glad to see that it is again being staged between the 6th - 8th June 2008 in Weymouth, Dorset.

Weymouth is a nice little town. It has a great beach, a pleasant harbour and an area called Hope Square with a wonderfully continental ambiance on a sunny day. Last year, the sun shined on the Wessex Folk Festival and Hope Square and beyond was teeming with people enjoying themselves and listening to the almost nonstop free music held on the public stage.

Several pubs were also participating in the festival and were packed with amateur musicians and singers making music for themselves and for local people and tourists who were there to eat, drink and enjoy the free musical entertainment.

Many other venues hosted more formal artist performances and were also very successful with activities extending as far as Portland.

Folk festivals attract devotees from all around the country, typically in camper vans, caravans and tents but with many also using local hotels and B & Bs. Without doubt the surrounding caravan and camping sites, hotels, bed and breakfast businesses and guesthouses also benefited from the extra visitors as a result of the Wessex Folk Festival.

The Wessex Folk Festival was an event of which any commercial organisation would have been proud. Yet it was run by a small group of dedicated volunteers and largely paid for out of fund-raising. It is remarkable that there are still people in this very commercial world who are willing to take on such responsibility and such amounts of hard work to achieve, often without thanks, something of great public worth.

Indeed, in 2007 at the end of the festival, I attended a survivors folk session at the Sailors Return pub, Weymouth and the good people on the committee were already collecting for the 2008 Wessex Folk Festival. Frankly, I consider such dedication deserves the highest public recognition.

In stark contrast to the social entrepreneurs of Weymouth, who put so much work into the Wessex Folk Festival and contribute so much to the economic well-being of their area, we see huge amounts of money spent on capital projects where the additional revenues into local small businesses are practically insignificant.

I am looking forward to visiting the Wessex Folk Festival this year both because I know I will have a great time being part of a wonderful community, listening to great folk music and participating in some great folk music sessions in the pubs but also because I will be supporting a wonderful enterprise run charitably by some truly courageous people.

Bye for now

Rob Hopcott

Your comments are welcomed below about how economic and social regeneration in West Somerset, Dorset, Weymouth or any other area can be gained from festivals and other public events.

West Somerset Railway's successful regeneration contrasts with local political failures

Success

Today I visited the West Somerset Railway at Minehead station and saw the work that is taking place on the new train turntable. It was mightily impressive.

I talked to one of the staff and they described to me how the West Somerset Railway is already contributing to the local economy and how much more it expects to contribute in the future.

The achievements of the West Somerset Railway are truly impressive and all the more so for having been built from many small steps and community effort.

Without the dedication and vision of key management personnel and the many volunteers this wonderful progress could not have been possible.

The West Somerset Railway is a success story and I believe destined for even greater things. Potentially, it could grow to be a resource to rival the Eden Project and that can only be good for West Somerset and Exmoor.

Failure

Sadly, the West Somerset Railway is not typical in this area and attempts by local politicians to regenerate the rest of West Somerset have not been as successful.

Yesterday I saw the human face of political failure to regenerate Exmoor and West Somerset.

X is middle class, intelligent, hard-working, entrepreneurial and desperate for a job that is not seasonal or working in the local care industry.

With sole responsibility for children, X would be struggling anywhere to make a living to feed a family. In West Somerset, the chances of finding the type of employment that X needs are very low indeed.

I saw the distress in X's face as X explained their attempts to make ends meet and the ongoing financial difficulties.

X is the true face of local authority failure to regenerate in this area. I have seen many other examples similar to X and each time they fill me full of anger.

I do not know whether it is complacency or incompetence that has caused West Somerset to remain a depressed area economically for so long.

Clearly its demographics are not favourable to a robust economy. There are very many elderly people in the area who seem to have little interest in economic change. But with the possibility of retired people living for many decades, the need for gainful employment amongst them in the future will become even more pressing.

It is time for the people of West Somerset to say that we are fed up with dodgy statistics that are churned out to justify capital projects that might make use of grants but will not, in truth, create many jobs.

It is time for the people in power in West Somerset to be ashamed that, after so much discussion, the best they can offer is jobs at the checkouts of large retail operations.

Solutions

The way forward is clear. Exmoor and West Somerset needs people centred regeneration. I have discussed this at great length elsewhere in this blog and do not propose to restate the arguments.

Jazz festivals, folk festivals, a continuous stream of people based events and web initiatives to bring large amounts of virtual traffic to online businesses in Exmoor and West Somerset could reap massively more benefits than a small number of very expensive industrial units.

Projects such as the proposed Cultural Centre in Williton and the web based Creative Exmoor and West Somerset initiative (in which i am involved) should be given the strongest support.

People centred regenerative policies need substantial periods of time to bring to fruition but have the advantage that they are relatively quick and inexpensive to get started and are immediately regenerative to those involved.

If the politicians in Exmoor and West Somerset really truly cared and were genuinely passionate about regeneration, I don't believe they would consider their continual failure to regenerate acceptable.

