AS councillors for Hull Road, we were proud and delighted to see so many local people at the recent Community Conversation event in the ward on March 10.

A big thank-you goes to the team at St George’s Methodist Church who kept us all amply supplied with tea, coffee and cakes. Another thank you goes to all the local partners and the team at City of York Council who held stalls throughout the evening.

People from across the ward were able to find out more about local organisations, projects and initiatives before fully having their say in a Q&A session with Fiona and I, plus Cllr James Alexander and Cllr David Levene as Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Environmental Services respectively.

The Community Conversations are a new initiative, but make face-to-face consultation with residents more meaningful and engaging – rather than the old style of senior councillors being sat behind a table in front of neatly ordered, straight rows of residents, often in the relative safety of the city centre offices!

We do strongly encourage residents from other wards to attend their local Community Conversation when organised. We’re already looking forward to the next one in Hull Road.

Cllrs Neil Barnes & Fiona Fitzpatrick, Hull Road Ward, City of York Council