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Arthur Henderson House & William Banfield House Tenants and Residents Association. www.fulhamresident.com [email protected] TRA Mins July2016 full ANONl.docx Page 1 of 3 Minutes of meeting 26/07/16 Present. TRA: Chair, Secretary & Treasurer. Pinnacle: Housing Manager (HM) Tenants/Residents: 6 Welcome everyone, Fire exits pointed out, apologies received from1 resident. April’s minutes read through and approved. Garden Club (GC) Update from club steward. Since the last TRA the GC has had its first meeting, all plots are now allocated although 3 of these are under advisement for upkeep and there is a waiting list. Membership forms and fees are in all bar 2. A club member has given a small donation and there is a promise of £150 from a sponsor, no expenses as yet and they are in the process of opening an account with Barclays. The Shed and water butt has been installed, the club will also will be adding a planter and furniture (donations) to further enhance the space. There is some water pooling which is to be addressed. There is great enthusiasm from the members which reflected in the Summer picnic, which was also attended by Pinnacle, Ground works and the Fulham Chronicle. Food and drink was provided and it was an enjoyable day had by all. Several awards were given out, supplied by pinnacle. Overall this project is a great success and is enjoyed by many. Chairs report. Again the chair has surpassed himself with a comprehensive in depth report, handed out to all present, detailing progress on repairs done and pending, where we are with the water issue. Housing Manager injects here how the chair’s research has had a knock on effect for many estates who are now pursuing this… no tenant can be evicted due to non-payment of water charges. This also helps prove the problem of the unfit for purpose plumbing on the estate. The chair has asked that tenant’s let him know of any flooding issues to further his report for the council. This all shows people power at its best. We have had 1 refund so far; second one is due.

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Page 1: Arthur Henderson House & William Banfield House …btckstorage.blob.core.windows.net/site14485/User Files...Arthur Henderson House & William Banfield House Tenants and Residents Association

Arthur Henderson House & William Banfield House Tenants and Residents Association.

www.fulhamresident.com

[email protected] TRA Mins July2016 full ANONl.docx Page 1 of 3

Minutes of meeting 26/07/16

Present. TRA: Chair, Secretary & Treasurer. Pinnacle: Housing Manager (HM) Tenants/Residents: 6

• Welcome everyone, Fire exits pointed out, apologies received from1 resident.

• April’s minutes read through and approved.

Garden Club (GC) Update from club steward. Since the last TRA the GC has had its first meeting, all plots are now allocated although 3 of these are under advisement for upkeep and there is a waiting list. Membership forms and fees are in all bar 2. A club member has given a small donation and there is a promise of £150 from a sponsor, no expenses as yet and they are in the process of opening an account with Barclays. The Shed and water butt has been installed, the club will also will be adding a planter and furniture (donations) to further enhance the space. There is some water pooling which is to be addressed. There is great enthusiasm from the members which reflected in the Summer picnic, which was also attended by Pinnacle, Ground works and the Fulham Chronicle. Food and drink was provided and it was an enjoyable day had by all. Several awards were given out, supplied by pinnacle. Overall this project is a great success and is enjoyed by many. Chairs report. Again the chair has surpassed himself with a comprehensive in depth report, handed out to all present, detailing progress on repairs done and pending, where we are with the water issue. Housing Manager injects here how the chair’s research has had a knock on effect for many estates who are now pursuing this… no tenant can be evicted due to non-payment of water charges. This also helps prove the problem of the unfit for purpose plumbing on the estate. The chair has asked that tenant’s let him know of any flooding issues to further his report for the council. This all shows people power at its best. We have had 1 refund so far; second one is due.

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Arthur Henderson House & William Banfield House Tenants and Residents Association.

www.fulhamresident.com

[email protected] TRA Mins July2016 full ANONl.docx Page 2 of 3

• Issues of pet litter/bedding going in the chutes – this should be taken down and placed in the bin, also bagged rubbish being left by the side of bins when they are empty. Letters to go out to all residents/tenant’s.