Bye for now

Rob Hopcott

Note: The photograph above is of a steam train waiting to be put into service at Minehead Station, West Somerset.

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Exciting Start to New West Somerset Creative Project organisation

A passion for creativity united the members of the steering group at the inaugural meeting of the West Somerset Creative Project at Williton held last night (31 March 2008) at the Mason's arms in Williton. Although, I am now a member of this steering group, for the official minutes, please visit the West Somerset Creative Project blog.

On the one hand there was the very practical issue of the money needed to to be raised rapidly to be able to buy the West Somerset Council meeting rooms which are envisaged as an ideal opportunity for premises for the proposed West Somerset Cultural Centre.

On the other hand, it was generally agreed putting people who enjoy creativity in touch with each other and the creation of a movement of people to enable this objective was critically important too.

Transparency and openness to all in the general public who are interested in participating in or progressing the creative arts in West Somerset was also seen as essential.

Regeneration was seen as a key benefit arising out of the Creative Project and the Cultural Centre. Jobs would be created at the Cultural Centre and local creative businesses would have a larger pool of people interested in enjoying their work from within West Somerset and also people visiting the area.

The quality of life for local people would also be enhanced both for creative amateurs and for people who enjoy accessing their work.

It was an exciting meeting with lots of promise for benefits for West Somerset and surrounding areas and with the strong agreement of the need to work with and support organisations who are already working in the local creative industries.

A blog has been set up called West Somerset Creative Project for the public to visit and participate in the Creative Project and policy discussion.

I urge everybody who cares about creativity and the creative arts to get involved. The list of creative activities is very long and open ended but it includes painters, musicians, dancers, poets, writers, crafters, sculptors, photographers and more. Whatever your creative pursuit, the West Somerset creative Project is a wonderful opportunity for us all to work together and achieve real improvements for the creative industries both amateur and professional in West Somerset.

But it can't be done without your help ... So visit the West Somerset Creative Project blog, tell us who you are and start talking to people who, like you, care about being creative.

Bye for now

Rob

Credibility and West Somerset Sustainable Community Strategy 2007 - 2010 authored by West Somerset Strategic Partnership

In answer to my criticism that I was disappointed that no vision for West Somerset had emerged since the District Council elections in West Somerset, I was pointed in the direction of the West Somerset Sustainable Community Strategy 2007 - 2010 which I understand is the work of the West Somerset Strategic Partnership.

I have read this document and was massively disappointed. In my view it has little or no value at all. I hope little of West Somerset's tax payers money went on this report. Frankly, even the cost of printing the report would have been more than it was worth.

I was going to review it in depth but I now believe that it is not worth the effort.

I will give one example to show its lack of innovation and depth of thought.

Of knowledge based industries it says:

Knowledge-based industries are underrepresented in West Somerset.

Wow, is that it?

I work in a knowledge industry. Did they talk to me? No! Did they get my opinion? No!

How many people did they talk to? How did they publicise their investigations? Did they just pop into the bar at the Conservative club and chat to whoever was there?

What practical proposals were considered? How do they propose to change matters?

It is a completely inadequate statement, valueless and, for all I know, possibly inaccurate. If I didn't know they were consulting and doing the report who am passionately concerned for the regeneration and improvement of West Somerset, probably the other, hidden, knowledge based businesses didn't know about the survey too.

What is missing from this report is 'how'. How do we get higher paid jobs into the area? How do we help small businesses to grow and be more profitable? To state the obvious that both these and many more local deficiencies need rectifying is worthless. We need a plan to say how the deficiencies are to be rectified and we need it now!

Worst of all, this valueless report has taken time to produce. Time has continued to pass with no solutions being found. Time during which people in West Somerset continue to suffer from strategic policy neglect!

As I said, I was going to review the whole report but the people who produced this pathetic report were probably paid to produce this monumental waste of tax payers resources.

I, on the other hand, am not paid for my efforts.

If the authors of the West Somerset Sustainable Community Strategy 2007 - 2010 care to see real proposals for the regeneration of this area which are affordable, they can read previous articles on this blog and come online and discuss them with me in public.

I don't suppose they will.

Sorry, I'm too fed up and disgusted to write any more.

By for now

Rob

Independent Councillor improves communicatiuon with public by adopting new blog technology

Independent Councillor Mitch Wicking has moved rapidly to improve communications between himself and the public by adopting blog technology for his personal site and for the proposal for the new West Somerset Cultural Centre he is making with Peter Jaques and Ruth Gavenlock.

Read full story

Putting the heart back into Williton with a new West Somerset Cultural Centre

How wonderful it is to see local people from West Somerset taking action to put the heart back into their local community.

According to the West Somerset Free Press, 29th February 2008, Mitch Wicking, Peter Jaques and Ruth Gavenlock have come up with an exciting proposal to create a new cultural centre out of the old West Somerset Council's main reception and meeting area.

(I'm so very tempted to ask 'Who said silk purses couldn't be made out of pigs ears?' But that would be a merely negative comment of the sort I try to avoid, however hard pressed by local events.)

