Halton council are going through a process, presumably like several other north west region authorities, of developing areas of their landscape ensuring that it 'fits in' and dovetails with regional needs.
They had a meeting, open to residents, which I attended a couple of weekends ago. A presentation was given about the aims of the project and then participants were asked for their views about their local area, what landscaping features they wanted maintaining and future developments etc.
The event had been publicised in the local press and various relevant organisations had been contacted about it. There were 10 participants!
It's a shame that so few people attended. However I'm not sure whether this figure could have been increased substantially by for example mailing all residents about the event even if it were viable in terms of costs. When we tried to get people involved in a Lorry Watch scheme in Halton View recently by leafleting and personal contact, out of approximately 200 residents we got one response!
Of the people who were present there were none from areas that perhaps were more in need of landscaping and improvements in street furniture. The environment we live in effects us on so many levels and according to research is fairly crucial in relation to our feelings of well being.
It was a case of the voices being listened to being the ones who had more direct access to the resources available. I thought of one estate area in Halton - Halton Brook were apparantly there are no landscaped garden areas only a run down green area in the centre of the estate. Maybe there are plans for some initiatives in Halton Brook but the council reps did not give me the impression that any were planned.
It seems that the development team, a private consultancy agency plus the council's 'landscaping' section will be talking directly with other groups in Halton. Lets hope they get to the parts others can't reach.
Having said all that another feeling I had was that it was good to be living in a community were you did have an opportunity to have your say - we need to take care of our democracy by supporting it!
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