Citizens’ Assembly

It seems it’s going to cost millions to decarbonise Horsham District Council even though this will affect only a small percent of local emissions. The rest is up to businesses and to us as residents.

I’m delighted that HDC Councillor James Wright and his colleagues acknowledge that we are now facing a climate catastrophe, but does their Climate Action Plan reflect the gravity of the situation?

HDC’s Group for the Environment & Rural Affairs recently noted that the single most dangerous thing facing us after half a century of expert information and quarter of a century of COP worldwide climate conferences, is, sadly and shockingly, lack of public engagement.

As one councillor has put it, “We need to make every effort to engage as many residents as possible, because that’s the only way we’re going to make a difference.”

How best to do this is the question. The HDC Cabinet response, outlined at their meeting this week, is to engage experts for £70 thousand to provide a solution. The opposition preference is to hold a Citizens’ Assembly, (rather like having a jury, but with a larger team), though this is estimated to cost a further £90 thousand.

In the current year, the Conservative-led council has allocated £250 thousand for the skatepark, £200 thousand for year of culture legacy and other events with an additional £120 thousand for the Forum fountains. (A total of £570,000 – over half a million pounds).

As Lib Dem Councillor Martin Boffey wisely commented, this is the single biggest existential threat to the planet, and the main objective is to get the public to enact change, yet Conservative Cabinet are saying, “We’d rather save £90 thousand and it will be quicker too.”

We residents need to know and feel it’s our issue - that our opinions matter, like with the Jubilee and with COVID - we can be directly involved, capable, responsible enough to make plans and choices, respected, listened to and trusted to make good decisions for the benefit of the wider community.

A lack of consultation was one of the main gripes which inflamed the long-running Rookwood debacle. I often heard, “The council just do what they want, whatever we say. There’s no point in getting involved”, and it was a promise of honest, open consultation which was one of the things that helped to bring about a conclusion.

So, instead of commissioning ‘experts’ (who may or may not be aware of any desired outcomes from their paymasters) we, as the people who will be living with the consequences, are consulted; and when a genuine two-way process of exchange of knowledge and experience takes place, then growth for all is possible.

We know that grandparents can learn so much from their children and grandchildren. Good teachers will always be learning through the experiences of their students. None of us knows it all. We can learn, teach, share, and disseminate far, far more from a Citizens’ Assembly than will ever be achieved by more posters and web pages created by experts.

It’s like expecting children to learn only by being told and by reading (input), without discussion or writing or explanations or actions (output). It’s merely cerebral, factual learning, not visceral, life-changing learning, which is exactly what we must have now.

We are all the experts on our own personal experiences, and we know that diversity of species, opinions, biology and skills, makes for resilient communities, adaptable to circumstances.

And we are all going to need to be resilient to prepare for the coming decade as the climate crisis worsens.

Flooding alongside lack of water, electricity, fuel, and food are already affecting us here in Sussex.

Trying to save £90 thousand is akin to not putting that last nail into the horseshoe. ‘…for the want of a nail, the war was lost’.

We can’t afford a Citizens’ Assembly?

We can’t afford not to have one.

We have had half a century of experts telling us very clearly what to do and things are only continuing to escalate beyond any human’s control.

Let’s use our democracy for its intended purpose so people feel they have a voice which is valued and heard. The alternative is unthinkable.

As residents we are all invited to write to our councillors to share our opinions and also to attend the meeting at Park House on 22 June at 6pm, where this and other matters are due to be discussed.

Morag Warrack Hamilton Road Horsham