Thanks to everyone who has taken part in Your Merton. We are pleased to announce that we have extended the Your Merton interactive website until the end of Sunday 11 July so that more people who live and work in Merton can have their say. If you still have sections you have not had a chance to complete or you would like to check the latest responses from others you will have more time to do so. You can also share your own responses on social media to encourage others to take part. <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/commonplace-digital-limited/image/upload/v1624285726/projects/engagingmerton/3a888ccd-e126-4b00-a0ab-58e64a5f290e.jpg" />

Your Merton extended until 11 July 2021

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to visit and comment on the Your Merton website. We have had lots of fantastic information about the places that are important to you and the opportunities and challenges you see in Merton. You are welcome to come back to visit the Your Merton website at any time. It does not matter if you have visited the site just the once or lots of times there is always more content from other people you can review and comment on or there might be questions you have not yet answered. We are really keen to hear about your ambitions for the future and what you would like to see happen in Merton over the next decade. We want to create a vision for Merton that is based on the priorities and ambitions of people who live, work and study in the borough. If you haven&#39;t already there is still time to make sure your views are included by going to the link below.You can also help us by making sure you encourage your families, friends, neighbours, colleagues or other contacts to also take part. The more people we hear from, the more we can understand what the needs and ambitions of the people of Merton really are. <a href="https://engagingmerton.commonplace.is/proposals/your-ambitions-for-the-future">https://engagingmerton.commonplace.is/proposals/your-ambitions-for-the-future</a> <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/commonplace-digital-limited/image/upload/v1624285726/projects/engagingmerton/3a888ccd-e126-4b00-a0ab-58e64a5f290e.jpg" />

Tell us what is important for Merton in the future

Merton launches biggest-ever engagement programme to inform post-pandemic priorities for the boroughMerton Council is asking residents, students, commuters and businesses for their views on the future of their area as part of the borough’s biggest-ever community conversation. The council wants local people to share their views on what their community’s priorities should be post-pandemic.The council believes Covid-19 has shown the community at its best, with many examples of Merton coming together, and wants to hear from local people how the community can build on that experience to make Merton an even better place.Your Merton, which launches today at www.merton.gov.uk/YourMerton, will offer people the opportunity to give their views on things like local places and venues, their day to day life in the borough, how the pandemic has changed their lifestyle, and their future ambitions for where they live.Those taking part will be able to give their views via a simple, easy-to-use website, allowing them to highlight local places and tell the council the things they love about the borough as well as the things they want to see change in the future, in light of the Covid-19 pandemic.Contributing your view to the future of the borough takes only a few minutes, and the website will be open for eight weeks.The website is just one part of a wider programme to engage residents in post-pandemic priorities.To ensure everyone has the opportunity to give their views, we will be holding a series of direct-engagement sessions with a range of community groups and demographics including young people, local community groups, and service users across our wide range of partners.In addition, a demographically proportionate telephone survey has been carried out, ensuring the views of every area are taken into account.Residents can give their views on the website at any time, with themed promotions each week on the council’s social media channels to encourage responses in each area. Views are welcome from anyone who lives or studies in the borough, as well as those who commute or work here.Once the website closes on July 7, the responses will help form the basis of local priorities for the council and its partners from 2022 onwards. The Council will start assessing responses in September/October.Councillor Owen Pritchard, the Council’s Joint Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Performance, Recovery and the Local Economy said: “Everyone has felt the impact of the pandemic in different ways – for some of us it has been truly devastating, while for the majority of us it has been life-changing.“The council – like all of us – is trying to work out what changes to keep, and how to adapt to a post-pandemic Britain.”Whether it’s changing the way we travel or work, a desire to spend more time outside, or changes to the way we want essential services to be delivered, all of us have an idea on what we want our futures to look like.&quot;