A group of long-term residents have banded together to form an initiative aimed at improving Marlow by 'listening to local voices' – and taking next year’s town council elections by storm.
Muryel Boulay, 52, was one of 11 council hopefuls who stood independently in 2021, managing to collectively score 25 per cent of the vote despite not winning a seat between them.
The group – all long-term Marlovians from a range of backgrounds – were sufficiently bolstered by their success not to give up, however, and they make up the backbone of the newly formed Residents for Marlow initiative, promoting a “change in how we make decisions about the town and its future”.
While its formation shortly before the town council election in May 2025 is not coincidental, Muryel, who has lived in Marlow for over 20 years and works as a business impact consultant, is adamant that its primary function is a democratic one – “encouraging people to listen and talk to each other”.
One of the group’s first ideas is to hold a community forum, made up of 100 residents, chosen at random by postcode, to discuss the pressing issues on people’s minds as well as their hopes and visions for the town’s future.
It describes itself as a “pirate” initiative only insofar as – through things like the forum – Residents for Marlow will seek “more unconventional” means of taking the local temperature.
Muryel doesn’t criticise the controversial decision of sitting councillors to back the Marlow Film Studios project last September – a move at odds with the general local consensus – but she does suggest that not enough was done in that instance to engage with residents’ concerns, ultimately stoking the divisiveness of the development plans.
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The forum is also one of several springing up across the UK, some under the umbrella of The Humanity Project, a national group promoting open, assembly-style discussions in communities with the wider, more radical goal of “reorganising democracy”.
While Muryel and co aren’t necessarily wedded to that cause, recent home and world events like this summer's rioting have only further convinced them of the need to encourage “the art of debate and eloquent disagreement".
“As well as talking about important local issues, we want people to meet each other, gain an understanding of the breadth of Marlow’s population and learn how we can live better together.
“People see it as a privileged town but that’s not the case for everyone living here. The randomised forum means people who aren’t the usual suspects can also have their voices heard and maybe connect with others whose lives they wouldn’t have necessarily intersected with.
“A lot of people are struggling financially and with a lack of control because of everything going on in the world at the moment. If this is gives them the chance to listen to each other and find common ground, I think that’s a beautiful thing.”
The Marlow Residents' Forum will be held on Sunday, October 13, at Liston Hall. For more information, visit https://shorturl.at/BAqD2.
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