• Pinnacle plan to lock off all bin doors. • Chutes have been jet washed, but confusion of yearly `deep clean’ of

stair wells. To be clarified be Head of Caretaking. • Caretaker has key to unlock the recycling bins… as the small opening

is giving some tenant’s problems. • The residents conference was well attended and the chair took the

opportunity to raise issues with various teams and talk about computer training for residents once our hall is built. The chair encourages people to contribute/ attend resident committees, not much time commitment but helps the estate if represented.

• Our bid for lockable bike sheds, has been unsuccessful, awaiting confirmation as to why, but still to pursue bid, due to another bike theft on the estate.

The chair is going to review all last year’s estate inspection reports to ensure all repairs have been completed. Community Hall. Housing Manager and chair attended a catch up meeting. Problems yet again due to budget/plans. Chair has pursued this and had a project plan ready, tenders to be in by Thursday, Chair will hear on Friday when its going ahead. Parking. We have had an interim meeting about the parking, all tenants should have received their survey/choice of what parking we want on the estate, these have to be back by the 8/8/16. Please continue to send your photos of vehicles parking on the estate to Housing Manager or chair …with no risk to yourself when taking them. Annual General meeting. Chair asks Treasurer for her report. We have had our yearly audit done and have a total of £2,060.18 in the bank, we are now due this year’s grant. Chair thanks secretary, treasurer and Housing Manager for their help and support and thanks all for taking the time to attend, he hands proceedings over to Housing Manager after all Committee members have resigned from their posts. Housing Manager thanks interim chair for taking over and achieving so much after both the Chair and vice chair left at the end of last year. She asks for the new nominations for officers of the TRA and they are.

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Arthur Henderson House & William Banfield House Tenants and Residents Association.

www.fulhamresident.com

[email protected] TRA Mins July2016 full ANONl.docx Page 3 of 3

• Chair – Interim Chair elected. • Treasurer – re-elected. • Secretary – re-elected.

Those present agree to be committee members. A.O.B

• 40-50 AHH – flooding, nasty smell as not draining, Health risk issue. Known to be cracked broken pipes in area. This is our plumbing issue, not been touched since estate built. This is a capitol programme work and needs to be done before all new road markings go down otherwise it will be costing more.

• Next meeting Tuesday 11th October @ 6:30.

This is an anonymised version of the meeting minutes for distribution to the members of the TRA via the website.

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WilliamBanfield&ArthurHendersonTenant&ResidentAssociation

YoucanemailtheTRAat–[email protected]–http://www.fulhamresident.com

You are invited to your Annual General Meeting;

Tuesday 26th July 2016, 6.30pm. Lancaster Court Community Hall, Darlan Road. SW6

Annual General Meeting (AGM) agenda.

• Welcome, apologies for absence, structure of AGM. • Approve April 2016 meeting minutes. • Chairs report – update on ongoing business. • Parking – the proposals. • Garden Club update. • TRA yearly financial statement, election of officers and

committee members for following year. • Any other business.

o Anything you wish to raise or place on next agenda. Set a date for next meeting. This is your Tenant & Resident Association (TRA) and in our short history we have achieved much to the benefit of us all. We welcome everyone who lives on the estate. We encourage residents to take an active part in the TRA giving the support and time that they can. We are always seeking additional Committee Members to keep the TRA going. So if you can attend a few meetings a year.

The Annual General Meeting is the most important meeting of the year. You are welcome to come and get more involved; stand for election as an officer or join the committee. Without your help we cannot keep going for the next year.

Join in, and help keep us going! Lancaster Court Community Hall is a 5-minute walk down Fulham Road towards Fulham Town Centre. You can also take a 14 or 414 bus and alight by “Sainsbury’s” just before Fulham Fire Station. Using the Estate entrance way opposite the crossing. Make your way to the centre of the estate where the Community Hall & playground is clearly signposted.

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Tenants&ResidentsAssociation.

