Voices forum wins praise – with some reservations

The aim - supported by the Lancashire Telegraph - was to foster greater racial harmony.

When Labour lost power this year fears were raised about the commitment of the new Tory-Lib Dem-For Darwen coalition to the cause.

The second phase of this project - the Neighbourhood Voices forums - got under way this week and we went along.

PARKING problems, drug dealing, and not enough bins were among the problems facing Blackburn and Darwen, according to participants at the Neighbourhood Voices forum.

And an elderly white woman said her once-thriving neigh-bourhood was "changing enormously" as people move out, with eight empty houses on her street alone.

They were speaking at the first Neighbourhood Voices forum, where 60 people from North West Blackburn gathered at St Mary's College.

They had been nominated for a place on the forum by community groups and police .

Also invited were residents who had raised issues with the council about their neighbour-hood in the past, and people who had taken part in last year's 100 Voices project.

There was a largely positive reaction from people speaking afterwards, although the views that came out of two discussion sessions were not shared with the whole group in much detail.

Starting last December, 100 Voices brought 100 randomly-selected people from different sections of the community together to debate cohesion. It was hailed a success, with Trevor Philips, who was then head of the Commission for Racial Equality, taking part in March.

Under the council's current ruling administration, it has been moved into a second phase under the title Neighbourhood Voices.

This time five district forums of about 50 people will take place, covering North West, North East, South West and South East Blackburn, rural areas like Edgworth and Chapeltown.

There will also be two town centre forums, for Darwen and finally Blackburn, which will each bring together 100 people.

Cohesion was among the topics debated the meeting which covered Roe Lee, Corporation Park, Beardwood with Lammack and Wensley Fold wards. But this was alongside more routine concerns, like litter, rubbish collection and the facilities available to young people.

Blackburn PCT chief Nick Kennedy, who is also chairman of the North West Area Agency Partnership, chaired the discussion. He said talking about common areas of concern would help bring different parts of the community together.

Mr Kennedy opened the two-hour debate by adapting a famous speech from his namesake, former American president John F Kennedy: "Ask not what Blackburn can do for you, ask what you can do for Blackburn."

The event was compered by Ian Roberts, a professional "facilitator". The 60 people were divided into groups, where they were first asked to write down what they thought was good, and bad, about their area.

Key figures including Lancashire Chief Inspector Alice Knowles, neighbour-hood co-ordinator Chris Waring and the head of disability care management, Mubarak Darbar, acted as facilitators for the groups.

The findings were presented back to the group, and in the second half of the meeting Mr Roberts encouraged people to move to one of five tables, to debate one of cleaner and greener', health, young people, the economy and cohesion.

But after suggestions from one of the people taking part that these pre-decided topics did not take account of the issues that had arisen so far, a separate table was set up to talk about traffic concerns.

Speaking half-way through the event, one Asian man said the big issue was being missed.

He said: "There is a reason we are all here. It's not about bin collection, it's not about transport or parking.

"There are core fundamental problems. This is the first time I have come to something like this. It's all about integration. There has always got to be a starting point, and this has got people talking. But I often see things like this as a publicity stunt. People come and share their views but in time nothing will change.

"You have got to allow the audience to express their own views more openly. They have given us questions, and we have tackled the questions, but we shouldn't be told what to talk about."

100 Voices was launched by the previous Labour administration. The party's leader Kate Hollern said the neighbourhood meetings should report back to a borough-wide forum, where people from different areas would mix.

She said: "How else are people from Bastwell and Beardwood going to mix?"

But Tory council leader Colin Rigby said Neighbour-hood Voices was more representative because more people were taking part.

He said: "These events are broken down into smaller discussions to encourage people to come forward with views rather than the vocal minority who often speak at large gatherings."

He said he did not want to use a private company to select random people, as had been done before, because of the cost.

Among the positive points singled out at the forum were Blackburn's parks. At one point a young girl was given the microphone and said there were plenty of clubs for her age group.

A middle-aged white man said his neighbourhood had been improved by the arrival of Asians in his area.

He said: "The major change I've lived through has been the amount of Asian people moving here. But they come and stay longer, rather than just moving away, which gives us more of a community."

At the end of the evening, MIck Gibson, 61, of Columbia Way, said: "It's whether people take notice of what we have said. I've mentioned these things lots of times, and nothing's happened so far."

Rod Crocker, 53, of Haydock Street, said: "It was more lively than I thought it was going to be.

" It could have been deadly silence, but a lot of people chipped in with a lot of ideas.

"I thought it went very well."

Mr Darbar, one of the facilitators on the night, added: "I think it was very well attended, with a good variety of people from the North West area.

"It was a good mix of the community and different age groups, and was a very vibrant event that went very well."

Mike Murray chairs the Local Strategic Partnership, which includes business, voluntary sector and police representatives.

Mr Murray, who was at the event as an "independent observer", said: "I thought it was extremely interesting.

"We have been saying for some time we would like to get down to street level, because that's where it is really at.

"I was amazed at how many different tables came up with the same issues.

"There is definitely a willingness there, now it's about how they deal with it."

• There will be seven Neighbourhood Voices forums over the next three months.

South West and South East Blackburn take place in January, North East and rural areas in February, and Darwen and Blackburn town centre forums in March.

The recommendations from the first six forums will be put into a report, which will be presented to the Blackburn town centre event.

A council spokesman said area partnerships would then try to put recommendations into practice.