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Dear Stephen,A number of us who are regulars on the Hammersmith community neighbournet website are concerned about the lack of activity on the Forum (see hyperlink below). On Friday at 14:36 one of our members checked and there were 178 people connected to the ChiswickW4 website (see hyperlink below) ; with only 7 connected to the Hammersmith site.One would expect peak activity at this stage - especially among bored office workers like myself! Whilst the demographics may in part explain a difference, this can't be certainly the full story. It is unclear why so few people use it. The Chiswick forum is a model of excellence. In fact many of us from Hammersmith use the Chiswick forum. The police and councillors use the forum on a regular basis (Indeed, Councillor Adrian Lee is a prolific contributor to the site – I have copied Councillor Lee in). It espouses the values, which the Conservative party nationally wants to promote. A vibrant forum can offer a number of benefits to the community:an effective space for advise / recommendations on services such as tradesmen, etcCould be used as a sounding board for political representatives on new proposalsProvide information on the local areaCould assist in crime prevention. Both victims of crime and the police use the Chiswick ForumSocial networking – assists in getting people together for football, softball etc, social events etc. Assist local historians. Creates a sense of communityStimulate intellectual debate on current issues - allowing people to get issues 'off their chest', rather than having to participate in more national / global forums.Help increase the stock of social capital in the area. (Robert Putnam the American Public Policy expert has said – ‘that social capital has plummeted, impoverishing our lives and communities’. Putnam drew on evidence including nearly 500,000 interviews in the US over the last quarter century to show that we sign fewer petitions, belong to fewer organizations that meet, know our neighbors less, meet with friends less frequently, and even socialize with our families less) Help lonely hearts - the Chiswick site even organises dating evenings!I think there is a lot of merit in the council promoting the use of the Forum, perhaps through the Council’s newspaper or maybe there could be a hyperlink on the Borough site. Maybe councillors and police could also potentially use the forum. This would help generate more traffic and encourage people who are registered to use it more. (http://www.hammersmithtoday.co.uk/default.asp?section=community&link=http://nnet-server.com/server/app/forum/default.asp?site=7) (http://www.chiswickw4.com/default.asp?section=community&link=http://nnet-server.com/server/app/forum/default.asp?site=1I suggest we have a brief meeting to discuss further. Perhaps Cllr. Lee could attend to explain to us the benefits of the Chiswick Forum (virtual Cafes from Chiswick of old come to mind!). Kind Regard
John Kennedy ● 7072d4 Comments