‘Blog on’ for Local Democracy Week!
“Hi, my name is Alan Farnell and I am the Leader of the Council. Hopefully reading this blog will give you an insight into what it is like to be Leader and what kinds of things it involves…”
So begins a series of ‘blogs’ currently being posted on the Warwickshire County Council website as part of this year’s Local Democracy Campaign.
Councillor Alan Farnell (Conservative – Nuneaton Weddington) is just one of many who are taking the time to ‘blog’ their daily experiences on the site at http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/localdemocracy.
Councillor John Whitehouse (Lib Dem – Kenilworth Abbey) and Councillor Alan Cockburn (Conservative – Kenilworth St. John’s) are also taking part.
For the first time this year, as well as ‘blogs’ from county councillors there will also be weekly ‘blogs’ by Members of Warwickshire’s Youth Parliament and by officers from across the council’s areas of work, including resources, international development, ecology and countryside services, as well as blogs from staff at the council’s Rugby Area Team.
The Local Democracy Campaign aims to get people interested in local politics and the activities of their local council.
The week beginning Monday 15th October is national Local Democracy Week, but Warwickshire County Council’s campaign has been up and running since the start of the month, with local schools debates and ‘political speed dating’ events organised around the county.
Councillor Alan Farnell said: “This year’s Local Democracy Campaign is all about taking part and taking power. It is about getting people to recognise the impact local politics has on their daily lives and encouraging them to get involved.”
Matilda Lomas, one of the Members of the Youth Parliament (MYPs) for Warwickshire who will be blogging her experiences, said: “Young people can’t avoid local politics. Whether they want a skate park in their local park, that’s politics, or cheaper transport for young people, that’s politics.
"It’s really important for young people to get involved in politics as it does come into everything.”
So why not ‘blog on’ to read the ‘blogs’ for yourself?