How YOU can become the voice for your area

Monday 31 August marks the start of the 2009 community council election period

Community councils are looking for people who care about their neighbourhood and who want to make it better. By getting involved, you can become the voice of your area and speak out about community concerns and issues.

Each community council receives a grant from the Council to help fund activities and invest in issues you feel are important.

The Council, Police, health and the voluntary and community sectors all work together within the partnerships to enhance the quality of life in local neighbourhoods.

Community council members should be free of political bias and anybody of any race, gender or religion can get involved.

Nomination forms will be available from your returning officer at the end of August. A list of returning officers will be available on the Council’s and the Neighbourhood Partnership’s websites.

Meet Kate Arnott, chair of Grange/Prestonfield community council

How did you first get involved in the community council?

I was a member of a local interest group and at the beginning of 2007 I attended the local district council meeting. We didn’t have a community council in the area at this point and previously resident groups misunderstood the nature of community councils – they provide a structural focus and an umbrella for interest groups.

What does the community council do?

Community councils are about making people feel comfortable in their community. People get frustrated as they don’t know where to start if they are having problems but if they can identify a member of the community council that they can talk to then it makes it easier.

I’ve been impressed with the interaction of the Police and the enthusiasm of the Southside Neighbourhood team.

What are the main issues in the Grange/Prestonfield area?

In this area we have houses ranging from £1.5 million along with lower income areas, so we need to take into account these extremes. We are looking at the potential in the Fairer Scotland Fund to be used in the areas that need it.

We’ve also been working on consultation on control parking in S6, an area with a major problem with people parking their cars and then getting the bus into town.

What’s next?

We are hoping to use the new community centre, Cameron House, in the future.

We will also be running a stall at the Meadows festival and working with other community councils in the South Central Neighbourhood Partnership.