Even better, apparently, these three excellent musketeers have already garnered the support of 250 locals for the project.

This project is everything that West Somerset should be doing to achieve regeneration in the area. It re-uses existing assets in an innovative and economic way, it is community based, it will act to support small local artistic and creative businesses, involve young people and promote tourism. The list of beneficiaries of this scheme seems endless and limited only by our community's imagination.

How sad it is to see that up against this vibrant new idea, which already has such local support, those who see capital redevelopment as a fix all are massing. Apparently, there is a plan for a new supermarket and a whole load of other town centre changes which are in competition with this community project.

Of course, all these redevelopment proposals are 'hush hush' and don't have the backing of the local people so we can only guess at what they involve.

It is possible that the ideal solution would be to pull together the two strands so that Williton gets the benefit of an updated High St, improved parking and traffic routing whilst, at the same time, gaining all the benefits that would be achieved through the new cultural centre.

This would require West Somerset Council to have a commitment to transparency and a willingness for an open dialogue with the public that has been so lacking in the past.

To expand the metaphor I was tempted to use above - 'and pigs might fly!'

West Somerset artists, crafters, writers, musicians and tourism businesses must grasp this opportunity to clearly state how important this project is to the heart of our community.

Your comments are welcomed below.

Rob

Regeneration - Elected Representatives Visions Needed

The government is expected to make a statement today repeating that casinos are not the best option for regenerating run-down communities.

An announcement will be made that the supercasino for Manchester will not go ahead and a selection of packages will be announced to mitigate the expected job loss.

As I say today in my gambling blog, I welcome this news and it will be interesting to hear what is in the regeneration package for Manchester.

No doubt, the gambling lobby, including local authority leaders, will be out in force today arguing that the regenerative alternatives to gambling are inadequate.

But, although I don't agree with the gambling lobby's vision for a better Britain, I do believe we need much more emphasis on statements of vision.

The announcements today, I believe, will go some way to removing a negative but will do little to create more positives for modern Britain.

We need our community leaders to stand up and say what sort of a country they want to live in.

We also need the public to be more outspoken about their vision for a better life.

It doesn't matter what media we use. It may be blogs, it may be TV or radio or even the local newspaper with letters to the editor.

We like to say that we live in a free society but that is not to say that we cannot as a huge family define what we believe would give us a better life.

Recently, an organisation hit the news in the UK that was suggesting additional Speakers Corners. This is something that I have been proposing for West Somerset for years. It not only provides an important community focus where people can meet but it also might lead to new and better policies being identified.

In West Somerset, the chances of ideas like this being implemented, I would suspect, are minimal. There are many people, in West Somerset who I talk to regularly, for whom regeneration is a dirty word and the local elected leaders no doubt act with this in mind.

However, there are more adventurous and innovative areas in the UK than sleepy old West Somerset who could institute local speakers corners and, in my view, would receive much benefit.

Whatever the media, we need to increase the volume of the debate because it affects all our lives and it affects the quality of our lives.

It is time to move positively from being reactive to being proactive on lifestyle options and that is an area we surely all have an opinion.

West Somerset Council Aquasplash Council Meeting fiasco

An overwhelming show of support for the Aquasplash swimming pool with more than 40 of the public packed into the Council Chamber and almost as many outside (according to the excellent West Somerset Free Press) led the decision on whether or not to close Aquasplash to be deferred until later in the month with discussion promised at a larger venue.

Personally, I find it incomprehensible that the West Somerset Council is even considering closing the Aquasplash swimming pool which is obviously beneficial to the local community in many ways.

Obviously, the new Independent administration has a lot to contend with to sort out the disasters left by the previous Tory administration that have been building up over many years.

Indeed, I have a lot of sympathy for council leader Cllr Keith Ross. He's inherited a horrible mess to clear up. I also have sympathy for the ordinary foot soldiers employed by the West Somerset Council.

However, surely common sense should be applied and a proper list of priorities for public benefit formulated.

For the good people of West Somerset to see posh Council Offices arising out of the ashes of Aquasplash is simply unacceptable. That the new Council offices are going to cost hugely more than expected adds salt to the wound.

Building new Council offices was a stupid decision. This was always my opinion and also the opinion of many of the public that demonstrated in Minehead's Avenue during the previous Tory administration.

(Furthermore, it now appears that the new satellite offices in Minehead, which are grossly over budget, are only held on a short lease. I just don't believe it!)

Closing Aquasplash permanently would be a stupid decision. Even mothballing it until the finances can be sorted out must be more acceptable than selling the site off for redevelopment.

It is a farce that people like myself are trying to think of ways of regenerating the Exmoor and West Somerset area when the decisions of the West Somerset Council steadily seem to cause its degeneration.

Finally, according to my search engine query 'west somerset councillor blog', not one West Somerset Councillor has a blog.

(I went through the search results for page after page. There were councillors from elsewhere with blogs, just not West Somerset. If I have missed one, I will be happy to put an entry sending people to it from my regeneration blog. Let me know and it will be done.)

