One of the highlights of the job I feel privileged to have is getting to meet people who share a love for the city and a passion to do what they can to make it better.

That could simply be a reader who has decided to spend time penning you a letter about an issue or the boss and staff of one of our many fantastic charities.

This week I had the pleasure of spending time in the company of two people who fit firmly into that bracket and are part of an organisation which shares some of the ambitions I'd like the Norwich Evening News to be renowned for.

They were John Litster and Jonathan Hooton, who fulfil the respective roles of administrator and chairman of the Norwich Society.

For those who haven't come across the society, they are made up of a group of people who 'share a love for Norwich'.

In their own words, their aims are to:

? encourage high standards of Architecture and Town Planning in Norwich.

? stimulate public interest in, and care for the beauty, history and character of the city and its surroundings.

? encourage the preservation, development and improvement of features of general public amenity or historic interest.

It's all too easy to bracket an organisation like this as one which simply 'doesn't like change', but to do so in this case would be completely unfair.

I think the Norwich Society plays a vital role in making this the city so many of us love and cherish.

To the people at City Hall who make the big decisions, they may seem an irritant but it's vital for democracy to have a group like this keeping planners on their toes and making sure decisions they make are right for Norwich.

That's all the more so in this era where fewer and fewer people seem willing to engage with local politics and decision making.

They are also a fantastic organisation for highlighting a potential issue and starting a debate – something councils, with their reduced budgets, often find harder to do.

This week's front page about the future of Castle Gardens was a great example of that. It's a wonderful spot that, for whatever reason, is under-used. Under the new administration of John Litster, I'm looking forward to seeing where those conversations go and can guarantee the Evening News will be at the heart of that debate.

•If you have any news, views or feedback then please do drop me a line at david.powles@archant.co.uk