Wymondham is launching a new forum for sharing community information and opinions. The Community Forum for Wymondham will hold its first public meeting on Thursday, February 7 at 7.

Wymondham is launching a new forum for sharing community information and opinions.

The Community Forum for Wymondham will hold its first public meeting on Thursday, February 7 at 7.30 pm in the Fairland Church Centre, and all residents are welcome. If it is a success it is proposed to hold further meetings every three months.

The purpose of the Community Forum is to provide informal community meetings for people living in the town. The meetings will serve to exchange information about current local activities, projects and developments, act as a nursery for new ideas and provide a place for networking between individuals and organisations. Meetings will be open to all.

Wymondham Community Partnership, which has performed a similar role since 1999, was wound up last year but at its final meeting it was agreed that with housing growth bringing major changes to the town, an informal community voice for Wymondham was still required. A steering group has been working to set up the new organisation, and the Partnership provided a small fund to cover its running expenses.

Wymondham Town Council will provide the basic administration needed to convene and keep a record of meetings. A voluntary secretary will provide continuity, and at each meeting the chairman for the next meeting will be elected. Communication will be by email, though a small postal list will be needed, and those who attend meetings will be invited to add their name to the list to receive details of future activities.

Topics for the first meeting will include short presentations on the 'Wymondham's Future' community consultation, Wymondham High School's campaign to say no to plastic bags, and the Local Development Framework. There will also be an open 'news spot' item where individuals or organisations will be allowed two minutes to talk about forthcoming events, projects or issues.

The inaugural meeting will be chaired by Horace Wilkinson, who strongly supports the venture.

He said: “In a growing town like Wymondham we need to use every possible means to spread information about what's going on. Newspapers such as the Mercury and town newsletters play an important role here. But the new Community Forum will go further by offering people a chance to give their views on big issues, and also to say a few words about what their own organisations are doing for the community.”