It costs nothing to set up a blogger blog. Nothing! That is zero! It enables you to ask the opinions of your constituents on matters such as Aquasplash and to immediately and automatically share the results of your discussions with all your other constituents. It enables you to share in their expertise and ideas.

This is vastly better than having them trying to pack into a nasty little Council room, or standing freezing outside. Much better!

On a blog, you can share in the closely and intelligently argued comments of your constituents. This is vastly more useful to everybody than a few minutes nervously making a one way speech standing in front of a full Council Meeting.

In our modern Internet age, The present ways of public involvement in West Somerset Council's Local Government decisions are nothing short of pathetic.

There is a wind of change at West Somerset Council and emails are now being answered. The new Independent councillors are immensely more approachable than the previous Tory lot and some of them are working immensely hard to sort out the mess.

But the improvements don't go far enough or fast enough.

If we are going to look beyond the immediate crises to a time when West Somerset can actually start moving forward and achieving benefits for our community, there needs to be much better public involvement in decision making.

West Somerset Councillors need to be at the cutting edge of excellence in the UK, if they are to solve the huge problems we face. Councillors all over the UK are getting blogs so they can talk to their constituents. West Somerset councillors must do the same.

Bye for now

Rob

Innovative Community Regeneration Project in Braunton, Devon

North Devon has an exciting and innovative 12 month project running in Braunton which I discovered whilst browsing West Country web sites and blogs this week.

The Braunton 12 month project is aimed at

enhancing / highlighting the educational potential of a village called Braunton in Devon, south west England

I contacted the project officer to enquire about potential economic benefits and she kindly contributed the following:

The potential benefits are varied, I'm aiming to improve the educational potential of the area but also provide some economic opportunities for local people and businesses. I'll soon be recruiting walk guides, on a volunteer basis at first (as many already are here) but offering some sort of training scheme whereby guides become affiliated with the project. It won't be a nationally recognised qualification by any means but may help the existing band of volunteers to be more organised and ultimately to start charging for their services. I am working with local tourism providers too to encourage take-up of such a scheme and hope it will be a great success.

My first priority however is to get the multimedia tour devices working

This is an interesting project which stands a very good chance of helping with the regeneration of the Braunton area.

It is an example of regeneration through community projects which arguably works far better than millions of pounds put into capital building projects.

Bye for now

Rob Hopcott
Online author

Could Exmoor and West Somerset Regenerate by Copying Tiverton Energy Centre?

Tiverton Energy Centre aims to be a centre of excellence for the production of renewable electricity and fuel for the Tiverton community.

Tiverton Energy Centre, located in Devon, seems to be one of the most fascinating sustainable community developments of its kind in the UK. Over the next 5 years, they aim to make Tiverton, with its 20,000 population, 100% non dependant on fossil fuels. It will transform Tiverton into a zero waste to landfill town resulting in reduced greenhouse gas emissions, it aims to help reduce Tiverton's impact on the environment and aims to help to slow down climate change. Further benefits could be reduced waste disposal costs for every household and reduced council tax charges!

This is the sort of innovative project that Exmoor and West Somerset could do well to emulate. It seems win win for everybody, except perhaps the oil companies. Read more about Tiverton Energy Centre.

Bye for now

Rob

Successful rural economic regeneration through small business growth - a radical, commonsense and honest approach

The secret of rural economic regeneration is simple. In the absence of being able to parachute in a very large company offering lots of well-paid jobs, the strategy that is simply most likely to increase the number of jobs and improve wage rates is to boost small business activity in the area.

Small business growth is a simple commonsense approach where the difficulties lie in its detailed execution. However, It is arguably a more honest and realistic approach than many of the large, grandiose capital schemes and costly consultant's surveys that bedevil the regeneration industry.

There are three main steps that need to be taken to achieve economic regeneration in a rural area through small business growth.

Existing small businesses in the rural area needs to be identified and approached to see if they have an interest in expansion and growth. This is a necessary step because not all small businesses want to grow. Some are quite happy with their existing trading practices and it is pointless offering them incentives to grow unless they are fully committed to the project. Those that want to expand should have an expansion programme with targets agreed and a realistic plan defined to achieve the growth. An experienced troubleshooter that is completely committed to the businesses expansion and has access to regeneration funding to carry out the business plan must be allocated. Audit review dates must be agreed to ensure the plan stays on track with continued funding.

In a given rural area, it is very likely that there are only a limited number of small businesses and it is also possible that many are quite happy to stay small and operate without change. It is therefore imperative that incentives are provided for small businesses operating outside the area to relocate to within the rural regeneration area. An advertising programme is necessary that clearly specifies the advantages of the rural area and the regeneration help that will be provided to small businesses willing to relocate and take on the expansion challenge. Relocation grants will also be necessary. Once the small businesses have relocated into the rural area, the regeneration process continues as for existing small businesses.

