People living in park homes across Cornwall are being invited to attend the inaugural meeting of the new Cornwall Park Home Resident Forum at the end of June.

The aim of the meeting, which is being held at St Erme Community Centre on 30 June, is to set up a resident led Park Home forum in Cornwall.

Cornwall Council has been working with residents on a steering group to develop the idea of a forum, which was first supported as a way forward during two meetings held last September. Since then the steering group has been developing a draft constitution, and ideas on how the forum could operate.

Park home residents are now invited to attend a meeting to formally consider agreeing to set up the forum and who will be members of the first committee.

“New government legislation for residential park homes was passed in May 2013” said Derek Cordier, member of Cornwall Park Homes Forum steering group.

“The proposed formation of the 'Cornwall Park Homes Forum provides us with the opportunity to deliver this message to all 74 residential parks in Cornwall. By helping individual residential parks to set up their own Associations, with some of the smaller ones possibly joining together, we can ensure that everyone knows about the changes and what they mean to them”.

“We want as many people as possible to join us in setting up the Cornwall Park Homes Forum” he added. “The aim of the Forum is to help ensure that information is shared among all residential parks but we need everyone’s support to implement it. Please come along to this very important first AGM meeting to help us to help you.”

Anyone who wishes to be considered to be a member is asked to complete and send back a nomination form by Friday 20 June. Nomination forms will also be available on the day and attendees will be able to complete these and submit them to the Chair of the meeting prior to the start of the meeting.

“While all park home residents are invited to attend the meeting, the St Erme Community Centre only has capacity for 120 people” said Mark O’Brien, Community Network Manager. “It would, therefore, be helpful if park home sites, where possible, could identify a small number of representatives to attend the meeting. These people can then report back to their neighbours.”

The creation of the new Forum has been welcomed by Geoff Brown, the Council’s Cabinet Member for Homes and Communities. “This is a great opportunity to have a real say in the improvement of Park Homes,” he said.

“Many are already very well run but by sharing ideas it may help to raise standards further and add to public safety and I would encourage all park home residents to get involved.”

Copies of all the documents and forms including the agenda, draft constitution, expression of interest form and role description for committee members are all available on the News and Events section of the Park Homes Webpage which can be found at www.cornwall.gov.uk/parkhomes Nomination forms can be returned via email to mobrien@Cornwall.gov.uk and by post to Mark O’Brien, Community Network Manager, Localism Team, Cornwall Council, Room 4S, New County Hall, Treyew Road, Truro, TR1 3AY