MrNoBodyUK :
I would strongly welcome and encourage the Council to consider holding regular public borough open forum evenings, perhaps once a month or once every three months, subject to a feasibility study.
Local residents could be invited to an open forum at the iconic Dockside, where people can raise local concerns, hear updates directly from the Council and, most importantly, feel that they are genuinely part of shaping the borough they live in.
I often think back to the sense of community that existed in the past, waking up in the morning and finding fresh pints of milk in glass bottles outside the front door, knowing your neighbours and feeling part of something local. In my view, much of that sense of community has been lost.
Newham has an opportunity to reignite some of that traditional community spirit by building a borough that residents feel part of and are proud of, rather than one shaped mainly through spreadsheets, financial budgets, bidding exercises and contracts which too often do not deliver what communities actually need.
You will never be able to please everyone. However, if everyone has a genuine opportunity to be heard, there is far more scope for mutual understanding, compromise and better decision making.
Every community started somewhere. The first home, the first street, the first neighbourhood, the first school and the first local gathering place. Perhaps we need to return to those roots of unity and community building.
Let us make Newham somewhere people genuinely want to live, work and play, not simply because those words appear as a motto on a signboard, but because residents can actually feel it in the place they call home.
2026-09-05 00:38:20