Below is a reply to an article I read on regeneration web site called New Start. Web page address:  http://www.newstartmag.co.uk/just.html

Reply:

My name is Mike Lane and my, what you may see as emotive, web site is www.whistleblower.nstemp.com I agree with you when it comes to paying community activists. It says in the Bible, a labourer is worthy of his pay. Activists who live in poor run down communities that have been earmarked for regeneration get nothing but hassle from the regeneration administrators.

I live in the Liverpool Kensington £62m New Deal community and I have been totally excluded from participating because I don't agree with the community participation methodology that is advocated by the regeneration administrators, who are headed by the £57,000 per year chief exec Stephen Boyle.

I personally know two of the NDC board members, who live in the NDC community. Only a couple of weeks ago single parent Karen F an RSL tenant, resigned form the NDC board claiming, amongst many things, that the initiative was not being run by the community but by the NDC administrators, the city council, Riverside Housing (who do not have one tenant rep on their main board) and many other outside vested interests.

Then there is the homeowner Norma W, who tended most board meetings even when she was recovering from cancer. Both of these well respected and well meaning board members, even though they may claim to the contrary, are and in Karen's case were, tired weary and highly stressed with all the different meetings they had to attend. The worst thing is, important issues were being made behind their backs by the regeneration administrators without them knowing. Most of the secret decisions are made under the guise of commercial confidentiality, a phrase which is common place and commonly used amongst ruthless seniour council officers and regeneration administrators, especially when it comes to keeping the community in the dark. All Kensington NDC board meetings are closed for observation by the community.

Most, if not all of the present ten community elected board members, (the ten elected community board members are outnumbered by the paid professional service providers by, at least, two) even the two I have mentioned, actively, and in some cases unknowingly, participate in their own subjugation and manipulation by the administrators, seemingly oblivious to the fact that they are being manipulated

The Liverpool people you talk about in your article about remuneration, such as Graham Bell, who is undoubtedly a decent well meaning person, are what we the excluded call the same old faces, safe moderates who always go along with the regeneration administrators and the community outreach agencies. They never do anything radical to change the present state of affairs and they never stand aside to let other people in.

Take a look at this article I recently posted onto an independent media source called Indymedia UK about the madness of regeneration on Merseyside. See how all the property developers have got their snouts in the regeneration trough. Web page:

 http://uk.indymedia.org:8081/front.php3?article_id=71508&group=webcast

I do hope that you will give me some feed back, but I will not count on it. This is the sad thing about regeneration, the people who are involved in it are mostly careerists. People who claim to care about the community but stand by and do nothing when they know that predominantly middle class council officers and ruthless regeneration administrators are manipulating and oppressing poor working class communities. Both of the latter mentioned set procedures into place in their regeneration agencies which are an antithesis to open democratic procedure and which are designed to suit their agenda, not the hopes and aspirations of the wider community.

Is there a better way of doing thing? Of course there is. The problem is, people who work in regeneration have been trained in forms of participation methodology that suits the agenda of the dominant culture at business and local government level. These outreach workers know no other way. The community outreach workers sincerely believe that what they are doing is the correct way. A classical example of being brainwashed into thinking that which is wrong is right. These outreach workers do not contribute to the empowerment of poor working class communities, like overseers, they actively and unknowingly stem community empowerment.

Take a look at my web site and scroll down to: "Draft constitution for a society of open democratic neighbourhoods." Similar methodology to this is already being practiced in places like Denmark. If we want empowered communities we must alter the control culture of local councils and the way in which outreach workers are trained.

People who work in regeneration, especially community members, should realise that being a critical friend of regeneration agencies and local government is simply not good enough. The irrefutable fact is, community participation and empowerment is non-existent in the UK and this fact should be trumpeted from the highest places.

All the best Mike lane