Incentives also need to be offered for new business start ups. The advertising and marketing of these incentives needs to be both within the rural area and externally to other areas. The programme of help for start up businesses will obviously be somewhat different to the programme of help for existing businesses. However there are two fundamentally similar aspects, firstly the troubleshooter or mentor and secondly the availability of grant funding, both of which are critical.

Fundamental to this approach to rural economic regeneration are the roles of the troubleshooter or mentor and the grant funding. It is vital that the troubleshooter or mentor should be totally committed to the success of the small businesses to which they are allocated and, specifically, the detailed achievement of the expansion business plan. The remuneration of the troubleshooter or mentor should therefore be directly linked to the success of the regenerative business plan. It is vital that first class troubleshooters or mentors are used for this regeneration process. The problems facing small businesses participating in this regeneration process will not be easy otherwise obviously they would have solved their small businesses expansion aims themselves without help.

The provision of a few training courses in the hope that they will boost a particular small business is almost certainly inadequate. The expansionary business plans must be rigorous, auditable and expansion results quantifiable.

Threats to the success of such a rural regeneration programme are to be found internally and externally.

A threat internal to the area that must be recognised from the outset is the nature of the bureaucracies that are likely to be co-ordinating the release of the grant funding. Bureaucracies understand bureaucracy. They do not understand small business and they certainly don't understand how to make small businesses successful. Their role, ideally, should be minimised to within the audit function. The regenerative small business growth must be solely driven by the entrepreneurial activities of the troubleshooting mentor and the business owner who are best qualified.

External threats come from many different directions and include the competitive activities of other small or large businesses. However, these threats will be quantified and taken into account within the individual small business growth plan.

It is possible that some of the requirements for expansion of individual businesses can be achieved through a joint programme, perhaps managed by the regeneration agency in some form. However any such coordinated plan should grow out of the individual plans of the individual small businesses and not as a grand scheme initiated from the grant awarding body.

The objective of this approach to rural regeneration is to achieve improved employment prospects for those living in the area and for those who may be attracted to employment in the area by engaging small businesses within the area, outside the area and new start ups in an audited and funded programme of growth.

The success of the execution of this plan can easily be measured by the increase in jobs and the increase in their wage rates.

This is an honest commonsense approach that seeks to apply change pressure to the heart of the rural regeneration economic engine whilst bypassing the management double talk and grandiose schemes apparently adopted in the past by regeneration agencies to the detriment of genuine rural economic regeneration.

Your comments are welcome.

Bye for now

Rob

Your Exmoor & West Somerset rural regeneration ideas, requirements or questions

This page has been set aside for your rural regeneration proposals or requirements.

An example of the sort of question that might be appropriate can be found listed top right of this blog under 'Key Regeneration Questions we must answer'.

I would very much like to add your suggestions about how Exmoor and West Somerset could be regenerated to this blog.

Simply add your proposal or requirement as a comment below and I will endeavour to add it, in summary form, to the list.

Ideas or suggestions that do not need millions of pounds to be spent would be particularly welcome but lets try for a comprehensive wish list. Maybe we can still find a way of funding the requirement even if it does involve millions of pounds.

I really look forward to hearing your suggestions about the regeneration needs of Exmoor and West Somerset.

Bye for now

Rob

Barnstaple Rocks with Innovative Regeneration Idea

Barnstaple has a new live entertainment venue that deserves much publicity and which could act as a trailblazing idea for other areas seeking youth orientated regeneration. According to the organisers, it has "the potential to be the best venue south of Bristol."

The Factory at Roundswell during the daytime is used for Music Performance and Technology courses run by North Devon College. But, in the evenings, it transforms itself into a 500-capacity venue able to offer a wide range of entertainment.

For more information on this great young community building innovative idea, visit their informative web site thefactoryonline.co.uk

Have we buildings in West Somerset that could be used by young people to make music? Is it happening? How is it marketed? What can we do to make it grow?

I have often heard young people say "Why would we want to stay in West Somerset?"

Could this sort of activity persuade them to stay and for other young people to want to come and join them?

Bye for now

Rob

If Southwark Council and others can run a discussion forum, why can't Exmoor and West Somerset?

If Southwark Council can run a public discussion forum, why can't West Somerset?

Over the weekend, I was surfing using the term 'rural regeneration forum' and was disappointed by the results. For example there was the Staffordshire County Council Rural Regeneration Forum which seemed to be just a collection of links to advice without any public interaction whatsoever. It beats me how they can call it a forum. However, they are not alone and many Local Authorities in England use the term where there appears only to be one way communication from them to the public.

Never being one to give up easily, I decided to have another go today and typed in the search term 'regeneration discussion forums'. Bingo!

It seems that the word 'discussion' makes all the difference; and how pleasing it was to see that other Councils have already taken the step to providing public interactive discussion on regeneration. Also, there are plenty of private individuals who have also jumped in and managed to get people to use their regeneration discussion forums.

I need to do more research to get a balanced view on their success or otherwise but one thing I did notice, generally, was the lack of answers or interaction with Local Authority representatives. There is little point in people making points and asking questions if those who have the facts and figures do not participate.

