Support for community council grows

The idea came about after the coalition government announced it would cut funds for local area renewal partnerships including the Queen's Park Forum.

The forum was set up to improve and regenerate Queen's Park and bring a sense of community spirit to the area, but funding will come to an end in just two months' time.

Forum chairman Angela Singhate believes the work carried out by the forum is not yet complete and has urged people to support the launch of a community council.

She said: "A community council is a viable option to sustain community involvement.

"We don't want to be forgotten.

"As a resident, I have chaired the forum since it started up and I've seen the value of the work first hand.

"It may not be tangible but there an underlying positivity about what the forum has brought to the area.

"For a number of years Queen's Park was neglected but since the forum started, there have been some changes.

"If the neighbourhood forums go, then you don't have that central force pulling everyone together.

"You risk losing the work that the forum does."

To set up a community council, the campaign needs to raise 800 signatures from Queen's Park residents on the electoral roll.

This would then go to Westminster Council to decide whether to give the scheme the go-ahead.

The scheme would be funded by a small precept added to council tax bills, although regeneration charity Paddington Development Trust, which ran the Queen's Park Forum, has already raised £120,000 if the bid is successful.

A community council is the lowest tier of local government, formed of councillors who are unpaid volunteers drawn from the local community with responsibility for helping shape services in the area without overlapping on the role of Westminster Council.