When I was voted onto the city council two years ago it was clear what had to be done. The main issues the IWCA had promised to tackle were class-A drug dealing and antisocial behaviour. After the election we went to work straight away.

It had been obvious for some time that the police, New Labour councillors and housing associations had no real desire to address these problems, so it was vital to seek the involvement of the community if we were to make progress.

To do this we organised two successive public meetings, gaining TV, radio and press coverage. This attracted the interest of the authorities, who now felt they needed to be seen to be doing something. In the following months the police carried out a number of raids on houses of known crack and heroin dealers.

Our campaign also put pressure on the housing associations to evict a number of high profile dealers on the estate, significantly improving the quality of life for neighbouring residents.

However, despite these successes drugs are still rife on some parts of Blackbird Leys. On the old part of the estate in particular—where the IWCA campaign has not been as intensive—there are numerous council properties being used as bases by the dealers.

In Gillians Park, where the police promised to ‘design out crime’ two years ago, the dealing problem is starting to creep back up again now that the authorities are once again losing interest.

As we also predicted, the New Labour-inspired Communities Against Drugs (CAD) project, launched amid a fanfare of publicity in the summer of 2002 but lacking serious funding, has also petered out. Residents can’t expect any help from their Labour councillors either. When people from the Blackbird Leys ward approach us for help in tackling antisocial behaviour they have usually suffered the frustration of waiting in vain for help after receiving empty promises from their own elected representatives, Val Smith and Pat Stannard.

All this means there is still a long way to go. In most cases we can only try to solve problems if those affected come to us. Many people are understandably wary of getting involved in a public campaign. However, this course of action is only ever taken when residents decide it is the best way to proceed. In fact, in the majority of cases the IWCA works quietly behind the scenes to help people with neighbours who are antisocial and/or dealing hard drugs.

Ultimately we can only move forward together. Demonstrations of community strength, such as the IWCA picket last October to stop a violent teenage gang operating out of Gillians Park, are obviously a vital part of this. Equally important, though, are efforts to reclaim our parks and community facilities through regular legitimate use—denying these spaces to the dealers and antisocial elements.

Of course we also need to see an increase in detox and support programmes in order to reduce the demand for hard drugs in the first place. But to do this we will need to grow in numbers and in influence.

This is a long race and we are just at the beginning—but, politically, we are the only ones to have come off the starting blocs facing in the right direction. With your support we can build on what we’ve already achieved and help to shape a better future for us all.