“You can run Goole down all your like but when something happens the community really pulls together.”

The comment of somebody raised in Goole to a group of neighbours after they had rallied round somebody who had experienced a difficulty - with very positive results.

Community and collectivism have played a very strong role in the development of Goole. Looking through a booklet inherited from my paternal grandparents via my father published by the Borough of Goole to mark the centenary of the Local Government Act in 1935 reminds us of this. Here’s a quote from the booklet.

“We are so accustomed to the amenities of modern life; to the free use of smooth, dustless roads, well lighted and kept clean; to protection by the Police; to having our houses drained; to having water and gas laid on; to having our refuse taken away and disposed of; to free education, Parks, Public Baths, Free Libraries, Hospitals, Markets and a host of other matters, as to regard them as our birth-right almost in the same way as we regard the Sun shining from Heaven.”

The booklet goes on to explain that Goole as a town was founded by the Aire and Calder company. It owned the land, provided any services, and controlled everything. People started to build on land outside the Aire and Calder estates from the early days of the town, but there were no services and no body to control them until the first Goole Local Board was set up in 1875. The population of the town grew from 10,418 in 1881 to 20,332 in 1911.

King George V granted Goole a Charter as a Municipal Corporation in 1933. Collective funding and management of local services was celebrated by Goole Borough Council in the 1935 centenary publication, showing the values espoused by the town at that time. An extract can be found in the image accompanying this update.

So, what are the community of Goole’s values today? Do residents feel that they still live in a town with a collectivist community approach since powers were taken away from Goole Council and handed to Beverley? Is the established part of town in a better or worse condition? Do residents feel they have a meaningful say in what is going on? Are consultations genuine?

Have library users been listened to when they said they did not want the library moved to the leisure centre? Were they listened to when they said they didn’t want council customer services crammed into the library?

Is the community happy that those who want to pursue athletics to national and international competition standards will no longer be able to train in Goole when the 400m running track is destroyed on the orders of the Town Deal Board, so that those who love football can have everything their own way, because football happens to have more money to throw around than other sports?

Is the community of Goole happy that there has been no direct consultation with any residents who live in the area of the Victoria Pleasure Grounds about the impact of developments on their lives? How do women feel about their safety and security when drink fuelled football fans get angry if a match doesn’t go their way? We recently saw that fans throw plastic beer glasses at the England manager when they don’t think the team performs well enough. Many people think that Gareth Southgate has rehabilitated the image of football through his own personality, and style of leadership. Do residents want more drunken entitled boorishness from football fans in contrast to say the example Gareth Southgate?

Are people who criticise what is happening to Goole “running the town down” or showing that they truly care about residents because they want things to improve for everyone?

Do residents feel that the town is being run in best interests of everyone, or have we gone back to the days before the 1835 local government legislation in which it is run by a clique to benefit only certain sectors of society?

Some questions for citizens to consider about what their community values and stands for…

Keep talking, keep sharing!