Making a service available is only the first step. How it is used determines how successful it is.

It would be interesting to hear of any experiences people have had. Come on spill the beans and share :-)

Your comments are welcome below.

Bye for now

Rob

Useful community forum facilities

Rod over at the Catalyst Social Business Blog suggested two community forum resources which look good for helping people to build local communities.

I have put details of them on my involving people in government blog.

Hope it helps

Rob

Social entrepreneurs may offer hope for Exmoor and West Somerset

Yesterday, the Saturday task I set myself was to research social entrepreneurship as a potential resource that might help Exmoor and West Somerset raise our low average local wage levels that West Somerset Community College principal Nick Swann mentioned in his recent letter to parents about the collapse of the New Horizons funding.

It was a very frustrating day. Finding something to get hold of in the immensely complicated labyrinths of the South West Regional Development Agency and other similar organisations was challenging to say the least. There seem to be lots of organisations with colossal amounts of Government money to spend. How much of this money is increasing wage levels in Exmoor and West Somerset is doubtful and a question I must return to on another day.

However, I did come across some references to blogs about the benefits social entrepreneurs bring to an area. I've started to put details of these blogs on my involving people in government web log but a good starting point is the one at the School for Social Entrepreneurs, from which others can be accessed.

All this got me to thinking about whether I had come across any social entrepreneurs personally. A few minutes thought and I was astounded by the number of people I could think of who were having a large impact on local areas by running socially orientated activities.

The Wessex Folk Festival over in Weymouth, when I attended it last year, was a huge event managed by a committee of hard working volunteers and headed by an extremely energetic lady. It must have benefited local businesses immensely by attracting visitors to the town.

The Bampton Folk Festival too, with it's origins in the traditional Horse fair, is managed by a small number of volunteers with a very hard working lady playing a key roll.

Recently, Dulverton had a Folk and Flower Festival and Carhampton had it's own Folk Festival. Both events played their part in bringing both money and enjoyment to those areas.

Perhaps a key way of regenerating Exmoor and West Somerset relies on persuading top social entrepreneurs to set up activities locally and for the rest of us to give them our fullest support.

Perhaps regeneration is much more about energetic and able people not large and expensive regional organisations and huge capital projects.

If you know of social entrepreneurship that is having a regenerative impact, I would love to hear about them. Please include details in your comments below.

Bye for now

Rob

West Somerset Council's troubleshooter - key duties should include improving public's participation in decision-making

Support for whistle blowing Cllr Mitch Wicking, as evidenced by letters to the editor in the West Somerset Free Press today (January 4th, 2008) suggests that the great Exmoor and West Somerset public strongly favour blowing away the fog of secrecy that has hitherto surrounded Council decisions.

Unfortunately, the key list of duties for Dr Neal, if he is approved by councillors, does not currently appear to anticipate such improvements.

Let's start the New Year with a clear commitment from the Council to open government by setting improved public participation in decision-making as a key duty for West Somerset Council's interim manager.

The New Year has brought much opportunity to make positive change for local people in Exmoor and West Somerset.

Common sense, however, needs to be kept at the heart of these changes which the local public's support for Cllr Mitch Wicking shows they, the public, have in abundance.

Let's make 2008 a new year of productive and positive dialogue between the Council and the general public and start achieving some real benefits for the local community.

In a four-page letter to parents, reported in the Free Press, the West Somerset Community College principal Nick Swann, who has been a key player in the healthplex concept 'New Horizons', describes the grim realities facing locals whose weekly wages are £70 below the national average and the part he believes the project would play in improving matters.

Certainly, few would question the good work done at the Community College for our young people or the benefits of improving local hospital services.

However, whether local average wages would benefit from the project, to me, is very much more open to question.

In a recent comment to me, Keith Ross, The Leader of West Somerset District Council described how his wife helps organise the annual perambulation of Exmoor, a 32 mile hike around the ancient forest boundary in June starting and finishing at Pinkworthy Outdoor centre, its growth over the years and its beneficial effect on the local economy.

Now that is the sort of regenerative project that I can understand and it does not cost millions of pounds and years of waiting (perhaps forever), to implement.

Even if a persuasive connection can be made between the New Horizons project and improving average wages locally, what cost benefit comparisons were done with other locally based projects on which the millions could have been spent?

As suggested by Clive Knight, ex-director of Visit Exmoor, in his impassioned and apparently angry and hurt reply to MP Ian Liddell-Grainger's November article in the Free Press:

£35,000 [from West Somerset Council to Visit Exmoor] is a pitiful contribution to the area's largest industry and biggest employer ... This level of support would be laughable if it wasn't so serious.

How much could the average wage in Exmoor and West Somerset be increased by putting just some of the New Horizons millions into promoting the local tourist industry? Perhaps the pay back from investing more in the local tourism community might be rather faster and more certain?

Open Local Government means letting the public have access to these facts and figures and exposing the detailed arguments to the harsh reality of common sense.

Your comments are, of course, welcome.


