Stranraer has been awarded funding for Citizen Space – an easy way to shape the Place Plan going forward.
Over the last 4 months, as we’ve been talking to locals about the Place Plan, we’ve listened to issues. One recurring theme has been that local democracy is broken.
PAIN POINT
- Ease of access: “I don’t want to come to a meeting, can’t we do it online”
- Over-consultation: “they’re tripping over each other to get to our young folk”
- Consultation fatigue: “you asked us 10 years ago, 5 years ago, 2 years ago. Nothing’s changed”
- Over- and under-representation: “confident, articulate, educated dominate” “there are a lot of egos involved” “I’ve got 3 jobs and a wee one… I don’t have time for an evening meetings”
- Fractured communities: “local groups are at war”
- Toxic democracy: “he was shamefully bullied out of the Chair”
SOLUTION
Citizen Space is a digital democracy platform. Our goal is to trial different ways engaging online on this website… one portal for all the Place Plan partners.
We’ll pilot it and see how it works, so feedback welcome (online soon!).