Community mediation

Conflict can often arise between neighbours, people in clubs and organisations and between groups or organisations.

Mediation provides an opportunity to repair relationships and to build a strategy on how to work or move forward together. Mediation is cost effective and is a real alternative to damaging and often long running disputes.

Community Mediation aims to resolve disputes between individuals and groups within a community. Common examples of community mediation include neighbour dispute mediation for homeowners, private tenants & local authority tenants, resolution of disputes between members of a residents association, resolution of disputes between members of ethnic groups, or between ethnic groups and other communities. 

Community mediation assists members of a community to self-determine the resolution of their dispute and to avoid lengthy and costly litigation.  Community mediators should ideally reflect the diversity of the community they are serving. Where mediating a dispute involving an ethnic group or groups, community mediators should have awareness-of and sensitivity-to their customs. 

Depending on the nature of the dispute, community mediation may be provided on a low-cost or free basis, by voluntary mediators. There is sometimes an overlap between Community Mediation and Civil & Commercial Mediation; for example, mediation between a local community or representative groups and a commercial entity that wishes to develop property in the area.