Bye for now

Rob

Exmoor fog still rules at West Somerset Council

The veil of secrecy that has seemed to cloud policy decisions at the West Somerset Council has long appeared to many locals as being as dense as the fogs that hinder safe moorland driving across Exmoor and West Somerset during winter.

Sadly, according to Cllr Mitch Wicking, as reported in the Free Press (28th Dec 2007), little has changed since the Tory majority was kicked out in May 2007 and replaced with the Independent coalition.

Announcing his resignation from the Independent coalition, Cllr Wicking was reported as saying he was "fed up with all the secrecy" and wanted to get back to working for "improved democratic practice within this council".

I have often argued that a transparent debate between local people and the West Somerset Council lies at the heart of getting regeneration moving in this area.

If even our elected West Somerset Council representatives feel they have been left out of the loop, what chance do the rest of us have and what chance has Exmoor and West Somerset of achieving its much needed regeneration?

Apparently, interviews have been held for an interim manager of West Somerset Council which included former local government chief executive Jack Neal who has a reputation for sorting out failing councils.

I looked up Richmondshire District Council where Dr Neal helped out recently. I could not find any public discussion forums but I found a page on their web site entitled Let us know what you think.

There is a Residents' Panel system that selected members of the public can participate in and it appears explanations are subsequently made as to how arguments raised by the public have been incorporated into subsequent policy decisions.

My criticism of the consultation systems locally in Exmoor and West Somerset has long been that they are hierarchical and exclusive of the vast majority of the population.

The consultation systems at Richmondshire District Council, to me, look little different.

I have one question for any prospective interim or permanent manager of West Somerset Council:

How would you improve West Somerset Council systems to enable the local public to fully participate in policy and regeneration decisions?

And if his answer includes the word 'panels', I'd be very tempted to say 'next please'!

That excellent local institution the West Somerset Advice Bureau recently reported that one in six local people were accessing their services and debt was the number one problem.

It seems clear that the human cost to ordinary people in Exmoor and West Somerset of minimum wages and decades of failed regeneration policy has been huge.

Perhaps harnessing the collective intelligence of the people of Exmoor and West Somerset will not produce better answers. Perhaps the public of Exmoor and West Somerset are apathetic and lacking in ideas. Perhaps the regeneration problems locally are beyond solution.

Perhaps the managers of West Somerset Council should blow away their fog of secrecy and give open government a chance to solve local regeneration problems since they have failed so dramatically.

Bye for now

Rob

Exmoor and West Somerset is great but where's the buzz?

In response to my post about improving communication in Exmoor and West Somerset yesterday, Clara Lawrie wrote:

The answer for all three of your example visitors is the Minehead & districts' website, www.aboutmyare.co.uk/ta24 - at the risk of this being an advert:

Not only does Minehead have a tennis club, we also have bowling; table tennis; running; sailing & water sports; and boxing club (although I don't think your lady would want to get involved there - but you never know) From Amnesty International to The Scouts, West Somerset will welcome everyone! The best club for your elderly gentleman would be our local U3A, an organisation I have a great deal of respect for as it is the answer to every retired/semi retired person’s question: "What to do now?" answer: "Anything you want to, and keep learning and keep active".

Clara thanks for joining in the debate :-)

As I said in my post

"I am not saying that there are no sources of information. I am merely asking how easy do we make it for Jemima? I believe this really matters. If other areas make finding activities easier, Jemima will go elsewhere next time."

I just walked up the Avenue in Minehead to check my facts. I couldn't see anything about the things you mentioned. I suspect the same holds true in Swain Street, Watchet and elsewhere in Exmoor and West Somerset.

My point is not that information isn't available or that the activities are not happening. My point is about how much in your face the information is.

Take the Eden Project, for example. I spent some of my really hard earned money on a visit to the Eden Project and didn't really enjoy it at all. It cost me a lot of money and I was shuffling around with lots of other people. I'm sure many would enjoy the Eden Project experience but I didn't.

I kept thinking. I would prefer to be walking on Exmoor in real nature. To me, Exmoor was a better experience and it's free!

The point I'm making is that the guys over at the Eden Project are really savvy. They have achieved a huge buzz about the Eden Project and so they get lots of people going there. Well done them!

If we want the same numbers to come to Exmoor and West Somerset, we must create a buzz at least as big as they do over at the Eden Project - but we have a long way to go.

I'm sure your web site needs to be part of the buzz and there are many other online facilities that will contribute too. The important thing is that the whole level of buzz needs to be increased and we need to identify how to do that.

OK now the point about web entrepreneur Chris is that he can go anywhere and he can also find out about anywhere (including abroad). He is a high earner and, if we can attract him to Exmoor and West Somerset, he would probably employ some local people at higher rates of pay to help him (one of the West Somerset Councils key objectives).

But Chris is as susceptible to buzz as we all are. If he hears that exciting ideas are coming out of West Somerset and he sees it's also a great place to live, we may have him hooked.

But we must have interesting ideas and we must discuss them really loudly at a National and International level to get his attention.