ChairsReport

26thJuly2016

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Table of Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................... 2

Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................... 2Update to April 2016 meeting ......................................................................................... 3

Annual General Meeting .............................................................................................. 3Process for election. ................................................................................................ 3Roles for election. ................................................................................................... 3

Neighbourhood watch ................................................................................................. 4Safer Neighbourhood Police Team ................................................................................ 4Anti-social behaviour (ASB) ......................................................................................... 4

Communal Repairs ..................................................................................................... 4Estate Inspections ................................................................................................... 4Flooding ............................................................................................................... 4

Request for secure bicycle storage .................................................................................. 5LBHF Resident Commission and Housing Stock Transfer ......................................................... 5Water Charges .......................................................................................................... 5Community Space Project ............................................................................................. 5

Community Hall ...................................................................................................... 5Garden Club and allotments ....................................................................................... 6

Expectation setting .................................................................................................... 7New activity ............................................................................................................... 8

Website .................................................................................................................. 8Noticeboards ............................................................................................................ 8Maintenance Pipes and estate plumbing ........................................................................... 8Gardening Club ......................................................................................................... 8Caretaking ............................................................................................................... 8

Recycling & bins ...................................................................................................... 8Estate inspections ................................................................................................... 8Deep Cleaning – Chutes, Bin Rooms and stairwells. ............................................................ 9Estate gardening ..................................................................................................... 9

Committees and Meetings ............................................................................................ 9Residents Conference ............................................................................................... 9Communication, Reading & Resident Involvement Committee’s ............................................ 10

Estate Parking ......................................................................................................... 10Current issues with parking ....................................................................................... 10

Parking consultation .................................................................................................. 11Appendix .................................................................................................................. 12

Minutes of last meeting .............................................................................................. 12Safer Neighbourhood Team (SNT) reports ........................................................................ 12

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Introduction This report is presented at the time of our Annual General Meeting (AGM) and in an environment of significant change for the UK as a whole. Change that has yet to be quantified. Our community is very resilient and I hope that post the referendum, regardless of your views, we are all mindful to be respectful to one and other. The impact the referendum might have on us and the council I will cover later in the relevant sections but the general consensus is that it will likely negatively impact on the monies councils will have to spend. There is so much we could do as a Tenant and Resident Association (TRA) and we have seen this with the Garden Club (GC) who have done a tremendous job in the short time they have been growing and running. The Annual General Meeting is an opportunity to reflect on the past year and set some projects for the coming year. If we had more people willing to take on various projects both large and small, we would be able to achieve much more for our estate as we remain hindered by the time and resource currently available. If you are thinking of standing for Chair of the TRA at the AGM but feel the existing project concerning the community hall build is off putting, then I assure you that I will continue to work on this project on behalf of the TRA until completion. If you want to take another role or become a committee members and be available for projects, you will enjoy the full support of the existing committee until you feel able to stand on “your own two feet”. I welcome ideas and suggestions for the estate and any constructive criticism or questions you might have on the activities we pursue. I may not be able to get or give you the answer or solution you seek other than will be honest with the information I have. Our website www.fulhamresident.com is kept up to date with information in between meetings. Meeting documentation will be placed on the website, anonymised and available on request. Thank you for your continued support. Interim Chair.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank our Secretary and Treasurer for another year of service with the TRA and the time and effort they give to us all to support our activities. The TRA owes a debt and gratitude to those who give their free time to meet the aims and aspirations of the group. This is your free time to give and we appreciate it. Similarly, we are grateful to those that run our Gardening Club and our gardeners whose efforts are slowly “bearing fruit”. Our Housing Manager continues to ‘go the extra mile’ for us frequently exceeding her remit we remain very grateful. Feedback to the Housing Management within the council is regular and I note she has recently been awarded the “Trust” award in Pinnacle’s “Values Awards” where 2000 staff were eligible for nomination. We pass our best wishes to her for an award well deserved. Of course we must also thank the Lancaster Court TRA for allowing us to continue to use their Community Hall for our TRA meetings. Finally we thank “La Pizzica” 764-766 Fulham Road for their support of our Gardening Club and London Weekly News for the article published with photographs on the 26th April 2016.

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Update to April 2016 meeting

Annual General Meeting

Under our constitution we have to hold an annual meeting to cover the previous year’s work, present our finances for the previous financial year and elect new officers for the TRA for the year ahead. Though this is the first item for update the process will take place after the presentation of the Chairs Report. The Treasurer will present the yearly audited accounts for the TRA.

Process for election.

• Once the yearly business has been concluded an independent person is sought and agreed, normally our Housing Officer, to run and ensure the election is conducted impartially.

