There will be an Open Space follow-up event on Saturday 8 August 11.00am-1.00pm at Wester Hailes Library. As part of our coverage of the event we are outlining the action points, what was discussed at the Open Space event and if there have been any developments since.
The 8th August event will focus on creating plans for three of the action points discussed at the Open Space event these are:
- Making Wester Hailes safer for the community
- Making the community better together
- Tackling legal highs
The final action point we will look at is making the community better together
This was an important action point behind the organisation of the original Open Space event. The main priority of the Open Space event was the community getting together to raise the issues they felt were important then working to make things better together.
There were several discussion during the event which built upon this however, these included:
- One topic that was repeatedly discussed was the decline in number of community events since the Representative Council shut. Many people said they would love to see the return of community trips and events like barbeques or even litter picking, with some suggesting that these would be an excellent way to get young people to care about their community.
- Another topic discussed was the need for more involvement of left out groups like ethnic minority communities and young people as they sometimes have a feeling of being out of the loop when it comes to events and the organisation of things. The importance of groups who could translate promotional information was mentioned.
There was several suggestions of actions which could be taken to involve more people and what changes were important to the community. These included involving families and young people with events like litter picking, encouraging people to attend community events and sharing contact details so people could be kept informed. It was suggested that a follow-up Open Space event should take place and that the Digital Sentinel keep people informed of any progress made.
Much has been done since the original Open Space event in April. The follow-up event has been organised, to make sure action continues and people are involved and informed of any developments.
There has been several community events which have tried to reach out to as many local people as possible including the Community Connections Festival, there has been several community films made which have highlighted some of the great work that goes on in the area. There is also currently a consultation taking place in the Healthy Living Centre asking the community for their ideas in the creation of a mural to decorate the new Harvester Link when it is completed.
The Community Council has continued to meet and discuss some of the community’s key issues, acting as a forum for local people. They are open to anyone from Wester Hailes and would welcome people to come along and highlight any problems they might be having.
We look forward to hearing what is discussed at the follow-up event on Saturday 8 August to see what actions the community agrees on to make Wester Hailes better for everyone.