Happy New Year

By Mandy Coons | Category: Centre News

Published on Sunday 3rd January 2016 at 05:39

Can I on behalf of the New Zealand Community Association wish all our residents a Happy and Prosperous New Year.

There are some big changes coming in the near future, we will be losing our Safer Neighbourhood Team Manager, Ray Gibson, who has worked so hard for us, at the end of March, as the council cuts take more effect. In fact the Council are getting rid of Neighbourhood Boards altogether.

Neighbourhood Boards were a wonderful innovation, which gave local residents the chance to make decisions on how money would be spent in their area, and gave them the chance to make their own priorities for their neighbourhoods, and have a say in local issues.

We understand that the Council has difficult decisions to make in trying to balance its books, but it is a shame that Neighbourhood Boards will be a thing of the past come April.

However, the New Zealand Community Association will do its best to serve the community as we have been doing. We will continue to hold Residents meetings every three months, and pass on concerns to our local Councillors and the local Police team and any other bodies which we feel appropriate.

We will as a community need to pull together even more, if we want to improve things in our own neighbourhood. We will not be able to do this without the help of residents, so please come along to the Residents meetings if you can, get in touch if you have ideas or ways you think you could help the community.

The New Zealand area may have its problems, but it has alot of great residents who already help each other in lots of ways. In the next few years we are going to have to pull together and be resourceful, but we will be able to do this.

The next Residents meeting will be held on Monday 25th January 2016 doors opening at 6.30 for a 7pm start at the Lonny Wilsoncroft Community Centre, Stepping Lane Derby DE1 1GL