Our aim is to persuade Walsall Council to set up a Democracy Commission.

This would be an independent review of how local democracy works in Walsall. It would bring together local residents, community groups and councillors to talk about how decisions are made, how those decisions are checked, and how local people can have a stronger voice.

The Commission would then make practical recommendations to help the council become more open, accountable and responsive to residents. Its wider purpose would be to rebuild trust and give local people more meaningful influence over the future of their communities.

Democracy by Design is a group of Walsall residents who believe that local democracy can work better for everyone. We come from a range of different political backgrounds — including people who are politically active and people who are not — and we don’t all agree on every issue. 

What brings us together is a simple belief, that people who live, work and contribute to Walsall should have a meaningful opportunity to help shape decisions that affect their communities.

Many of us have been involved in local campaigns, including the campaign around the Leather Museum, and we have noticed a consistent pattern of public consultation that is absent, limited or comes too late, with little clear evidence that what residents say has influenced the eventual outcome. 

We don’t think the answer is to assume that residents should always get their way, or that the Council will always get things wrong. Good decisions can involve disagreement and difficult choices. But people should be given the information, time and opportunity to understand those choices and contribute before decisions are effectively settled. 

That is why we are calling for a Local Democracy Commission — not to tell Walsall what its communities should think, but to bring people together to design a better, fairer and more effective way of listening to them.