Proposal for re-purposing the Chelveston PC WhatsApp Group
This proposal will be discussed at the Parish Council Meeting on Monday 8th June 2020
Background
The "Chelveston PC" WhatsApp was created as part of the Emergency Provision by the Parish Council of Chelveston-cum-Caldecott on 15th March 2020. Two group administrators were appointed, Adrian Dale and Ray Daniells, then Chair of the Parish Council. All households were invited to join by a letter delivered to every household in all three settlements. A QR code was provided as one means of joining. As an alternative, households were asked to message either the Chair of the Council or Adrian Dale.
Group Administration Process
Adrian Dale collected the names and addresses of all participants as part of the emergency provision. If someone asked for help, it was important to know who they were. Only one household refused to provide these details. We did debate removing them from the group, but decided to wait until they posted. We did not want anonymous postings.
We discovered early on that moderation wasn't possible. Individuals can remove their own posts but the administrators can't do anything other than remove someone from the group. Had we seen persistent and disruptive behaviour which put the community at risk, we might have done so. But this was never necessary, in spite of the various disagreements that have been aired.
Six people who live outside the Village are members of the group because of their close association with the Church.
Parish Council Involvement
The Group cannot continue beyond the emergency in its present form. The Parish Council cannot run an unmoderated forum. It also has no permission to retain the contact details of the members of the Group beyond the emergency. The Group must therefore close or morph into something else.
Community Views
Residents were asked to make their views clear on the future of the Group, and many did. A majority of residents wished a community group to continue, uniting the three settlements. Some wanted strong moderation of the Group, but the majority wanted a lighter touch.
Proposed Timetable
- During this week, we seek out three administrators, preferably one from each settlement.
- Adrian will brief them on his experience as Group Admin. The administrators can then decide whether they want to create some guidelines for the new group, or whether it will be a free for all. They also need to consider how the contact details of people on the group will be managed.
- The last emergency podcast and newsletter will be posted on the morning Sunday 14th June.
- The guidelines agreed for the new forum (if any) will be publish on the Group for discussion.
- On the afternoon of Sunday 14th June, all residents will be asked to leave the Group if they no longer want to be part of the re-purposed community forum.
- A final archival export of the Group positings will be taken.
- The new Administrators will be added on the morning of Monday 15th June.
- The Parish Council crest will be replaced with an agreed image (suggestion: perhaps the 305th Memorial?)
- The name of the Group will be changed (suggestion: perhaps "Chelson-cum-Cawcud Community")
- Adrian Dale will then remove himself as administrator.
- Adrian Dale will begin the process of deleting all the contact details from his phone of everyone on the Group that haven't given him explicit permission to retain them for his personal use.
- The Parish Council Emergency Contacts database will be deleted at the same time.
- The Administrators make their first welcoming posts, and start the process of building their own relationships with the community.
Conclusion
Of course, these are just the ideas of Adrian Dale. And what does he know? Comments are most welcome.