I was interviewed by a national paper five years ago, in regards to why I write the Barnet Eye blog. As often happens, the quotes they attributed to me were the ones I felt least important. One question they asked and did not publish was "what do you hope to achieve?". Well I've had four years to think about it. Here are the answers!
I have four political goals and one person goal for the blog. The four political goals are as follows.
1. To Persuade the councillors running Barnet Council that they can run a better organisation if they listen to local people.
2. To persuade the councillors running Barnet Council that they will be better able to do their job if they do their homework and read the background paperwork.
3. To persuade the people of Barnet that they need to make their voices heard.
4. To make sure the people of Barnet value the fantastic things our Borough has to offer, so we don't easily give them up, when vested interests wave cash or use influence to try and take them away.
The personal goal is as follows.
1. To write an entertaining and informative blog, that I personally can be proud of.
Now of course, a blogger cannot change anything, a blogger can only write a blog and hope that other people connect with it, enough to do something about the points raised. This blog has a track record of extraordinary success in doing this. One of the things which historically has been a strength is the guest blogs we publish. These always reach a wide audience. I have some excellent ones coming up, so watch this sI also produced two films (
A Tale of Two Barnets and
Barnet - The Billion Pound Gamble) both of which gained national TV coverage and both packed the Phoenix cinema. I am starting work on a new project,to coincide with our tenth anniversary next year. This will catalog ten years of Barnet blogging. This film will be rather different to the last two. They were made for a specific goal, in a campaign. The new film will be a different beast, a far more thoughtful and less polemic film.
I really want to show more of what is good in Barnet. It would be great to get some proper interviews with the local politicians, but I really don't think most really 'get' what the blog is about. However most of it wont be about politics, most will simply be about what a great place we've got and the people who make it so good. That is the plan, it should be done by next May!
Here's a just few things I'd like to feature, although this will no doubt change as the project evolves.
Saracens, the best rugby club in Europe and a huge asset.
Mill Hill Music Complex, North West Londons leading music studios.
The University of London Observatory.
The Chandos Arms, Colindale, finalist for UK community pub of the year.
Thameslink and The Northern Line
Barnet museum and The RAF museum
The Arts Depot
The Bull Theatre
St Paul's Church and the Wilberforce legacy
I'd also like to look back on a few changes.
The closure of Church Farmhouse museum
Parking Issues
The Railway hotel in Edgware
Redevelopments in Colindale and Brent Cross
The Torrington
And finally, a look at various subcultures in our midst. Sound good?
