Monday 28 July 2014

WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE




http://www.affectivegaming.info/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/James-Bond.jpgJames 

Bond

and the

Man

from 

Riverside

                                                                                               
James Bond, he was not. But  the Man from Riverside had an air of mystery and intrigue  that had an echo of the legendary British secret agent. It was an echo that made people wonder what exactly  the Man from Riverside was up to.

On the one hand, he was very ready with some very good advice about how to go about things when dealing with his organisation, Riverside Housing Association.

His very good  advice , he explained- at a meeting  of Riverside tenants- was so very good because it came from the very heart of that organisation, 100 miles away in Liverpool. That was where  the Man from Riverside operated, he said.

On the other hand,  the Man from Riverside seemed to be man with a mission...wanting  to change things  within that organisation. His very good advice seemed to be offered so that  those at the meeting would join his crusade to clean up Riverside.

 It was all very surprising and a bit baffling, particularly when the Man from Riverside said he had been asked to stay away from the meeting.

Who had asked him to stay away, the Man from Riverside was asked.”That, I cannot tell you” was his puzzling reply

The meeting was in Longtown and the Man from Riverside had arrived unannounced. 

He then sat in the back row,  behind 25 Longtown tenants as they discussed forming themselves into a tenants` group.

The meeting was the latest episode in the tenants`two-year fight for proper heating in their homes following a botched Riverside scheme for solar panels in 175 Longtown homes.

During the meeting, the Man from Riverside gave his name and his Riverside job. Then came  his “ very good advice” and his appeal to the  tenants to join his crusade. 

Finally, he promised to attend the next Longtown meeting in a week`s time.

Sure enough, he did attend. But the Man from Riverside was a changed man. He still wanted to help and even offered to bring a Riverside director to help the tenants get answers to their problems.

But  he was aggressive too and went  strongly on the attack when there was criticism of his bosses at Riverside.

The Man from Riverside was  becoming more and more baffling.

But the most baffling episode was still to come.

It came in a phone call excusing himself from attendance at a third meeting- he said he had to go into hospital for heart tests. But the Man from Riverside had good news to relate.

“Riverside is going to put everything right for the tenants” he said. “It will all be underway by the next meeting.”

The news was very improbable and certainly unbelievable.

“ Don`t ask me how I know” he added mysteriously.

Then,  surprisingly, the  Man from Riverside said something  about a drink(coffee) that  seemed to have  another  real echo of James Bond himself. Bond, of course, was famous  for preferring his drink (Martini ) “shaken not stirred.”

The Man from Riverside said: “Riverside has at last woken  up and smelled the coffee”

But by then, the Longtown tenants had smelled something else.

Sunday 20 July 2014

BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD








 Children`s 


posters  

boost 


bin-your-mess


campaign



A sparkling new play play area deserves sparkling new ideas.

And that is what is happening  in Petteril Bank, Carlisle where a start on a new play area is being made this  week in Dale End Park.

The sparkling new ideas for the play area are coming from  the children who will play there. They are pupils of nearby Petteril Bank School who  have made these posters.

The posters are to be displayed on stakes in the park to help keep it free of dog muck by encouraging dog owners to use the refuse bins.

The message on the posters is :”Good  owners do- bad owners don`t!”
 
The children`s poster idea came from Jenny Cray, a leading  Carlisle campaigner for clean parks and clean streets.

Jenny is also a leading light in the Petteril Bank group, Carlisle South Community Association which has  played a big part in organising and promoting  the play area scheme.

Jenny   worked on the posters idea with the Petteril Bank School head teacher and her staff. The children did the rest....eyes down, with pencils, pens  and crayons.
 
Jenny is delighted with the  posters( the best six are displayed here).

She said;”We have had wonderful help from the staff and  pupils- they have done a great job. The posters will go a long way to keeping the park  tip top. No one likes to play in a dirty area”.

Also delighted with the posters is Jonathan May, Site Management Team Leader of Carlisle City Council Green Spaces Department who put the nuts and bolts  of  the play area  scheme together.
 
Jonathan said: “We at the city council are  very pleased that the Petteril Bank School pupils are now  directly involved with the play area. 

"As they use the equipment on the area, they will see their own posters on display

 “Hopefully, the posters will be a constant  reminder to the children of their stake in Dale End Park and 

how they have helped to make it a better place to play in."
 


The scheme has cost  more than £70,000. Most of the money (£60,000) came from community investment by Aldi Supermarkets as part of the 106 agreement for their new Petteril Bank store.

 Local county councillor Deborah Earl contributed £500, Cumbria Waste Management, £15,000 and Cumbria County Council Community Fund, £500.




Community Voice Carlisle is the blog of Carlisle Tenants` and Residents` Federation. Information about the Federation is available on the first post of this blog dated March 25 2015

Tuesday 15 July 2014

`VERY SORRY FOR THE DISTRESS CAUSED`




PRESS NOTICE


HOUSING MINISTER 

SYMPATHY FOR 

FROZEN-OUT

TENANTS

The Housing Minister, Kris Hopkins M.P. says he is “ very sorry” for Riverside Housing  Association   tenants in Longtown (Cumbria) who haven`t been able to  heat their homes properly  for two years following a  botched up solar panel scheme.

