Every day, I walk past the boards at this corner. They've been there since I moved to this part of Hackney in 2007.

The only thing that changes is that occasionally someone adds some graffiti, which then gets erased or covered up - most recently with black paint.

That made me think, what if the whole thing was painted with blackboard paint and a supply of chalk provided, so that anyone could draw or write something, without it being a problem?

Of course, people might write or draw rude things... but then, that's the same issue you have on internet message boards. So are there things we can learn from moderation techniques in online communities that could help make a space like this work?

We could also do something about the pavement and the ground in front of the board, which is a bit of a mess.