This could as appropriately have been called the ‘wisdom’ of community consultation.

What we want to share is how we experienced the process in the early 1980s of the community meetings in the Hall discussing whether or not to buy the Caravan Park.

At that time the Foundation’s finances were dangerously into the red and the idea that, by owning the place, we’d be paying ground rent to ourselves made it an excellent business proposition. Except that it would require fundraising a vast sum of money.

You know what decision we reached.

And to get there we held numerous meetings in the Hall over many hours, yet the resulting unanimity – if not 100% we reached almost 99% consensus – gave us strength going forwards that was an essential, solid baseline.

The image above shows the Christmas decorations which Amanda embroidered during countless hours of community meetings. It just goes to show that community consultation can be productive in many different ways!

Such expressions as ‘the three Ps’ (Patience, Persistence and Perseverance) and ‘It takes the time it takes’, proved their worth. There were moments of tedium, hilarity, powerful emotion, disagreement even downright chaos, the tempo being maintained by stopping verbal discussions to go within and allow silence to carry us above and beyond any stickiness.

Because a few among us voice doubts and impatience about the value of community consultation in 2023, we just wish to emphasise that it might take us down many long and winding roads, but it is vital for our collective integrity to go for it. You could maybe regard it as a prime opportunity to practise the 3 Ps?!

So fasten your seatbelt and have faith that we will get there in the end. Because we will. Inshallah and with the help of our Angel of Support (Our Community Angel for the Year).

Amanda Haworth and Leona Graham-Elen