NEW PORTSWOOD COMMUNITY WEBSITE GOES LIVE
Portswood’s new community website officially launched on February 15. The creators hope it will become a valued source of local information – and even a resource for community action.
www.portswood.info is sister to Bitterne Park’s popular community website www.bitternepark.info which was set up in 2005 and covers a range of subjects important to locals, from planning issues and airport expansion to threats to amenities such as libraries. The site has been praised for “providing a platform for local residents to communicate about the local area”, and even for “bringing the local the local community closer together”.
www.portswood.info will cover issues relevant to the wider Portswood area. Newsgathering will stretch into Highfield, Swaythling and Bevois Town.
“Following the great example of bitternepark.info, my interest in helping develop the Portswood site was born from a personal stake in this community where I live, work and am bringing up my children,” says editor Catherine Wright. “I feel that being engaged locally is an important part of a sustainable way of life. I hope that the site can help promote that idea, but mainly that people enjoy reading and commenting on the items we publish.”
As well as helping to compile stories and articles for the site, users can add to discussions and publicise local events using a free community calendar. The site also features a section dedicated to the local history of the area, which aims to mix articles by historians with reminiscences from local people.
The site launched at 11 am on Friday February 15, at Peter Rhodes Books, on Portswood Road (near Lodge Road) by local MP Alan Whitehead.