Semilong Northampton Has So Much Potential
Semilong Northampton is a neighbourhood that has so much going for it. It is really close to the Northampton town centre so shopping is easy, the bus and train stations are only minutes away, the parks and green spaces are enough to make any urbanite jealous and the people are for the most part friendly and neighbourly with great community spirit. Yes it has everything to make the Semilong Northampton area a really great neighbourhood to live or work in.
Fly-tipping in Semilong Northampton
So what are the neighbourhood’s bad points? Well they include the constant fly-tipping, the litter, the poorly maintained road network with its ever increasing quantity of pot holes, the high crime rate, rampant drug use and the fear of crime or of talking to the Police. All these will be covered in later posts but the problems are real and very tangible in the neighbourhood and they affect the basic quality of life in the community.
Veil Of Secrecy
Many have lived in Semilong Northampton for quite a while, without realising the problems or the effect that it has on them. We have used the phrase before, but it is true that things you see the most often, you can become blind to. We realised this when we looked at litter and fly-tipping in the neighbourhood and saw the extent of the problem and wondered why it was not realised previously. We have also heard from some who have become used to not going out at night in the neighbourhood or who only walk through the neighbourhood with someone else because of the long held fear of crime. But even if the issues are realised, it does not necessarily mean they will be spoken about, nor tackled. This is what we mean by `veil of secrecy`. You might think the phrase is a bit strong and perhaps it is, but it is also accurate.
Speaking about the neighbourhood issues and the SEMILONG.ORG website, a resident after a Semilong Forum meeting once asked us “If you were selling a car, would you tell them about the car’s bad points?” Of course we answered that we would tell the truth including the good and bad points. It is only by bringing issues out into the open and getting them talked about that the issues can be tackled. We do not believe that not talking about the issues will somehow help them to magically disappear. Clearly, there is a mistaken belief though that neighbourhood issues should not be spoken about too loudly as doing so will bring the area down. The reality is the reverse, maintaining the veil of secrecy and not speaking about the issues in the Semilong Northampton area will allow the neighbourhood to remain troubled and on a downward spiral.
Purpose of SEMILONG.ORG
So our purpose is to highlight Semilong Northampton as a neighbourhood which is great to live or work in, but one which has the potential to be even better. We recognise that the neighbourhood has negative issues and we highlight these for the world to see in order that these issues can be tackled. Otherwise and as the last few decades have shown, there is little incentive for local authorities and other organisations to improve service or infrastructure arrangements here in Semilong Northampton.
SEMILONG.ORG already has a website so why also a blog?
SEMILONG.ORG recognises the value of social media. It gives a voice to neighbourhood groups such as ours, to publicise across all demographic boundaries things that matter to the community. Using the various forms of social media to its full extent forces local issues to be highlighted not only to the local population, but nationally and indeed, to the whole world, even when local authorities, such as Northamptonshire County Council and Northampton Borough Council are trying not listen. No organisation or it’s members can have it’s reputation (or brand) diminished for long. So the use of social media can set the agenda for neighbourhood improvement by concentrating minds to deliver service and neighbourhood infrastructure improvements.
SEMILONG.ORG are already on the web at semilong.org, Flickr, YouTube, and Twitter. So this blog site is the next logical step and will enable us to post articles easier than ever before, even whilst we are out and about in the neighbourhood or whilst at meetings from our mobile phones. This enables us to get news and information to our readers faster and more effortlessly.
In addition, because this blog site is a form of social media, users can register, post and comment on articles and also subscribe to articles via RSS and other widgets in order to get updates pushed directly to your own PC, iPhone or smart phone without having to physically check each day for new content. That we are sure you will agree is a really useful feature.
