It was intended as a celebration, and it had all the right ingredients: tasty nibbles, free-flowing wine and a room in Westminster. The audience was a rich mix of think tankers, politicians and activists. The purpose was to launch a new book, Transforming Neighbourhoods, a collaboration between the Young Foundation and the local government Improvement and Development Agency, both springs of intelligent thinking about localism. But the good news of the book was overshadowed by the story of one activist who’s spent 30 years fighting for her neighbourhood.