Sir – As people who take an active part in our local communities, we are concerned that our city councillors seem to be making no attempt to set up the new area forum for this part of Oxford.
The other five areas have already each had one meeting, with another booked for September or October. But in the South East (Blackbird Leys, Littlemore, Northfield Brook and Rose Hill & Iffley wards), all is silence. The Labour Party insisted on abolishing the area committees, which had real powers including in relation to planning decisions, and replacing them with the toothless forums. Liberal Democrat and Green councillors, who opposed the change at the time, have nonetheless got down to trying to make the new arrangement work.
It is pitiful that in this part of the city, where Labour hold all but one of the seats one, nothing is happening.
Perhaps the money available for running the forums could be made available to local community groups to do the job.
Dorian Hancock, Littlemore
David Penwarden, Iffley
Gordon Roper, Garsington
Peter Wilkinson, Rose Hill
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