Complementary, not combined.
I am occasionally asked why The Petersfield Society does not consider merging with other Societies in the town. What people have in mind is a sharing of resources and responsibilities with, for example, the Historical Society or the Museum, the Friends of the Heath or Petersfield in Bloom.
Such comments ignore both the nature and aims of our Society, as well as our historical and, hopefully, future achievements. The question remains: what is distinctive about the Society? To my mind, the answer is simple: we are primarily a campaigning society, vigilant over many aspects of the town and, as our advertising leaflet says, “dedicated to enhancing the quality of life in Petersfield and the surrounding area”. Briefly, we are far from being a single-issue organisation, unlike the above groups, and we attempt to ensure that as many comments and criticisms as possible of the way our town and environment are managed are addressed correctly and effectively.
A cursory glance at our recent involvement in local government (in a non-political sense) – the publication of the Town Design Statement and the achievement of the inclusion of Petersfield in the South Downs National Park, for example – demonstrate how deeply we have been involved in contributing to recent debates on topical issues for our area. But we are also implicated in more parochial (but equally valid for our quality of life) topics: planning regulations and enforcement; green spaces and trees; street signage; structural and peripheral damage through vandalism; traffic management; and enhancement of the environment.
This suggests an involvement at least as important as that of the local councils (town and district), and no doubt accounts for the confusion in many of our visitors’ minds when they visit our display stands (“Are you the council?”). However, our relationship with the councils is purely complementary: we are in constant touch with individual councillors and the councils themselves and work always to coordinate our aims. But, and this is the crux, we are independent, non-party political, and consist entirely of volunteers keen to see the best for the town and its environs.
This presupposes a good deal of expertise within our ranks and, happily, I believe that we have that to offer. There is still room for more, however, and we are keen to recruit more people, both to the committee and to the membership at large. Indeed, there is room for many more volunteers who can make our organisation run even more smoothly and effectively. Please consider offering your services (my telephone number is 01730 263889) in whatever capacity you feel suits you!
Dr. David Jeffery