About the RRA

WHAT IS THE RUISLIP RESIDENTS’ ASSOCIATION?

Ruislip Lido at Sunset

Ruislip Lido at Sunset

For over 100 years, the Ruislip Residents’ Association has sought to protect and represent the interests of local residents. We were founded in 1919 as the Ruislip Ratepayers’ Association, making us one of the oldest residents’ associations in the country.

No issue is too big or too small, whether raised by a group or an individual. Sometimes sections of our membership have differing points of view or different priorities, which the Association tries to reconcile, but if that cannot be achieved then it presents issues without bias It also advises members on how they may progress their concerns independently if they prefer.

WE ARE APOLITICAL

The Association has no political affiliations, but over the years it has established, and will continue to maintain, strong links with our local elected MPs and Councillors regardless of the political parties they represent.

LOCAL CONNECTIONS

The Association also has valuable contacts with the Council Officers dealing with planning and traffic, the Police and local transport services, and is represented on the Ruislip Woods Trust and The Community Voice, which is an umbrella organisation concerned exclusively with good provision of local NHS services in North West London and South West Hertfordshire.

It also has links with nearby residents’ associations, both informally and as a member of the Hillingdon Alliance of Residents Association (HARA).

WHY HAVE A RESIDENTS’ ASSOCIATION?

There are many advantages in members working together:

  • If you have a problem related to where you live, then probably other local people are worried too.
  • Working together with others is much stronger than individuals working alone.
  • Within residents’ associations, experience and knowledge is accumulated, bringing expertise with which to address local problems – many Executive Members are very experienced in their particular fields of responsibility and newcomers are supported in gaining such knowledge.
  • In dealing with Councils, transport operators, health service providers and other large local organisations, residents associations build up awareness of how the organisations are structured, their legal framework, the ways in which they operate, and which officials are most likely to resolve difficulties.
  • Small subscriptions from each household allow residents associations to hold substantial reserves with which to tackle problems that individual households would find too expensive to pursue.
  • Residents associations also provide access to good speakers on local topics, opportunities to debate local concerns and to meet local people, which can lead to new activities and new friends.

HOW DOES IT FUNCTION?

The Association holds an Annual General Meeting, when it receives reports and elections take place. The draft Minutes of the last AGM can be viewed here and a copy of the Annual Accounts are available to members on request to the Hon. Secretary – to make the request see Contact Us, above. In addition, one or more General Meetings are held each year.

All our affairs are governed by our Rules, which can be seen here:

Our Executive Committee holds monthly meetings, usually attended by at least one local Councillor, at which major issues are reported and discussed.

The Association’s magazine, the Town Crier, is published twice a year. This is distributed through a network of Area and Road Stewards who may also collect subscriptions and act as a link between individual members and the elected Executive Committee. Click here to see our Town Crier.

Members have the option of receiving a monthly email of reports submitted by our representatives.

WHO RUNS THE ORGANISATION?

Our Executive Committee takes responsibility for most of our activities. See the list of current members here.

Each member of the Executive Committee is responsible for a specific area of concern, for example, planning, police, health services, transport, conservation and woodlands.

The Executive Committee receives reports from its members, to keep it up to date with local issues.

For instance, all planning applications are considered in detail by the two members with that responsibility; they identify any applications that appear to be against their members’ interests, report their concerns to the Executive Committee and submit formal objections to the Council when necessary. When the Executive Committee feels unable to endorse particular planning applications or objections, it will still support members with advice on how best to proceed in order for their concerns to be considered by the Council’s Planning Officer or Planning Committee.

WHO ARE THE MEMBERS?

All Ruislip households are eligible for membership. The Town Crier is distributed to about 10,000 households and, with the help of its network of Road Stewards, the Association collects subscriptions from most roads in its area.

There are separate residents’ associations in South Ruislip, Eastcote and Ickenham, with whom we co-operate on shared concerns.*

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