12/08/2026
Barcroft Community Association – Community Update
Barcroft Community Association wishes to inform residents that, following careful consideration, we have taken the decision to suspend our participation in Statutory Agencies community engagement initiatives until further notice.
This is not a decision that has been taken lightly.
Our committee and volunteers have consistently engaged in good faith with statutory agencies, giving up their own time to participate in inter-agency estate inspections, Housing Community Network meetings and other initiatives because we believed these provided a meaningful opportunity for the voice of our community to be heard.
Unfortunately, recent events and the ongoing concerns being raised directly with Barcroft Community Association by residents have caused me to seriously question whether that engagement is working both ways.
Over recent weeks and months, we have been contacted by numerous residents regarding serious and continuing community safety and anti-social behaviour concerns. We have raised these concerns through the appropriate channels and have repeatedly sought greater multi-agency engagement.
We were previously advised that concerns were largely being raised through third parties and that residents were not reporting matters directly. However, numerous residents have since told us that they have been in direct contact with the relevant agencies regarding these issues. Others have told us they are frightened to report incidents because they fear repercussions for themselves and their families.
Regardless of the circumstances surrounding individual cases, there is now clearly a serious breakdown in confidence between some residents and the agencies responsible for supporting them.
We have therefore called for a community engagement meeting at Barcroft Community Centre, where residents could meet directly with the relevant agencies, elected representatives and community organisations. This would provide an opportunity for residents to raise their concerns, understand the reporting processes available to them and, importantly, begin rebuilding confidence.
Despite the seriousness and continuing nature of the concerns being brought to us, the level of meaningful engagement we have sought has not materialised.
Community engagement cannot simply become a tick-box exercise.
If community organisations are expected to give their time, attend meetings, identify problems and encourage residents to engage with statutory agencies, then those organisations and the residents they represent must have confidence that when serious issues are raised, they will be listened to and meaningful engagement will follow.
For that reason, Barcroft Community Association will suspend its participation in Statutory Agencies community initiatives while our position is reviewed.
We remain prepared to reconsider this decision should there be meaningful two-way engagement and a willingness to address the concerns being raised and the wider breakdown in community confidence.
I want to make one point absolutely clear: this does not mean residents should stop reporting incidents. We continue to strongly encourage residents to report crime, anti-social behaviour and housing-related concerns through the appropriate official channels. Where there is an immediate threat to someone's safety, residents should contact the emergency services.
We will also be making our local elected representatives and local media aware of this decision and the circumstances which have brought us to this point.
Barcroft Community Association exists to represent our community first and foremost. Our volunteers give their time freely, and I cannot justify asking them to continue participating in partnership structures if the serious concerns being brought to us by residents are not resulting in meaningful engagement.
Our door remains open. We want a constructive working relationship with the all statutory agencies, but partnership and community engagement must work both ways.
Paul McGuinness
Chairperson
Barcroft Community Association