• The Management and Committee then resign and our independent person takes over the meeting.

• Nominations for management positions are then open and you can nominate yourself.

• In turn each position is subject to a vote even if there is only one candidate. This is to ensure the TRA gives

their support to the candidate standing.

• Once the Management has been elected. Committee Members are then sought for the year.

• The independent person passes the meeting back to the new Chair.

Roles for election.

Committee.

Management

Chair Acts for, on behalf of, and represents, the TRA. Ensures the constitutional duties are met. To deliver TRA projects, deal with estate wide business, plan and hold TRA meetings and protect the estate interests. Not exhaustive list of duties as it varies and limited by capacity and resource.

Vice-Chair To support the activities of the TRA and Chair. Ensure a smooth transition between AGM’s by taking on role of Chair should the Chair resign.

Secretary Deals with TRA administration i.e. preparation and writing of notes.

Treasurer All things TRA financial.

Committee Members The TRA needs to have a number of Committee Members who commit to attend the meetings where there is a constitutional obligation for a ‘quorum’. Essentially these are residents who support the TRA and who are willing to at least attend the AGM to ensure that elections meet the constitutional test to satisfy the local council and recognise the TRA for funding etc.

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Non-elected roles. Members are every eligible resident on the estate. Eligible residents are those who are council tenants or leaseholders. Eligible residents are automatically members of the TRA by virtue of residency.

Neighbourhood watch

The estate is a Neighbourhood Watch Scheme recognised by the local police service. Efforts have started to get the estate recognised as an independent scheme as well on the Neighbourhood Watch website. Details of the current interim Chair have been passed onto local neighbourhood policing team as the scheme co-ordinator.

Safer Neighbourhood Police Team Details of the most current crime available data are in the appendices.

Anti-social behaviour (ASB) Anecdotally it would seem in recent months there has been a rise in Anti-social behaviour on the estate. If you have a problem with Anti-social behaviour you can raise this with our Housing Manager. If it is a crime, then notify the police on 999 for emergencies or 101 for non-emergencies. If you want to report a crime but wish to remain anonymous then you can also use Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. Keep the Housing Manager informed as they might not know if you have reported anything to the Police because they are not always informed by them. The reported Anti-Social Behaviour in William Banfield House that was causing the main door to be damaged repeatedly as well as the impact on residents in that part of the building has been resolved.

Communal Repairs

Jobs logged by reference number;

• 247570 – Flooding to ground floor 31-40 WBH. This will require the replacement of the rear door used to also gain access to the Community Space and gardens. On-going.

• 249175 – 41-50 WBH Main Door requires repair glass etc. Complete. • Issue with doors 11-20 AHH booked to be repaired on the 27th July.

I have also had the lock to the rear door of 1-10 WBH repaired so it engages securely. There was also a concern raised about the antennas on the roof of Arthur Henderson House (AHH).

Estate Inspections Caretaking owe us a FB11 padlock as our spare was deployed to the entry gate by AHH to secure it as the existing padlock had broken. Noticing children swinging on said gate that the cars use to enter and leave the estate meant speed was required. Chasing a replacement. The playground area requires new bark chips to be laid as the plastic that is in place to stop weeds coming through is beginning to show and is a potential trip hazard. Parks and recreations department are to resolve. Bollards are down for replacement where we have lost them mainly due to parking incidents. The tree growing out of the wall in the Community Space area is now to be removed. Finally, there is graffiti inside one of the stairwells in WBH that we are seeking a solution for removal.

Flooding Flats across both blocks have suffered severe flooding for different reasons. In one of these situations the council has acted very slowly and much effort undertaken by both our Housing Officer, Director of Housing and the Chair in support of the residents has sought to bring some progress to resolution. The issues are complex and ongoing

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however one of the cases involves one of our senior residents and another a young family for whom the remediation and due process that ought to have been followed has failed. If you call the emergency services or the on-duty repair teams during the night because of an electrical, gas or water related incident I would ask that you let our Housing Officer know. In the case of flooding that can impact more than one household the Housing Officer won’t always be automatically informed. There is a relationship here to the broader estate plumbing infrastructure being no longer fit for purpose and I will cover the actions later in this report.

