Village Initiatives
What is a village consensus?
Before any new initiatives or schemes can be implemented within Norwood Green, a consensus must be reached amongst village residents that this is what they want to do.
By this we mean that the majority of residents who actively vote for a proposed initiative or scheme have to vote positively for this scheme or initiative to go ahead. This type of voting system is called a ‘simple majority vote‘ and is the same system used widely across the UK for government and council elections.
In this system, a majority means more than half of the votes cast, for example if 20 residents vote, 11 are for the initiative or scheme and 9 are against, a consensus is reached and the initiative or scheme will go ahead. If 100 residents vote, 49 are for an initiative or scheme and 51 are against, a consensus is not reached and the initiative or scheme will not go ahead
All village residents over the age of 18 are invited to vote on the proposed initiatives or schemes. If a resident chooses not to vote, their vote is lost.
How do I vote?
When a particular initiative or scheme is ready to be implemented, the voting will announced in advance. This will usually be carried out online only, however depending on the type of initiative there may also be an ‘in-person’ vote at the village hall on specified dates and times.
To vote online your email address must be registered with the Norwood Green Better Place CIC. If you haven’t already registered your email, you can do so here>
An email will be sent to all registered emails with a unique link to the online voting page. Please note that each person voting online must have registered their individual email address, as only one vote will be allowed per email address.
What checks are in place to validate the votes?
As we are all neighbours and friends, first and foremost we trust residents to be honest with their vote.
As a secondary measure, at the ‘in-person’ voting you will be asked to confirm your address and the number of people eligible to vote in your household. This will be checked against the current register of village addresses and you will then be given a voting slip.
The online system will only allow one vote per registered email address.
Who counts the votes?
Two designated CIC directors will count and check the votes cast. These directors are bound to confidentiality and all voting data will be deleted once the result has been confirmed
Is my vote anonymous?
Votes made in person at the village hall are anonymous as the vote is made using a simple yes/no voting slip which is placed into a ballot box.
Online votes are not entirely anonymous as there has to be checks in place to ensure that all votes placed online are genuine and not spam. Obviously only the yes/no result will be published and again all voting data will be deleted once the result has been confirmed
Why should I vote?
Voting is your opportunity to have your say in the future of Norwood Green. Unfortunately if you chose not to vote, your view can’t be taken into account.
I wish to vote on line as we are on holiday
Hi Alan I can see that you have already registered your email with the CIC and I’ve made a note that you wish to vote online.
Is there anyone else in your household who is also wanting to vote online? If so they will have to register a separate email for themselves with the CIC as the voting system only allows one vote per email address. They can do that here https://www.norwoodgreen.org/#register . Once they have registered, they need to drop a quick email to the CIC – betterplacetolive@norwoodgreen.org – to let us know that they also want to vote online.
Many thanks
I too will likely be away so I also wish to vote on line, thanks.
I would also like to express my appreciation to the CIC for all their work in connection with this proposal, and urge anyone who perhaps might not have a clear preference to consider the time and effort invested by these volunteers.
Hi Martin, I will add you to the list of online voters. A link to the online vote will be emailed to you after the in-person voting has taken place at the Village Hall.
Also thank you for your kind words of support for the CIC volunteers. This is much appreciated.