One person can't create such a buzz. It needs the efforts of a whole community of like-minded people pushing in the same direction. This means a huge level of coordination. Above all, we need to talk to each other.

As far as Fred is concerned, he can grumble and mumble in the clubs and pubs of West Somerset, he can join U3A, he can write letters to the West Somerset Free Press but he currently has no clout.

Fred is potentially a committed change agent (sorry about the jargon). If we take him, give him a place in the regeneration drive, possibly even unpaid, he could play a really important part. Let's send him on a speaking tour across the county to tell the world all about Exmoor and West Somerset. Lets send him to conferences about regeneration. Whatever we do, lets not ignore him. A little bit of expenses money for Fred could reap far greater rewards than millions spent on Local Authority capital projects. He is ready and eager. Let's prime him and light the fuse!

Fred is just one person but for a successful buzz, we need lots of Freds (or Fredas). They are our emissaries. They can send shock waves radiating out from Exmoor and West Somerset saying:

"Talk to us, argue with us, join the debate. We've got masses to offer and we want you to join us in Exmoor and West Somerset. Don't hang about. Come on down. Whatever you do, just don't ignore us!"

In my previous post about extending the hand of Christmas goodwill, I suggested that Exmoor and West Somerset web site owners should link through to relevant local sites. Each local cross reference increases the chance that an online visitor will find a local web site of interest to them and may be a precursor to them physically coming to the area. Cross referring our sites is about buzz too.

Clara, I'm sure many people who read my post about improving communication in Exmoor and West Somerset yesterday had the same thoughts as you. By taking the time to voice them, you have given me the opportunity to address the issues.

Thanks for your comments Clara. Keep them coming.

To everybody else, your comments are really welcome below. Let's create that buzz!

Let's talk!

Rob

Better communication is the low cost key to regenerating Exmoor and West Somerset.

A simple online act of Christmas goodwill which would help regenerate Exmoor and West Somerset was the subject of my post yesterday.

But there are many more ways to extend a welcoming hand which would improve communication and help regenerate Exmoor and West Somerset. Some of these are the subject of my discussion today.

Communication seems such a simple word and, of course, we all communicate with each other constantly in many different ways. But how effective is our communication as a community in Exmoor and West Somerset? Imagine these various scenarios.

Jemima is visiting Minehead for the day. She walks down Minehead Avenue wondering where to go and what to do. All around her, there are activities going on but how does she find out about them?

Nearby, there is Minehead Tennis Club with members who may be willing to play tennis with her but how does she find out about this club? There is a bowling club nearby too. Again, how does she find out about it? She is in Minehead for one day. What did she see? What impression of Minehead does she return home with?

I am not saying that there are no sources of information. I am merely asking how easy do we make it for her? I believe this really matters. If other areas make finding activities easier, Jemima will go elsewhere next time.

Chris is an Internet entrepreneur and he is surfing the web in Birmingham. He is rather fed up with living in a big town. He has a lovely wife and two children. He would like to introduce them to a better life in the country. He is financially well off, very intelligent and forward-looking. He would like to join a community of people where he can find others like himself to spark off socially and intellectually and where he can carry on his business activities across the Internet worldwide.

What would bring Chris to Exmoor and West Somerset? We have good schools. We have lovely countryside and running an Internet business is as easy from Minehead, Williton, Watchet, Dunster, Dulverton, Timberscombe, Exford, Allerford, Winsford, Porlock, Lynton or any of the surrounding villages but what will make him consider this area for his relocation? How could we make his relocation easier? Do we even want high earners and achievers like Chris in this area?

I could discuss many examples of different types of people who may want to come and live in or visit Exmoor and West Somerset but I think the point is made.

At the heart of the problem that faces these two individuals and which also faces Exmoor and West Somerset and our attempts at regeneration is communication.

How do we communicate the benefits of living in or visiting Exmoor and West Somerset to the rest of the UK or even worldwide? What are they?

There is one further aspect of communication that needs to be examined.

Fred is retired and living in Exmoor and West Somerset. He cares very much about the area and would like to help with its regeneration. He has energy and opinions. He really does want to get involved. How does he talk to like-minded people? How does he get involved? How does he communicate his ideas and opinions? Where can he get involved with the debate?

These are but three of the many different sorts of people who have communication issues with the area of Exmoor and West Somerset.

Improving communication lies at the heart of the regeneration of Exmoor and West Somerset. It benefits those of us who already live here, businesses and private individuals, and those who we would want to attract to the area.

It is a problem that no amount of millions of pounds expenditure on bricks and mortar will rectify.

To solve the problem of communication, we must all start talking to each other.

We must extend the hand of goodwill.

It sounds easy doesn't it? But is it easy? What are the barriers? What you think? Your comments are very much welcome. Let's talk!

Bye for now.

Rob

(Rob Hopcott - online author - fiction - news - philanthropy)

Note: names used in this article about regenerating Exmoor and West Somerset are fictitious and do not relate to any specific individuals locally or otherwise.