Request for secure bicycle storage

I am informed verbally that our HIP bid was not successful. We have also experienced a further bike theft. I will continue to pursue funding for the storage and await confirmation in writing as to why our bid was declined. One of our neighbours has kindly agreed to write a statement in further support of our bid and I will seek alternative funding streams.

LBHF Resident Commission and Housing Stock Transfer

At the Residents Conference it was mentioned that the Resident Board taking over from the Resident Commission was still seeking members though the recruiting round had completed. Though the project continues the council has to assess the impact of the referendum and they are cautioning that the project might face some delay accordingly.

Water Charges

As the interim Chair is also the member who was dealing with this matter its appropriate to update here on the current situation with water charges. One of the Directors of Housing has agreed from our lobbying to a further reassessment of last financial years water charge and that a further refund is to be paid to residents. The process is very slow and I continue to chase this. As part of the reassessment a project to understand how flats are billed was undertaken and we now know that all WBH properties and only 30 properties in AHH (1-10, 41-60) are billed based on the communal water meter. All other properties, 30, in AHH are unmetered and 13 of these billed directly by Thames Water. So my activity to get fair billing only applies to those properties served by the communal water meter. There has been a legal case between a Council Tenant and Southwark Council that has major ramifications for councils across the UK. Details are on our website. The council are fully aware of this and are to set up a “Water Charging Working Party” that I have accepted an invitation to join. The impact of this case for residents could result in further refund of historical charges. It also has a major impact on eviction served on the basis of non-payment of Water Charge. Until the council has had an opportunity to consider the impact of the legal case for residents and its finances there is no ‘concrete’ plan or information yet as to what will happen and when? You will be kept up to date at TRA meetings and of course via our website.

Community Space Project

Community Hall Grateful to the support of our Housing Officer who called a meeting so they could feed back to stakeholders. It was clear that there seemed to be a lack of ‘discipline’ in the project, at least from the information that was coming to the TRA. The meeting started with mention of a “traditional build’ was being tendered for as part of the tendering process. The team were made very clear that introducing this approach so late was unacceptable and that much had been

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made of the cost of a ‘traditional build’ always being well outside of available budget. The meeting tried to go off on ‘tangents’ but ended with the team being very aware of the displeasure from the TRA and a list of deliverables. The meetings have been few with only two this year and they are never pre-prepared with an agenda. Fortunately, I cannot do meetings without one so will always draft my own and follow it strictly as it gives structure. The project group have been made aware that it does seem as if this is more an exercise in prevarication and barrier rather than a build. I was clear that if the project team believed they could ‘kill this project’ they were very much mistaken and assured them of my commitment to get it done. It seemed strange to me that there was no Project Plan and I reflected that when I was working in IT in the City no project would have been sanctioned let alone progressed with such a plan. That if seemed the lack of a project plan accounted from the chaotic nature of delivery. There was also an issue with our planning application as the officer dealing with it was on leave for several weeks. Some issues with environmental preferences on the part of the council which given the lack of data from the project team meant we couldn’t apply for additional funding but have undertaken do so one the structure is built. Namely a “green roof” and water capture. We have made positive progress and in the right direction with information flowing much better. We have a project plan now and intervening with the Director of Planning has prioritised our application. I have spoken directly with planning and though expecting a result last Friday have been assured a decision will be made by the end of this week and the feedback is positive for an approval. The tendering process is almost complete and it has been clear that the TRA is to be fully involved in the decision making regarding the items that will be included given the limitation on our finite budget. This will naturally create a list of items we would like or have undertaken to pursue once the building is complete for which there are other grant funding streams available. There will be a meeting of the core project team to the exclusion of the TRA this week to whittle down the tenders which is reasonable. My expectation is the TRA will get the outcome of this meeting and then be wanting to have a follow up of project team and stakeholders to review. Groundworks who are part of the project team will be leaving this process as their part is complete. The TRA passed on the gratitude for the work. The only major item is the “pooling of water’ and that is a matter for Mitie who remain a key partner in the team to repair. The meeting was made aware of the Annual General meeting and that I wanted feedback accordingly. They were made aware there could be a new permanent Chair of the TRA. I reassured the project team that if there was a new Chair I would continue to manage the project on the TRA behalf as it would be wholly unreasonable for a new person to get up to speed and be able to comprehensively deal with the matter. Should no one come forward for election to the Chair position I would intend to make good on my commitment to the TRA and continue to act on an interim basis until the building project was complete. That I was committed to the delivery of the project and would continue. On current plan sets the build back to the end of the year however the Project Manager is clear that subject to approval and quick turnaround on the remaining issues the build is to start September.

