One of North East Lincolnshire’s youngest green campaigners was among a host of residents who took the opportunity to catch up with leading councillors about issues affecting the areas.
The council’s Cabinet held a Listening Event at the end of February, the second of its kind in our area. The event – dubbed It’s Good To Talk – proved hugely successful with an impressive turnout from local residents. It is aimed at giving residents of Grimsby, Cleethorpes, Immingham and the outlying villages a chance to speak to Council decision makers about issues that are important to them.
More than 50 people attended the drop-in event to discuss ideas and issues. One of those to attend was nine-year-old Evie Rose. She and her friends last year made the news after making some posters to warn people against littering. The council then contacted the youngsters to arrange for her posters to be put up around the area.
At the event, she met council leader Philip Jackson (pictured) and spoke about some of her ideas for making the area a cleaner, brighter place. Afterwards, Evie Rose said: “I was really nervous about meeting the councillor but he was really nice. He asked me about my ideas to stop people littering and improve our parks.”
Councillor Jackson said: “It was a pleasure to meet Evie Rose and find out about the hard work her and others at her school are doing to make the area cleaner. She also wanted to know what part the council will be playing and I was able to explain the improvements planned for waste and recycling collections later this year which will make recycling easier and should increase recycling rates. I’m thrilled that young people care enough about their area to come up with ideas on how to improve it and tackle some of the issues we face.
“The listening event was intended to give everyone a chance to speak to the people that make the decisions but also a chance for the council’s Cabinet members to listen to residents ideas. We have a lot of really passionate and creative people in our borough and this event was about showing that people can approach us, we do listen and we will take ideas and feedback on board.”
Article and photo from NELC.
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