Good Neighbour Agreements - Are you a bad neighbour without one?

Good Neighbour Agreements build bridges within and between neighbours and neighbourhood organizations - Photo: The Forth Road Bridge (Scotland),
Creative Commons License, Eugene Obrien

By Larry Leach, 

Larry is Executive Director of Calgary’s 12 Community Safety Initiative – a non-profit crime prevention collaborative. He was awarded the Queens Diamond and Platinum Jubilee medals for his contributions to community-building. He is a member of the SafeGrowth Network.  

Are you thinking of starting a Good Neighbour Agreement? Have you heard that such agreements are uncomfortable and daunting? If so, there are some important things to consider, the most important being: Who do you want deciding your neighbourhood narrative?

I have been pondering the question of Good Neighbour Agreements (GNA) for a few months after a nonprofit housing leader said they didn’t like GNAs because they assume you are a bad neighbour. After pondering that idea, I decided to dig into this topic, especially why organizations and neighbourhoods should walk into these discussions with a more open mind.

WHY BOTHER WITH GNAs?

Having been on the executive of a Community Association for 10 years, I was hyper-aware of what my colleagues were facing in their neighbourhoods. Headlines like “community fights back” were the norm when I began in the association. Often these issues became a political hot potato turning into the “NIMBY” mantra (Not In My Backyard). With this narrative, almost every question or concern, legitimate or otherwise, is shot down as NIMBY. 

GNA's take time and patience to negotiate. There are some decent templates.

While NIMBY concerns do have some merit (some residents just don’t want things in their neighbourhood), there are legitimate concerns that don’t get addressed if you continually call them NIMBY. Last week’s blog on crime displacement discussed one issue with NIMBY.

In 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic lockdown, my community experienced this issue firsthand. A nonprofit organization received funding to house some vulnerable people on 4 floors of a hotel in our neighbourhood. Our community Facebook page started seeing residents posting concerns – both legitimate and otherwise. Our community association executive reached out to our municipal councilor and a provincial politician. Neither one of these officials had any idea who to contact. 

GNAs can also be fun - or can create opportunities for pro-social engagement

FALSE NARRATIVES 

Meanwhile, stories surfaced on our Facebook page such as one claim from a cop describing 200 people housed at the hotel, that the hotel allowed visitors and drug use, and that visitors left hotel amenities all over the neighbourhood. Stories on Facebook gave the impression our community was under siege.

While the community association board was empathetic and supportive, they had little accurate information to combat this misinformation. After a couple months, the association was finally able to get accurate information (some of which was private). The association learned there were only 60 residents in the property and no visitors were allowed. Unfortunately, because it took months to clarify this information, residents were left to believe false FaceBook assertions. This is the first lesson of GNAs - if you don’t communicate your narrative, others will decide what it is.

While GNAs are typically about social interactions, they can also include new ideas for neighbourhood places and activities

Why do community nonprofits not want to engage with residents? Perhaps they want to avoid NIMBY? Dealing with NIMBYers is a concern, but there are some legitimate questions that remain unaddressed when you let NIMBY keep you away from such dialogue. It is important to hear from everyone, weigh through all the concerns, and then obtain accurate information before issues can be dealt with in a calm productive manner. 

THE VALUE OF THE GNA

This is the value of a good neighbour agreement. There are a number of official templates for constructing GNAs, but here are some practical tips.

A GNA can be negotiated by one or two leaders from the community and one or two from the agency. You don’t need a large public meeting to get things rolling. Here are some key elements to a good agreement:

1. Spell out the activities of each of the groups. Describe “this is what we do”. Sometimes people assume an agency does something that they don’t do. Spell out the activities and the mission of the Community Association. Some agencies don’t always understand how they are structured. Both assumptions can lead to confusion and conflict. The GNA is a living document that adapts with the changes in scope of each participant.
2. Communication. Describe how and when are we going to communicate and to whom? Will Agency A will come to Community B’s meetings, once a month, quarterly or twice per year. How is written communication done? Via e-mail, between Executive Director and President? Is there a social media strategy as well? Perhaps a yearly Barbeque? Build the structure around the relationship.
3. Who to call? Who do residents or agency users call with concerns? Dig deeper into the types of concerns as to which people to call. If it’s an illegal activity, the Police are likely to be the call. If it’s a minor dispute or nuisance, it may involve bylaw (or ordinance) officials (unkept property or noise). Call the agency to discuss before calling bylaw officials. Being a good neighbour is a 2-way street. If the relationship strengthens, more trust can be developed.
4. Spell out what happens with an unresolved dispute? Is it mediated? How long does it take? Who does the mediation? 

 

There are many advantages to well-established GNAs - better dispute resolution, controlling your own narrative, and social harmony 

IS IT WORTH IT? 

You might still be saying that this sounds like a document for two groups that don’t trust one another? It is actually an invitation and opportunity for an agency to put forward clear information about their activities and take the power away from NIMBYers and those who will decide how you operate without looking at the facts. 

The GNA helps put the rumours aside and offers some talking points based on facts – and that can be extremely helpful to support the work of neighbourhood associations. This is the starting point for a good neighbourly relationship.

There is another advantage to a GNA – consider what happens when people change positions. Putting some terms of reference in writing for all current and future decision-makers can make for smoother transitions. It can show the willingness of different groups to engage each other in a respectful manner for many years to come. That alone is a powerful incentive for GBAs. They are the key to great relationships with those who live and work in neighbourhoods. As we assert in SafeGrowth, all residents deserve to live in a safe and vibrant place.