“The OCA invited the new Ward Councillor, Yusuf Mohamed, to meet to discuss some urgent priorities and how to have better collaboration with our Ward Councillor in future on the 12th January. We shared with the councillor what the OCA does and our current plans. We also explained our difficulties with our previous Ward Councillor and how we hoped to have a better relationship with the new OCuncillor. Councillor Mohamed confirmed he was entirely open to working with the OCA and was particularly interested in our plans to resuscitate the Business Forum, and to address social issues. He has a focus on security and will be invited to participate in the Obs journey which was initiated under the Social issues forum in response to the hijacking episode last year. We expressed our concerns over the proposed PRASA lease of land under the Station Rd bridge which would be better suited to the Rehoming Collective outreach hub.
Our engagement with our ward councillor will be ongoing and there are many issues we need to tackle collaboratively. We hope this will be indicative of a more collaborative relationship with our ward councillor and future meetings are planned.”