Garden Club and allotments The Garden Club is up and running with only a few issues outstanding before the project is complete. Mitie are working on the “pooling” of water and the Steward of the Garden Club is kept up to date. If you have not taken a visit to the rear of WBH to see the progress and life that our gardeners have brought to a rather depressing area, I would encourage you to do so. The London Weekly News wrote an article when they attended the “handover” process attending again for the Summer Picnic event.

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Cycling The TRA is trying to provide secure cycle hangars and consideration to funding these within any surplus building budget will be considered.

Expectation setting

The TRA is short on capacity, resource and time at the moment with the loss of two officers at the end of 2015. This limits the ability of the TRA to take on new projects or activities. It is also fair to all officers that members are set the correct expectations. The TRA, clubs, activities and benefits happen because some members give their free time to them and give it a priority amongst there other commitments. What we have achieved to date and aspire to achieve in the future is down the goodwill of individuals who gift their time to us. It is worth pointing out that anyone that volunteers their free time can withdraw it at any time. All any of us can do is ask we cannot make demands and so if there is an activity, issue or project you want the TRA to undertake consider giving your own free time to it where the TRA will of course support you. No one is entitled to this time, if it is the gift of the bearer. Officers are not employed by the TRA nor do they receive any compensation or remuneration for the work and time they give the TRA, its clubs or its activities. The vast majority of members appreciate this for some there is an understandable confusion with the boundaries between the council and the TRA. The TRA deals with common estate-wide issues and projects. It is not a replacement for the Housing Services provided by the council. The TRA is unable to deal with individual specific tenant’s issues that would ordinarily fall within the responsibility of the tenant to resolve with their landlord, or in the case of leaseholders the council as the owner and provider of the estate and its services. If you are facing a complex resolution to an issue where it should be straightforward, please let the TRA know as this might point to an estate wide issue that would then fall under the TRA remit. The TRA is communal in nature and cannot get involved in personal tenancy issues. Personal tenancy issues are a matter for the council and Housing Services. Communication can be difficult and delivering a Community Hall will make this much easier in the future. The TRA has a duty to undertake reasonable efforts to communicate with residents as a whole constrained by resource but residents equally have a choice to engage and a responsibility also. We currently meet quarterly, use the noticeboards, now have a website and email communication. The council and Resident Involvement Team are keen to build capacity amongst residents and tenants and the TRA has a role here. There are training courses available for those that would like to take up an officer role. If you want to take up an estate issue or project on your own but feel you don’t have the confidence or skill, the TRA will always support you where you require, to build confidence and increase your skillset. Residents and tenants need to be aware that they are responsible for their visitors whilst they are on the estate and for leaseholders that sublet they are responsible for their tenants and their tenant’s visitors.

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New activity

Website

Our website www.fulhamresident.com is regularly updated with information and news. The website and email details for the TRA and Garden Club are on every notice board. I would encourage those who undertake roles in the TRA and/or its club’s setup a separate email account for there TRA business. This keeps their private email, private, but also if the person undertaking the role changes then all that has to be passed on are the login details for the account giving access to all the emails contained therein historically and ensuring a smooth transition. The Chair offers any assistance required in this regard.

Noticeboards

These remain regularly updated and we try to keep the paperwork and ‘clutter’ down.

