• HAVING been a very involved member of the community for the past four years and having no association with any political party, I was glad to be given the opportunity to ask candidates at last week’s hustings a question related to their commitment to the community in terms of number of hours per month they would set aside to perform their role of councillor and whether as constituents we can expect answers to written correspondence.

I believe the role of a councillor is to represent the interests and concerns of their geographical community first, to answer queries from constituents and to support constituents in their dealings with the council.

To achieve this, being an active member of the community, encouraging as many as possible interactions with local groups and local individuals is fundamental, and this requires time availability.

For example, it has taken more than three years and a defeat at the Fortune Green by-elections by the Labour group for our current councillors to finally admit that there is a significant issue with waste management in our area.

After years of little action on that front, suddenly a vast amount of money from our Community Infrastructure Levy funds has been spent on a new monitoring officer, who started work in February 2022.

Once again the involvement of residents and groups in seeking solutions to the waste management issues, has not been widely sought.

Being co-chair of a residents’ association, we did not receive any communication about this new officer, or his intended work.

Another example is new trees. We welcomed the addition of new trees on our streets. However, once again this was done without local input.

Trees appeared without notice, with watering bags at their base. Would it be too much to ask for some discussions to take place on where the trees should be located and formal communication on their impending arrival?

The new trees will not thrive without watering by residents, but residents have not been informed that their input is needed.

I was saddened by the answer to my question from one of our councillors, starting by the statement that my question was cynical.

Well it was not cynical, and a simply a reflection on the needs of the community and the commitment the candidates were making in terms of availability.

Looking forward to the election of councillors that are visible on the ground, engage widely with residents and businesses for four years consistently.

AGNES PEYSER, NW6