Why An Assembly? Why A Community Council?

The plan is pretty simple: we want an open access, open participation Ely Assembly - a people's assembly for Ely in Cardiff. This assembly will be a hub for action for the community - and it will also provide a launchpad for securing the creation of the Ely Community Council.

The Community Council is important because as things stand, Ely doesn't control Ely. Cardiff Council does. And Cardiff Council has done a poor job for many years in this area. There's absolutely no reason whatsoever to let them keep doing so - not with neighbouring St Fagans an obvious indication of exactly what this part of Cardiff stands to gain by standing up for itself.

What Does A Community Council Do?

There are hundreds of community councils across Wales. Some of them act merely in a representative role - but we want more than that for Ely. We think the people of Ely should take back control of:

• maintenance of community halls
• bus shelters
• public spaces
• play grounds

and more from Cardiff County Council. The parks in Ely have been poorly maintained for years - with even works to add new play equipment having been performed shoddily at Mill Road Park, for example. We think local people understand local needs far better.

What Does The Assembly Have To Do With It?

The Assembly comes before the council - and is already formed! The residents of Ely themselves formed the Ely Assembly on Thursday 15th of May in reaction to news that there are plans to build on the Archer Road Recreational Grounds. We put it to residents that forming an assembly, which could then go on to form the community council, would provide them with even better tools to resist that development.

After all, if the Assembly campaigns for the council and successfully creates it, members of the Assembly will, you would think, find it much easier to win seats in the resulting election to that council. And given generally limited interest in standing for community council elections - community councils often have to co-opt members due to a lack of candidates for elections - it should be possible for the Assembly to win control of the council.

With the Assembly leading the council, the people of Ely will be firmly in charge of their own spaces.

We think that's worth fighting for.

So we are.

What Needs To Be Done?

The first steps are already taken: the community has enough interest that they almost certainly have enough people that even a meeting tomorrow would successfully pass the threshold of 50 present, and winning the vote at the meeting in order to request that the council hold the ballot to determine whether Ely gets a community council would be trivial from there. But that's not enough. We need to win the referendum on the community council itself - and to do that, we need to persuade much more of the community.

That means going door to door - holding meetings - and getting people informed day to day with those little conversations: on the bus, in shops, and on the streets.

How Can I Get Involved?

If you're in Ely, just come along to the Rec - we're generally planning on meeting on Thursdays at 5pm. Just look for the big group!

If you're not in Ely but you want to support this effort - watch this space. Options will appear soon.