Strong communities can’t do everything but don’t get in the way of them doing what they can do

Interesting and perhaps challenging thoughts from Cormac Russell below. Is it a license for councils to walk away? Perhaps it is, but only to do something of a greater benefit, rather than just to simply cut.

Frighteningly, if ‘walking away’ isn’t preceded with, and associated with letting go of reins it’ll be disastrous.

Trafford is showing how not to do it, by withdrawing it’s services and exerting total control over what the community does in it’s place:

• Park groups are being told what they can plant and where to plant them.
• The council are selecting and choosing its ambassadors from the communities to sit on partnerships. 

And it’s not just the Council – the same dynamic applies to health and housing, even voluntary sector professionals – and therein lies the dilemma;  it’s often a fight for survival.