An update on joining the Community Partnership from our Interim Chair Jon Collins.
Jon Collins – Interim Chair
Since the decision to form a Community Partnership was made last month, we have made some progress in recruiting new members, as well as continuing with our local engagement, out in the community.
We’ve had several groups and individuals apply to become members of the Theddlethorpe GDF Community Partnership, and I’m pleased to confirm that we have our first new member. Tammy Smalley, Head of Conservation at the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust has now joined us as the first ‘community’ member from the charity and voluntary sector. Other sectors for membership are local authority and business, and we’re aiming to have an initial membership of between 12 and 15 people.
There have been comments and statements made in recent days, surrounding the membership that are untrue and I would like to correct these to provide a clear picture for those thinking of applying.
To become a member people do not need to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA), and members do not have to be pro GDF. They do however need to be willing to work with others to allow the Community Partnership to develop.
The role of the Partnership is to ensure all voices are heard, and be respectful of the wide range of opinions, provide information to answer the questions people have and make sure the community are given what they need to be able to make an informed decision in future.
The Community Partnership must be reflective of the community and needs to be made up of people from various organisations and groups, who can bring a wealth of different experiences and skills to the table. It doesn’t matter if you’re for, against or undecided, it’s important that your views are heard.
We encourage applications from across the community and after the decision was taken to form, we contacted several organisations who had expressed interest in becoming members of the Partnership, including Guardians of the East Coast (GOTEC), and provided them with application information and explained they were welcome to apply.
We’re looking forward to receiving more applications for membership so if you’re interested in finding out more, or not sure whether to apply, visit our website where you can find an application pack and details of what’s involved. There’s no deadline for applications and we would love to hear from you.
On the road engagement
Last week, our engagement team, along with specialists from Nuclear Waste Services (the GDF developer), were touring local villages and venues to meet local people and discuss a variety of issues. We met with over 100 people over the five days, at 12 locations.
Now the Community Partnership is formed, we’ll be planning a range of activities for the year ahead, including various technical studies and further community engagement. We will keep residents updated through this website and some informative materials will be posted out to local households in the coming weeks.