Residents' associations are organisations formed by groups of people from a specific geographic community

Community

The term community has two distinct meanings:*a group of interacting people, possibly living in close proximity, and often refers to a group that shares some common values, and is attributed with social cohesion within a shared geographical location, generally in social units larger than a household...

 who come together to address issues within their local area and act as a voice for their local community.

The majority of associations are structured to include a chair, vice-chair, secretary

Secretary

A secretary, or administrative assistant, is a person whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, communication & organizational skills. These functions may be entirely carried out to assist one other employee or may be for the benefit...

, treasurer

Treasurer

A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The adjective for a treasurer is normally "tresorial". The adjective "treasurial" normally means pertaining to a treasury, rather than the treasurer.-Government:...

 and committee members. These positions are decided by way of nomination

Nomination

Nomination is part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to an office, or the bestowing of an honor or award.In the context of elections for public office, a candidate who has been selected by a political party is normally said to be the nominee of that party...

s at an annual meeting when can be challenged/altered.

Some associations meet to address one specific issue while others hope to address a wider spectrum of matters. A few British residents' associations have registered as locality-based political parties to enable them to participate in local elections at county, district, and county council level. Examples include Markland Wood

Markland Wood

Markland Wood is a residential neighbourhood located in Etobicoke, in the City of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is bounded by Etobicoke Creek to the west, Elmcrest Creek to the east and surrounded by the Markland Wood Country Club...

, Epsom and Ewell Residents Association and Loughton Residents Association.

Membership of a residents' association is normally open bn\to all local people residing in a defined area (such as a suburb). They represent the interests particularly of those who are socially excluded because of ill health, low income, language and cultural differences, or age.

See also

• Business improvement district
  Business improvement district
  A business improvement district is a defined area within which businesses pay an additional tax or fee in order to fund improvements within the district's boundaries. Grant funds acquired by the city for special programs and/or incentives such as tax abatements can be made available to assist...
  
  
• Community association
  Community association
  A community association is a nongovernmental association of participating members of a community, such as a neighborhood, village, condominium, cooperative, or group of homeowners or property owners in a delineated geographic area. Participation may be voluntary, require a specific residency, or...
  
  
• Homeowners' association
• Neighbourhood association

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