William Perrin TAL

Talk About LocalConnecting with residentsCapital AmbitionVictoria PlazaLondon16 November 2009

William Perrin - william@talkaboutlocal.org

Talk About Local (West Midlands) Ltdhttp://talkaboutlocal.org

Abandoned cars and weekly arsonBingfield Park, Rufford Street 2002Gas cylinders often in cars for extra ooomph Pics – Mark Bailey

Stolen moped Grand Prixs c2002Bingfield ParkKings CrossMost Saturdays when Arsenal at homeEnd with traditional moped bonfire Pics – Mark Bailey

The ‘Crackavan’Rufford Street c2002 Pics – Mark Bailey

Caledonian Ward Safer Neighbourhood Panel

North King Cross Environmental Taskforce

West Area Committee

West Area Planning Committee

CYP Management committee

Kings Cross Development Forum

Gifford, Rufford and Randells Residents Association

Team Cally

Sparkplug Management Committee

Planning Applications (dozens)

....but found huge information burden mostly from council and local public services

We used the web to streamline all this

Got stuck in to these local exercises over several years........

‘Strategic plans’ - many

www.kingscrossenvironment.comover 700 articlesFour volunteer writers – aged 40-65Small number of authorsCampaigns, information, wildlife, events etc

£1 million for community under S106Web-led campaign drove people into traditional comms channels required for statutory processesOut-manoeuvred Network Rail

Translate council planning documents into locally relevant language 400 people per day

Stoke-on-Trent www.pitsnpots.co.ukCampaigning, challenging styleReflects local frustration at political scene3 writers, 30,000 comments on local politicsWordpress site£20 a month

www.digbeth.org

Digbeth gritty industrial area of South B’ham

Arts, events, positive stories

Digbeth is Good redefined image of Digbeth on line

Costs - £10/month

Wordpress blog

Team of 5 people400 pv a dayThousands of articlesVillage population 500Wordpress.comC£10/month

www.harringayonline.comNearly 2,000 membersGreen LanesChatty informal feelWide range of local issues£15 month

Very small town ningChatty informal feelWide range of local issuesOver 50 membersFree

• Partnership with UfI/UK online centres

• Help people create community sites in over 150 places across England

• Engage 3,000 people• Give people confidence and

support to create local sites using free tools

• Online support network and website http://talkaboutlocal.org.uk

• Funded by Channel4, Screen West Midlands and Advantage West Midlands

• Bespoke intensive interventions and consulting available to clients

http://Kingtonblackboard.orgUK online centre – Marches Access PointStarted August 2009 with TALRural town life and newsWordpress site

http://W14london.ning.comDeprived area of West LondonStarted August 2009 – with TAL and local NDCLocal discussion and informationOver 150 members alreadyNing.com site – cost £zero

http://letstalkb8.ning.comLate October 2009 from TAL sessionEvolution Centre, Washwood Heath, Birmingham

•Empower people who live and work in an area to speak about it

•Give them skills and confidence

•Engage with people on local sites

•Web allows new voices to emerge

•C21st face on C19th democratic systems

•TAL can stimulate local independent web sites that talk about an area, are self sustaining an owned by community, not the Council

•TAL approach gives air gap for LAs (and citizens) leading to better result

•TAL low cost – probably cheaper than printing and distributing colour booklet

William Perrin TAL

If you want to hear from a community in your area drop us a line to see if we can help you.

william@talkaboutlocal.org

Talk About Local (West Midlands) Ltdhttp://talkaboutlocal.org