First AGM of Civic Voice - TrustNews Dec 10
Following the demise of the Civic Trust we have been an enthusiastic supporter of the formation of a new national body to represent all civic societies and promote them and their concerns nationally. To help with this, the Trust provided financial support at an early stage. The new body was launched with the name of Civic Voice in London earlier this year and in October the first annual meeting was held in Peterborough over two days which I attended on behalf of the Trust. It was good to see nearly 200 people present, representing about 40 different civic societies. In the 6 months from the launch of Civic Voice 258 societies have joined with a total membership of 68,000.
Tony Burton, the director recruited from the National Trust, gave an impressive account of the work he and Ian Knight, the only other paid member of staff, have been doing promoting the civic movement through the media and with government ministers and raising the profile of issues like the street pride campaign for the removal of scruffy signs and street clutter.
The next big event which Civic Voice will be promoting is Civic Day on Saturday 25th June when all civic societies will be encouraged to take part and the Trust will soon be considering what we should be doing in Winchester. Presentations were made at the meeting on possible subjects for the day which would help in promoting civic pride among residents: in particular the need to save favourite but unprotected buildings, trees and the removal of street clutter.
Other subjects covered during the meeting included English Heritage’s commemorative plaques on buildings, and actions taken by some societies to increase their membership.
It was interesting to learn about the very different experience of Peterborough since World War II following its designation as a ‘New Town’ in the 1960s. Its population subsequently doubled to 170,000 and 4 new self-sufficient well-planned townships were created; and we learned how they avoided over- reliance on the car for transport in to the centre.