EAST Hampshire District Council (EHDC) has cancelled its community forums as it tries to improve how it engages with residents.

This month forums in Alton, Petersfield and Horndean have been scrapped and the pensioners’ roadshow forum for residents of Whitehill and Bordon, Liphook, Headley and Grayshott in Liphook’s Millennium Hall at 6.30pm on Tuesday, October 23, will be the last one in its current format.

The roadshow tackling issues affecting the elderly has already visited the other three towns in the district and been hailed a success.

The forums are aimed at encouraging residents to debate, give their views on important topics in their area, or hear presentations on relevant subjects.

But the council insists this is not the end but an opportunity to take time to redesign and breath new life into the initiative.

An EHDC spokesman said: “Community forums are an important platform for residents to talk to East Hampshire District Council about vital local issues.

“But we want to make sure they work for everyone, to help us get right to the heart of the matter.

“As a result they are being re-designed to ensure they stay relevant, engaging and popular.

“While this process goes on, we have decided not to hold this month’s community forums, except for the Liphook one.”

Commenting on the announcement, Alton Town Council (ATC) leader, cllr Matthew Bayliss, told the Herald: “It is important that local councils continually look at the best ways to engage and listen to the communities they serve.

“The town council is doing this, having adopted new ways of working earlier this year, and it is encouraging to see the district council doing the same with its community forums.

“We look forward to seeing the results.”

Leader of Alton Liberal Democrats, town councillor Pam Jones said she failed to understand why it was necessary to cancel the forums while the redesign process was going on.

She said: “I am saddened they were cancelled at such short notice and without prior warning.

“At the town council we are revamping the way we conduct our committees but we are not stopping them while we do so.”

Her real concern is that having made what appears to be a sudden decision, and with no prior warning, to cancel, the forums could go the way of the area planning meetings which were lost, due to cost.

Charles Louisson, chairman of the Community Forum for Alton and the Surrounding Villages, said: “There is no truth in the suggestion that the forums are not being continued.

“They represent a vital, two-way channel of communication between local councillors and residents and the work we are doing to re-design them is simply to ensure this channel flows more freely.

“We view liaison with the community as fundamental and by re-designing the format, we have an opportunity to hear the voices of many and not just the few.”