The minister  suggests that the tenants- estimated  to be about sixty-  should contact the Housing Ombudsman for help. Mr Hopkins adds, in a letter to Penrith and the Border M.P., Mr Rory Stewart :”I hope the tenants` problems will soon be resolved”.

Mr Hopkins was replying to a letter in support of the  tenants (Mr Stewart`s constituents) sent in April alongside a letter  from Carlisle Tenants` and Residents` Federation which represents the tenants and has given them strong support.

 The Federation  letter was to Mr Eric Pickles M.P. ,Secretary of State for the Department of Communities and Local Government (DCLG), asking him to investigate the Riverside solar panel scheme and the distress it has caused.

Mr Pickles has not yet  replied to the Federation but  his reply to Mr Stewart`s letter is through  one of his ministers, Mr Hopkins.


Mr Stewart has also sent a message to the Federation following the letter from Mr Hopkins. Mr Stewart says: “I  am  happy, as ever, to offer any further assistance to the Longtown tenants in resolving this matter.”

Mr Hopkins` suggestion  about the Ombudsman presents a problem for the Federation and for Riverside. Mr Hopkins says that the tenants, in order to reach the Ombudsman, have first to complain  through  Riverside`s formal complaints procedure.

The problem is this:Riverside has no formal complaints procedure.

A spokesman for the Federation explained: When people complain, Riverside can be very threatening, acting as judge and jury in any reply it makes.


"One tenant was threatened with eviction. And the Federation has been threatened more than once with sanctions under an obnoxious  process known as Riverside`s Persistent Complaints`  Procedure.”

“The whole  business of Riverside threats and the absence of a formal complaints  procedure was condemned last week a meeting of Longtown Action for Heat, the new tenants` group set up to fight for justice from Riverside.

“The Federation hopes to discuss these matters again on Thursday(July 17) at a meeting in Longtown.

“Meanwhile, we thank our M.P. Mr Stewart for his continued help and support.”

Quite separately from his support for the Longtown tenants, Mr Hopkins also made another move. This was in support of tenants in general.  


Mr Hopkins made a speech supporting tenants` complaints.
And, remarkably, the speech coincided with his letter to Mr Stewart.

In the speech, Mr Hopkins said tenants have a right to know how to complain if they get poor service from their social landlord.

"That`s why I am urging MP`s, councils and housing associations to make sure tenants in their area know where to turn for advice and help " he said.

Issued by Carlisle Tenants` and Residents` Federation

Sunday 6 July 2014

THE FIGHT TO END FAVOURITISM




POLICE CALLED TO

TRIGGER-HAPPY

“RIVERSIDE”

FIGHT BACK


Support  for community  action  against Riverside surged this week and questions continued   about what exactly  the Liverpool housing association is up to  with its 6.000 tenants in the Carlisle area.

Why, for example, was it necessary to call police to a Riverside-supported meeting?

And why did Riverside demolish  West Hill care home for the elderly in Brampton without proper consultation- and against strong opposition- only  to be told now, a couple of years later,  that a  care home was essential for the town.

Brampton`s dire need for a care home was expressed  this week by a leading city councillor, Heather Bradley. at a planning meeting.

Riverside is not catering for that dire need. Impact Housing Association however is,  and is to build a replacement home on another site in the town.

Riverside has now built houses on the vacant West Hill site. Houses presumably are more profitable than a care home.

In Longtown, the action group fighting Riverside for proper heating for its tenants got a boost through a prominent article in the weekly newspaper, the Cumberland News.

“Tenants must speak as one...Action group appoints chairman” said the headline on the article.

The action group is to hold a public meeting in Longtown Community Centre on Thursday (July 10). Jimmy Robb, the chairman is  keen to see councillors at the meeting because tenants feel they have let them down.

Also let down by councillors are Riverside`s 200 leaseholders after they elected Carlisle city councillors Nan and Peter Farmer  to represent them in negotiations to solve their long-standing Riverside problems

But the two Farmer councillors were very selective  about which leaseholders they were prepared to help.

Certainly not leaseholder members of Carlisle Tenants` and Residents` Federation. 

These Federation leaseholders sent representatives  to  two of the Farmers` leaseholders`meetings hoping to get help.

But  the two Farmer councillors would have none of it. Before the meetings were allowed to start, the Federation representatives were ordered out.

The representatives quietly refused to budge  and then had to face insults and repeated expressions of support for Riverside.

Finally, at both meetings, the Farmers  called the police  to get the  Federation representatives to leave.

The same thing happened a week ago in the same room of Morton Community Centre at meeting of the Farmers`-run community group, Tenants` and Residents` Association of Morton Park (TRAMP).

Three representatives of the Federation  attended that meeting, all of them anxious to know why Riverside continues with a policy of favouritism: for years Riverside has supported and financed TRAMP but there never has been either finance or support for other similar groups in the city.

But  again, the two Farmers would have none of  it. Before the meeting even started the three Federarion representatives were asked to leave.

And when they quietly refused to budge they faced a torrent of abusive language  and the police were  called for the third time by the two trigger-happy Farmers. The two, incidentally, are no longer councillors.

Needless to say, the leaseholders are no further forward in getting their problems solved. In fact their problems  have increased because  Riverside has brought county court actions against two of them.

And Riverside` policy of favouritism to TRAMP continues.

Brampton is fortunate. It has managed to have Impact.