Chairpersons Report Val Woodward February 13th 2012

Welcome to Digbeth Residents Associations first AGM since we became a constituted body. An Annual General Meeting is a chance for everyone interested to review the year and find out what the office bearers have been up to, reflecting on whether this has contributed to a collective vision for the organisation. Then to plan next year and choose people as leaders who they believe will carry that vision forward and make sure plans come to fruition. I have now completed a year chairing Digbeth Residents Association. I see this role as primarily acting as a catalyst for collective action to bring about positive change in Digbeth. The leadership role I have adopted has therefore focused primarily on encouraging residents, and others passionate about Digbeth, to engage in a variety of activities that meet the interests of the whole area as well as what motivates them personally to be active. I have made suggested changes to the constitution to reflect this, that I hope will be accepted whether or not I am voted in to remain as chair for another year. Previously, our mission was to represent the views of residents in our area of operation. I have tried to make this more active and bottom up by changing it to: To develop and sustain an active community in Digbeth, democratically working towards ensuring the area is a good place to live. This aims to create a vibrant area based on vibrant people and hopefully building a healthier local democracy. Outcomes based on building the strength of local people is what really interests me, although more concrete, visible projects form a crucial part of that. People and spaces interact making GOOD PLACES. I am therefore particularly interested in recent ideas for Community Improvement Districts to complement Business Improvement Districts. The Government has acknowledged that there are no clear blueprints to show communities how to take more control of the spaces they live in. However, existing legislation1 makes it clear that residents must be at the forefront of development, not business alone, and that active communities should be the heart of our society. We are therefore willing to explore all current ideas such as the Community First Panel that has been set up primarily to allow communities themselves to decide how local resources and funds should be used. Digbeth has a fledgling community, living in an area that needs a denser and more settled population before it can really take hold of such concepts. We currently do not have the full capacity to take control in the way we would like but we are getting there. More people living here, and a better environment and atmosphere, should make the area more attractive to potential customers for local enterprises. Likewise, a busier environment with people using local shops, restaurants and cultural facilities will make Digbeth an even more attractive place to live. Hopefully residents will establish roots in the area, no longer seeing it as a transient place to live, and more people will become enthusiastic and active members of Digbeth Residents Association. Pam and I reflect DRAs strengths and limitations. Both Pam and I moved to Digbeth fairly recently, i.e. within the past 5 years. Years of neglect meant there were few people living in the area before the new flats were built, attracting us and others. Particularly because of the proximity to the city centre environment, but just outside the corporate styled city centre itself. Digbeth offered a unique blend of mixed uses, with small scale commercial and entertainment premises creating a vibrant, diverse area.
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s61F(7)(a)(i) of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990

Pam and I love Digbeth. I left Birmingham when I was 18 and was away a long time, never thinking Id want to come back. I now have no desire to move away again. I love it here, despite the problems associated with the newly developed flats and the unmet promises about improving the built environment of the local area. I particularly love the happening nature of the world I live in, with far too many things I want to do each and every day those things being diverse, and often excitingly new. Digbeth is an area of residents plus wonderful small enterprises and cultural groups. In recognition of this, DRA has been working in a way that pulls us to work together. However, the recent closure of the knitting shop and its relocation to Covent Garden, for example, is a tragedy for Digbeth. That sort of specialist, attractive small business is just what helps create a positive Digbeth. On the other hand, during the past year there have been a couple of local convenience stores opened and cash machines provided both crucial facilities for the busy residents of Digbeth. One of those entrepreneurs has become an active member of Digbeth Residents Association, which is extremely welcome. Over the past year, Pam and I have been busily encouraging others to take on various roles although we but did start by doing too much ourselves. There is also a tendency for those we liaise with, to presume the committee, but especially Pam and I, are employed to work for Digbeth Residents Association and are available during the day, and at all other times too. My favourite response to an urgent request on my mobile phone, was to state, honestly, that I was currently on top of Glencoe Mountain and therefore could not immediately deal with this issue. But this is a limitation for all civil and civic activity as the Government is slowly realising. Francis Maude recently wrote about how there is a need to realistically consider how people at the grassroots can carry out what is essentially professional work. Community capacity is provided by the members and each month it becomes more and more obvious what hidden potential there is in Digbeth. Members are enthusiastically offering to carry out roles, and developing those roles. For a group that has only been constituted for a year, I feel we have made sterling headway developing our potential to take more control over local developments. We have, I feel, successfully fostered a local sense of community bringing together various and diverse interests and members. We have an active committee that now meets every two months, building on the specific interests and expertise of volunteer members. Sadly, we lost Carl who was so knowledgeable and enthusiastic about all things to do with planning. He and Nicky have gone to Cardiff. Nicky was so brilliant promoting community activities through social media and getting the rest of us to join in. We miss both of them badly and sincerely thank them for everything they did. I believe in community power, and have done for a long time despite any cynicism about the myriad of Government inspired policy changes. I am aware most people are more cynical than me, but also that many others in Digbeth share my enthusiasm plus knowledge and understanding about everything involved. We have therefore already planned a discussion about community power for our April meeting, with March and May being more action orientated committee meetings, and June looking at our on-going commitment to greening spaces, trying to get the Bordesley Viaduct re-used and generally turning our visioning exercise into reality. We have speakers lined up, ready and eager to encourage discussion on these dates. Hopefully this is a further sign of how vibrant Digbeth is how vibrant others see us as being. As Chair I realise the importance of publicity and dissemination about our activities and have recently spoken on the radio and appeared on TV. And along with Michael, who has offered to be Communications Officer if we vote him in, and Pam, I am developing my social media skills, trying to ensure Nickys legacy lives on. A year ago, when I was persuaded to become 2

the chair of DRA, we talked about the need to fundraise for and be active about the Bordesley Viaduct; Green Spaces and turning our visioning exercise into reality. I think thats what we have done as a large and fairly loose collective of committed activists or potential activists. At the beginning of the year we had to depend on supporting organisations to help us pay for a room to meet in. Now we have donations in kind, with a free room from the Custard factory and a very recent deluge of funding. Its a shame we have to spend it so quickly when we applied for much of it a year ago, but now we really can claim to have some capacity to act that we are constantly expanding. Weve suggested changes to the constitution that I hope you will approve as we become clearer about what we are doing. The existing constitution allowed us to change the constitution itself, and office bearers at any monthly meeting, but the suggested new constitution states that we should seek approval for such changes at an AGM. We are bringing our suggested changes to you tonight. Setting up a committee is an attempt to try and separate to some extent getting things done and encouraging democracy through deliberation and learning through collective action. I hope you will all join in further developing our vision statement both for DRA and Digbeth and ensure we engage in truly collective and democratic activities. Although the Chair has a leadership role, to me leadership should be from the bottom up, leading lots of people to be more willing and committed to community action to bring about positive change. I hope you recognise that this is what I have been trying to do over the last year. I have decided to stand again, despite the frequent questions to myself about why on earth am I doing this devoting far too much time and energy to an unpaid position, when I should be finding ways to earn money. But I love it, most of the time, and I do think weve done some great things already, that need to be consolidated over the next year. I really do believe in the value of community based activities and how much this improves society generally, not just the local area the action happens within. Thanks to everyone for giving me the chance to be such an active part of Digbeth Residents Association over the past year.