Dear Councilor

I am taking this opportunity in contacting you as the Chairman of the Ingol Community Association and Ingol resident to urge you to spend a few minutes of you valuable time to read the attachment to this email.

It has been brought to my attention that the Communities Review Pane has voted to recommend that the PCC do not go ahead with a Neighbourhood Council for Ingol. I can understand the reasoning behind this on the basis of such a low response, however if you have read my attachment (if you have not already read it now will be a good time to do so) you will have got a picture in your mind of a Neighbourhood that was plagued with serious problems.

That was a number of years ago, if I had to make a speech on the area now it would bear no resemblance as Ingol has moved on and improved beyond recognition through involvement from service providers and much local input from many hard working residents committed to making Ingol a better place to live.

Over the next few years Ingol will be expanding with new housing in the pipe line making the area a more vibrant place, so it is important that Ingol has the resources to carry on, however small, its ever improving environment, to do this we need a well established committee that can help with a small amount of funding which would help continue the progress that we have seen over the years.

We see a real need for a Neighbourhood Council to continue the excellent work that has been done by the PCC Neighbourhood Management Team who worked tirelessly for the benefit of all residents in Ingol.

Unfortunately the work carried out by MN has never been conveyed to the residents, if this had been done there would have been a better response to the survey, however the hard working team of local residents who have been involved which without their involvement we would not have had the improvements in Ingol and would not have reached the heights they have, this dedicated team understand that it is essential the Neighbourhood Council is the way forward in ensuring Ingol continues to make small but significant improvements.

I urge you to help Ingol to continue its improvements by doing anything you can to persuade the Preston City Council this coming Thursday at the next meeting to give the local team of inspired residents either more time to go back to the residents urging them to respond or better still to make the decision to go ahead with the next stage in forming the NC for Ingol.

To reject the scheme out of hand would be a huge step back for Ingol and would be detrimental to the progress that we need to see in making ‘Ingol a better place to live’.

The Ingol Community Association has always called for the majority to take the vote but on this occasion because local residents do not have a full understanding of all the background to what has helped Ingol improve, some time big decisions need to be taken which might not have the full backing of a community, this is one of them, so we  the Ingol Community Association are looking for PCC to give a resounding yes to the Neighbourhood Council and the benefits it will bring to all of the areas residents.

Please do not let Ingol down, I urge you to do all you can to get this scheme accepted?

Bill McGrath
Ingol Community Association and resident of Ingol

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Bills Speech August 2004

Regain the streets

We decided that we would not look for individual culprits who where responsible for the demise of the estate, but problems we had at the time had been allowed to build up over many years and was virtually out of hand. I am sorry that I have had to take this line but I felt that 'things had to be said'. Once I had got this of my chest I category stated that this will be the last time the past will be mentioned. We took this positive position and made the decision only to look towards a partnership to enable for us to move forward.

Stop the rot

It is well known that through out the ages and history of man, humans have been responsible for destroying many natural wonders that this world contains, by introducing measures that would if the world was perfect could active the ultimate in perfect living.
The one element that these supposed progressive modernisers have failed to take into consideration is human nature itself. During the past 40 years the measures that have been taken which we are told would be for the good of all and improve our lives so much so that if we would introduce these modern methods we would all be living in utopia.

What we needed to do was to have a system

It's some where near 40 years ago that this estate was constructed on an area of green belt. The politicians said this is just what the people of Preston needed. Wonders' the estate in the beginning was almost like utopia to those early residents, if you happened to be one of those lucky ones who had been fortunate enough to be allocated a house or flat you were envied by your friends and relations.

It was only a few weeks ago I was told by one of these early settlers that on his first application for a house he was declined because 'he did not earn enough'. How times have changed! Those so called progressive modernisers who have domineered and changed the lives of the simple hard working class people who now reside on the estate.

This once fine estate has been declining for years, when I arrived 20 years ago the small closes although in decline from its hey days of years gone by, where clean and tidy, the grass verges trim in appearance the garden walls believe it or not were all standing.
How the time have changes.

You can walk around the closes and estate in general and your heart goes out to those hard working people who have put all their energy into their homes and gardens. The problems for this estate and many other similar estates, started many years ago, when these so called modernisers and a class of people who would now be called do-gooders decided that they knew best and proceeded to change society for good.

Who would benefit from these changes, everyone we were told, it will end poverty there would be no more homeless people, wonderful I could only agree with these ideals. The one thing that these modernisers never took into consideration was human nature itself. Yes it did indeed take away poverty, certainly as we older ones used to know it, but it created a class of people who have no concept of what living together as a community is.

On this estate we have a minority of antisocial people with the attitude that this world owes them a living, with no intention of working, why' because they can live off the state, why' because the state allows them to. These antisocial people create turmoil on the streets with their anti social behaviour, so much so that of all the questionnaires that we received back 98% of people stated that they were afraid to venture out in the dark.

This minority's behaviour is now spiraling out of control, so much so the minority if forcing the majority to withdraw into a world of intimidation only daring to wander the streets in daylight. This is not a figment of my imagination but this fact is made clear from the answers we received from the questionnaire that we sent out.

