Neighbour Dispute Resolution Support

A guide during the global pandemic

Like many organisations we have had to adapt our service in light of the global Coronavirus pandemic. Our face to face mediation service has been significantly curtailed but we are still providing support via phone, email and Zoom (or other on-line facilities) where appropriate. The following guide will help you to understand our resolution dispute support process and manage your expectations during the pandemic and the associated restrictions that apply, to keep both you and our mediators safe.

All our neighbourhood resolution support and mediation services adhere to strict confidentially and independent rules; we will not share any of your comments or information with the other party unless we have asked your permission to do so, nor do we take sides in a dispute.

If you decide to engage with our resolution support service this is what will happen:

  1. Once you have agreed to participate in mediation/neighbourhood resolution a trained mediator will be allocated to your case and you will be advised of their name.

  2. The first task of the mediator will be to listen to each party separately, to understand the nature of the dispute. You will be asked to think about your expectations for this process and explain what would make things better for you going forward. We will do this by phoning you (at a pre arranged time or using on-line facilities if appropriate) to listen to your position and point of view. We cannot change things in the past and things that have happened already but we aim to work with you and the other party to identify solutions that are acceptable to everyone.

  3. There may at this point in the process, be an opportunity to bring both parties together, if they are willing and able, using Zoom (or other on-line facilities) so that the dispute and resolution can be discussed. This online meeting would be facilitated by the trained mediator allocated to your case. Occasionally the mediator may be accompanied by a colleague on-line and you would be notified of this in advance of the on-line meeting.

  4. If an on-line meeting is not possible, the mediator will gather the expectations and acceptable solutions for each party, either through another phone conversation or via email. The mediator will then share these expectations and solutions, again via phone or email between the parties, with the aim of achieving more acceptable dialogue and resolution for all concerned.

  5. Often at the end of the process, an agreement is reached which both parties are willing to accept. The agreement may be written down and signed but it will not be legally binding.

  6. Our service is primarily concerned with behaviour as opposed to technical or legal detail so please be prepared to accept our input and guidance on this basis.

So, in summary, we’re here to help. We must all maintain social distancing and lockdown rules bring new challenges for everyone, but if we can ease tensions in the community through our neighbourhood resolution support then that will have a positive impact on people’s lives.