Just about every part of Britain has some kind of local Lib Dem website nowadays. So it’s a bit presumptious to make a fuss about the one that I help edit. But we are coming up to our 1000th post for www.onlinefocus.org – and I don’t know have many other Lib Dem sites have written that many yet.

We describe onlinefocus as “News and Stuff for Rochford District” and we started off back in May 2003… You’ll see by the .org suffix that we are not an official Lib Dem site – just like Lib Dem Voice, we are an independent site. (And the address onlinefocus.org seemed too good to miss!)

For the last 18 months we have put something on the site everyday without fail, except at Christmas. We cover council matters, report on debates, and flag up interesting planning applications, with occasional delves into local historical, and scientific matters. Editorial responsibility is shared between 3 councillors.

The benefits of doing an onlinefocus have been …. unexpected:

* The readership is worthwhile but not spectacularly high – we get a few thousand visits a month at the moment;

* The effect on our local party isn’t spectacular either – we are still very much the second party here – but in isolated instances has made a big difference. One chap moved to our district as a Conservative, but had switched over to us before we even met him, thanks to reading the website and exchanging comments with us. So the first time we actually spoke to him he agreed to deliver Focus, and now he’s a candidate.

– One real change is a much more effective relationship with the local news media – we hardly ever have to do a press release any more, the local papers just look at onlinefocus every day. They also appreciate it when we come up with non-council stories that they can use – such as the case of the exploding light bulbs. Because of this more effective relationship, we get a broader local news coverage, and occasionally set the agenda.

* Council officers and people from other parties have also become regular readers, presumably because we write chattily but also fairly. This gives beneficial results all round. Residents will sometimes leave comments on onlinefocus because they know they’ll be read that day by the local press and the council administration.

It’s the unforeseen results that have been the most memorable.

I won’t forget the sudden flood of comments a couple of years ago when our officers wanted to refuse planning permission for a tiny beauty salon in the Green Belt. There was such an uprush of support for the young woman concerned, coupled with a sense of disbelief at the council’s attitude, that it made councillors think very carefully about the issue and grant permission after all. This scenario was repeated again recently on a bigger scale, when a much-loved preschool in the Green Belt was recomended for refusal, after already being there for 19 years. At times like this our onlinefocus becomes a useful tool for the community as a whole, and we’re delighted when that happens.

And there was an unexpected bonus for the eldest one of our editorial team, Ron, who got married back in 1958. Ron’s best man had moved to Australia and lost contact years ago. But thanks to Ron being on onlinefocus, he was tracked down online!