Groups representation on Portobello Community Council

[Maria]

admin: thread split from New Portobello High School - planning application.

Have they still got a rep on the PCC? I hope someone requests their accounts information (I believe groups have to supply accounts as a condition of membership) and the same goes for PCATS. PCATS have denied all along that they have donated funds to PPAG, there is no transparency, so there's little option but to take their word for it, which is not good enough when making public statements about raising £80,000.

It was clarified by the Chair of the CC at last night's meeting, that groups with representatives on the CC do not have to supply accounts.

[Porty]

Aw thats a pity.

[Pal of Porty]

Here are some of the things you need as a local group if you wish to be represented on a CC - accounts do not appear to be one of the listed criteria:

The City of Edinburgh Council will determine the eligibility of a group to become a Local Interest Group representative. The following criteria will be used to assess eligibility.

1. The organisation must be a voluntary group which has been in operation for at least 12 months prior to the notice of election.

2. The organisation must be a properly constituted group with a publicly available constitution, the objects of which explain how it is reasonably representative of a significant section of that community.

3. The organisation must have a committee that (after the first year) is elected at an AGM and has a minimum of 3 members.

4. The organisation will be asked to submit a registration form demonstrating the following :

how the decision was reached to appoint a candidate for election as a nominated representative on the community council, e.g. an extract from a minute of a meeting;

that the organisation meets on a regular basis;

that the organisation operates within the community council area;

that the organisation is committed to gathering the views and representing the interests of its members.

[Mark Cameron]

Slightly off topic but a genuine question here and not having a pop at anyone on the CC as I realise it's a voluntary organisation. I'm trying to get some personal knowledge of the Community Council as I might be interested in putting myself forward for nomination at some point but want to learn more about this.

Re point 2 above - how is it determined that the CC is 'reasonably representative of a significant section of the community"?

Also re the final point what steps are taken by the CC to gather the views to represent the interests of it's members?

Where can I find the recent minutes (all I seem to find is a set from June 2010 on Porty.org) are more recent ones held somewhere else now?

[Porty]

Where can I find the recent minutes (all I seem to find is a set from June 2010 on Porty.org) are more recent ones held somewhere else now?

I'm fairly sure if you attended meetings you would be provided with a draft copy of previous meetings minutes. Bob Jefferson used to publish them on POL but as you say this seems to have dried up with August,Sep, Oct, Nov 2010 and Jan 2011 seemingly AWOL. In thepast PCC were a very low profile group and I suppose in the real world that this is still very much the case. (I lived here since their inception and only became aware 5 or 6 years ago)

PCC have increasingly come under online scrutiny, especially in regard to their responses to certain Planning applications and to be honest they haven't looked too good. For example: you may well have seen the minuted dictum from one of the joint secrretaries urging communty councillors to campaign against one particular application.

I'm fairly sure the minutes are no longer published in an attempt to minimise scrutiny and or critcism. "we want to be left alone to do what we want" type osf scenario. Of course I could be wrong and its simply a "forgot to email" situation. Bob?

[Bob Jefferson]

Well I'm at least partly to blame. The lack of a computer has made it pretty much impossible for me to update the site. It's also true that after I left the CC I was dropped from the mailing list and had to rely on Marya to fwd copies if minutes to me, though latterly I have received copies from Nick Shroud. The CC are currently putting a website of their own together, so minutes should eventually appear there. I don't imagine it will include a discussion forum though.

[Mark Cameron]

Marya do you know when the CC website will be available and until then how can people get the minutes?

[Maria]

Marya do you know when the CC website will be available and until then how can people get the minutes?

The website is still 'under construction' though the group working on it are keen to see it up and running soon. There was quite a bit of discussion about it at the last meeting and various changes were requested.

Copies of the CC minutes are kept in the library, along with copies of letters written etc. If you go along, you'll also be able to view the CC's big screen!


(I'll also try and update porty.org.uk with the minutes.)

[seanie]

Any discussion on 'consumer testing' the web-site? To see what the community might think of it?

[Maria]

Any discussion on 'consumer testing' the web-site? To see what the community might think of it?

Not in the sense I think you mean Seanie.

[seanie]

Pity. If the PCCs going to have a web-site to interact with the community, it might've been worthwhile getting some feedback on what the community might like in such a web-site.

[Maria]

Marya do you know when the CC website will be available and until then how can people get the minutes?

OK, as promised I've updated porty.org.uk with copies of the Minutes of the PCC.

Please note that the CC doesn't meet in July or Dec so there are no minutes for those months.

Most importantly these minutes are issued as DRAFT minutes. Corrections to the minutes are made at the following month's meeting, so please always check the next month's minutes for corrections to the previous.

[Mark Cameron]

Thanks Marya - will do. Is the new website being developed by PCC members or an independent IT firm?

Would it be the PCC's role to consider a vision and strategy for Porty or as you've said before is it realyl a group to consider planning applications? If the latter does anyone know if there is a community group looking at the big picture and engaging the community in that?

Just had a look at teh minutes from Jan 2011 and must say am dismayed to see the comment about the contact feature is "not to encourage discussion...". How are the PCC encouraging discussion?

285.7 PCC website progress and update

Joe Madden reported that the new Community Council website was almost ready to be launched. The one
remaining feature to be implemented before it could go live was the creation of a contact form from which
comments could be routed automatically to the appropriate people. It was agreed that John Stewart and
Diana Cairns would be the initial recipients and Joe would install their email addresses in the website; he
would also consider implementing an auto-response mechanism to acknowledge receipt of comments. It was
agreed that the arrangement would be kept as simple as possible at first, and only made more sophisticated if
3
required in the light of experience. It was noted that this feature was only to allow people to communicate
with the Community Council, not to vote on issues. It was further emphasised that this facility was not to
encourage discussion, but simply to contact the Community Council; comments would not be made public
on the website..

admin: later posts have been merged into How can we revive our High Street?.