It would appear that on this estate like so many other estates within the City of Preston the streets have been taken over by a small minority of youths who seem to think they can harass and intimidate all and sundry. These youths and children have got away with their disgraceful behaviour for many years, so much so it has now become their norm. It has gone on for so long that the younger children seeing these youths getting away with intimidating people are starting to believe this is the normal way that a child should behave.

Let me make one thing absolutely clear, not all the youths or children on the estate take the lead of these antisocial youths. The great majorities are well behaved and are closely supervised by their parents, those youths and children that I refer to are in the minority, perhaps some one could tell me what on earth are the parents of these youths are thinking of, do they not care? These parents must be persuaded to take an active part in ridding the estate of this scourge. This behaviour is no longer acceptable, not on this estate; we must get ride of this disease that is plaguing us.

You can see drugs openly traded on street corners we, many of us can name the houses that drugs are used and traded, if you walk round the estate you will see cannabis being openly smoked.

Let me say that a great majority of people have come to live on the estate and have made fine excellent friendly neighbours I do not speak of these people because they are as affected by the antisocial minority as the rest of us. Like the long-term residents, this estate must disillusion them.

For a long time it has and still is the policy of the City Council to place a known troublemaker within a settled community.
 
Probably this could have been successful and perhaps it was, and so encouraged by early success these modernists got over excited and introduced more and more, even throwing in the odd criminal to be reformed. The problems was these modernists so taken up with early successes didn't know when to stop, low and behold all of a sudden the balance of the estate has gone over to the antisocial element who by now think that they can behave and do any thing that they want.

The reasoning behind this is that they believe by taking this drastic action these people will mend their ways and become reformed friendly neighbours, what a load of rubbish. Some one should tell them about the one bad apple. If the City Council needs to be convinced that this policy does not work they need to get out and about and speak to the huge majority of law-abiding citizens on this estate. My message to the City Council is that your policy is not working, the residents of this estate reject it, as out of hand, you need to rethink, and we will no longer accept your mismanagement of this estate
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When the residents complained to the modernists at the housing department and to the police that they were not very happy at the way this Antisocial Element had taken over the estate they were met with a less than satisfactory answer.

All the stock answers all came out the smell of 'B*******' was overwhelming so much less than honest answers where given the people in authority started to believe in there own untruths and so the untruths became the norm.
I firmly believe that the City Council have had the power to end the misery of the majority of the people living on the estate, all that was lacking was the will and good management skills. The power of the Council is contained in the tenant's agreement, I won't go into details but I have placed abstracts from certain paragraphs on display for you to study. When I walk around the estate I find it incredible that certain elements within the community are still in a council property because they have broken just about every rule in their tenancy agreement with the City Council.

As for the Police they do not come out much better than the Housing Department, only recently I saw a police car on patrol drive past 4 youngster's openly smoking cannabis on Barry Avenue.

We recently had a letter sent out to a small area on the estate from the police stating and quoting the law on Football in the street. This letter stated that if certain people who had been warned about their behaviour and ignoring the police warning that they would face prosecution. Since this letter was sent out I have seen the police patrols having to drive round these people in the middle of the road who still carry on playing football even after the warnings. What is the point of saying you are going to do something if you don't do it? You lose all creditability. The police have lost credibility.

This estate has been taken over by the Anti Social Element and this needs to be tackled with vigor so we can have peace of mind and the freedom to walk our streets once again without intimidation or harassment.

It may seem all doom and gloom but there is a glimmer of hope on the horizon. I can assure all of you that both the police and City Council have realised that we need help, both parties have indicated that they will be putting in resources that will help restore the estate and make it a better and safer place to live.

Believe you me, this is no mean task and they cannot hope to do it by themselves, they need our help and support, without that help success is not assured, we as the residents through your committee can help pave the way.

So far al I seem to have spoken about is the scourge of the anti social behaviour, this was voted as the problem that concerned you the most, and the second was the condition of the housing. What a disgrace they all are. I am sure Councilor Abbot with have a few words to encourage you on this subject.

During the course of this meeting you will be called upon to vote in a committee to represent your views to the various authorities. I call upon that committee to pursue a firm and uncompromising policy until the police and council have brought this estate up to the required standards that any decent citizen not only requires but is entitled to in the 21st century. Your committee will have to be diplomatic but forceful in its discussions. I firmly believe that it is imperative that all peoples concerned within these authorities, need to be informed that the residents of this estate require them to do whatever is necessary, to undo all the terrible problems, that they have inflicted on its own tenants and private residents as a matter of the utmost urgency starting not in 3 months or 2 months time but immediately, we need to see improvements now.

I am sorry that I have had to take this line but I felt that 'things had to be said', now I have got this of my chest I can category say that this will be the last time the past will be mentioned. We need to be looking forward to the future and a partnership with all interested parties and with their help and perhaps a little pushing and shoving from us in 12 months time our lives will be that much better.

Once again thank you for all your support.

Bill McGrath