Residents need to stand together not with politicians!

As my time as Councillor and also not a Councillor I have been involved with many many different times of resident groups. What I like about some of these are the fact that local residents want a direct influence in their local community and want to make a positive contribution.

What is always a bad idea is when local Councillors, MP's and want to be politicians want to get on their committees are infiltrate these kind of group. They was even a leaked document from a labour a few years ago sending a clear message to their supports to infiltrate these kind of groups along with others.

Whilst the residents need the support of their local officials it is always a good idea to keep the two types of people separated for obvious reasons. The residents should run the groups and seek guidance and support from who they deem fit but not get the politicians on the committees as this can lead to disaster. What any candidate or political minded person should do, in my humble opinion, is be honest with the group and maybe say ,"I want to make a positive contribution to the local area as well but I am a political minded person with ties to one party or another." It does not matter which party they belong to so long as they are honest about the motives and that way all can work together in a positive way knowing that there are no hidden agendas.

I have seen a number of residents groups fail because for one reason or another because they have been infiltrated and I hope that all groups now and in the future say non political for their own sake.