The Assembly received many positive responses and was a success
April 2025
The second People’s Assembly was held last Sunday (13th April) and although there were fewer people in attendance, the changes we made meant it worked well. The responses from attendees were uniformly positive. The venue was larger and better appointed (St Gregory’s Hall) and the additional space meant people could move around more freely and there was less ‘noise’ interruption from neighbouring tables.
A large number of problems were put forward and many focused, in one way or another, around housing, transport and community services. Following the experience and feedback from the first meeting, we made changes to the timings which gave more time to debate, and introduced Post It notes for the first half which helped enormously. Indeed, participants responded well to the revised arrangements. Comments included several who said ‘well organised’, others said how it was ‘enjoyable’ how the discussions were ‘respectful’ and the solutions suggested were ‘thoughtful’. They liked the venue and praised the facilitation and how the discussions were mediated.
It was clear people enjoyed the experience. There is a desire to take part in local politics and for their voices to be heard. But too often, people are presented with party politics and their views are overlooked or ignored.
The five solutions
- More genuinely affordable housing was needed particularly council built properties. A familiar issue and which is subject to a lot of political debate. The planning system comes in for criticism all too frequently, although not in this instance.
- The need for an Environmental Centre. At present the Salisbury EcoHub has a presence in the market place on a Tuesday and does much to inform people about environmental issues and the climate crisis. There is need of a permanent location for this vitally important activity.
- Free or low-cost transport for young people. Presently, it is the older members of our society who enjoy free transport but there is also a need for the young. The cost of travel to college/school can be prohibitive for some and can affect where they decide to go.
- A community hub for young people and families including 3G pitches and activities.
- Finally, a call for stricture measures to ensure developers build good quality and safe homes. This is similar to one of the results of the first Assembly where there was a demand for developers to meet their planning obligations.
The third Assembly will take place at the Salisbury Football Stadium on June 1st starting at 2pm and finishing soon after 4pm. It is free to attend but there is an opportunity to make a contribution to our costs. To secure a space please email Mapotts53@gmail.com.
Care to join us? If you have an interest in local democracy and would like to help us promote ideas such as Citizen’s Juries, you would be very welcome. SDA runs the Democracy cafes which are held on the second Saturday of every month.
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