This evening I went to a meeting of what is called the Broadfield Forum.

This is supposed to be a meeting of concerned/involved/engaged residents of the area, hosted by the borough council and with other parties invited if either there is something they want from the residents or there is something the residents want from them.

Its a good idea, and could be quite useful, but there is a flaw. I may have gone on about this before, but several years ago the council had a grand plan of having something called ‘Link Groups’. They would cover a part of a neighbourhood, and Broadfield was notionally split into 6 areas for these groups.

The idea was that each of these groups would meet and discuss matters relating to their own little area and beyond. Once or twice a year there would be a big meeting where the groups link together (hence the name) and discuss themes common to all the areas, like litter, or issues affecting all areas, like the shopping parade.

The groups were being set up one at a time, and when all of them were running properly the council was going to back off a bit and use the whole thing as a template to implement it in other neighbourhoods. The first two groups were set up OK, but it all stumbled a bit on the third. There was trouble finding enough residents in that area to get involved.

Actually there were enough members but none of them was prepared to be chair.

At about this time the council reorganised its community development department, and instead of expanding it contracted. Instead of having a worker dedicated to Broadfield we had one who looked after us only part of the time. So the whole thing wound down, and instead there is just a neighbourhood-wide meeting every three months or so.

The way it has worked out is that most of those who attend are remnants of the old link groups, which were all in the North of Broadfield. Nobody from the Tollgate Hill area is involved at all, apart from me. Everything which is discussed is to do with the North. I could raise issues about Tollgate Hill but really nobody else there would be particularly interested.

It would help if someone else from up here got involved as well. I raised this at the meeting. Again. I was told that the meeting is open to anyone so I could bring along neighbours, but that is not really the point. There is no publicity for these meetings – no poster in the community centre or on the noticeboards at the shops, library or doctors, no press release in the local papers or advert in Crawley Live. Not even a mention on the council website.

The only publicity is a direct mail to those who have expressed an interest beforehand – by turning up at a previous meeting. So its pretty much a closed loop there. I think I may have got through to them this time, but the next meeting is in January so I’ll wait until nearer the time to see what they do for publicity.

If it comes to it, I could run off some circulars myself and deliver them while doing Labour leaflets or newsletters. Here in the far South of Broadfield we do feel a bit like the ginger stepson of the family and I am determined to rustle up a few fellow Tollgate Hill-ers for the next meeting!

For the time being, if anyone from Tollgate Hill, Hollingbourne Crescent, William Morris Way, the Southern Housing estate at Farnham/Wye or the council estate at Hammond Road, or any of the roads off them ever gets to read this and is interested, write to me. If you do I will let you know when the next meeting is.