Maintenance Pipes and estate plumbing

The TRA has become aware of mounting issues with the estate plumbing and is monitoring the situation. If you have experienced a burst or leaking pipe, please deal with it as you normally would but notify us that you have experienced an issue. We will collect this data and if necessary use it to evidence any case we might wish to take to the management of the estate if it is in danger of becoming a major issue. It is clear not least given some major flooding caused by poorly maintained plumbing that the state of the estate pipework needs a more focused approach. I have set a project to gather all the data I can on the state of plumbing from the water mains and sewerage to the plumbing repair calls logged over the last three years. To this end the council is currently in possession of a Freedom of Information Request (FOIR) to gather this data. I already have some data from the Water Charges issue being pursued also. The current situation with the FOIR is that there is a further delay as the council as seeking to apply the “Public Interest Test”. They have the right to do this and it means they consider if it is in the public interest to release all, some or none of the information requested. We have responded with a further justification and will of course appeal any determination rigorously both within the council and Information Commissioner if appropriate. Working with the TRA I propose we use this data to draft a report that we can then use to lobby the council to make the remediation of our failing plumbing much more of a priority for their Capital Spending program.

Gardening Club

The Garden Club will provide its own update. All I would ask is that the new Shed is kept as empty as possible as it will have to move to create access for the hall build.

Caretaking

We are seeking to obtain better building access for our caretaker. Please let us know of any caretaking issues.

Recycling & bins With new recycling bins on the estate being locked and thus useless to residents who are taking down bulk recycling we are also working to get the lids opened permanently. I am also working with the Council Team that deals with estate recycling on providing bags and a presentation at a future meeting. Presently much of the recycling goes to landfill because the bins become contaminated.

Estate inspections We continue to actively engage in the Estate Inspection Process and I intend to review the last years reports to ensure all works identified have been completed. The last Estate Inspection report will be place in noticeboards this week.

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Deep Cleaning – Chutes, Bin Rooms and stairwells.

Chutes. Please take care about the size and type of rubbish you place into the rubbish chutes. You should not place anything that is likely to cause a blockage and if you have to use force to try and get your refuse into the chute it is too big and very likely just cause a blockage further down. This causes other rubbish to backup with the resulting smells and difficulty in getting it cleared. Residents should not seek to clear these blockages themselves as there are Health and Safety issues. No resident should be putting cat litter or other pet bedding/litter down the chutes it should be taken down and placed in the bin directly. You might well have it sealed in a bag but more often than not on the way down this breaks open spreading the contents everywhere and all over the bin room. The chutes are essential for residents that are unable to use the bin rooms downstairs it is therefore important to keep them from being blocked so our more vulnerable residents can dispose of their waste properly.

Bin Rooms These along with the chutes have been deep jet washed clean a few weeks ago.

Stairwells There seems to be some confusion over our entitlement to a yearly ‘deep clean’ of the stairwells. This is raised every Estate Inspection. Head of Caretaking is to clarify and reply with details.

Estate gardening The “Buddleja/Buddleia” growing out of the wall on the Community Space is currently down as a work job to be removed given the damage it will continue to do to the wall structure.

Committees and Meetings

My attendance is rather poor as its limited by the time I have available for TRA commitments. I do try and prioritise the issues and deal with the estate first. Most of the committee’s and meetings we have contributed to as there is much pre-planning that we can be involved with using email. I would encourage any Tenant or Resident that can give some time to attend committee’s and meetings by giving a few hours at most a month to consider joining the Committee. The time commitment isn’t very big but it is always better if the estate is represented in person at such events.

Residents Conference The Residents Conference was well attended and I took the opportunity to raise estate issues, speak to the Inclusion Team & Citizens Advice Bureau about setting up some computer training for residents once we have our hall. Of particular use was the Leaseholder Workshop I attended as it allowed me to understand and meet leaseholders and the staff that support them in the council. Suggested the council adopt the “Digital by Default” government approach and look to use the verified online account mechanism for the council internet and citizen data access.

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Communication, Reading & Resident Involvement Committee’s I currently contribute to these committees’ though meetings have clashed with other diary commitments. Thankfully much can be done over email. They deal with better communication from the council to residents and of course proof-reading communications. We have contributed to

• The hearing held with Mitie over its contract and service delivery. • Drafted Document templates for use and completion electronically. • Resident Involvement Information Pack • Tenants Handbook • The protocols for communications and appropriate structures. • Inclusion. • Proof-reading

Estate Parking

Estate parking remains a huge problem for residents and Housing Services are doing all they can to discourage errant parking but we are all limited in the short term as to how much resource we can give as there is very little deterrent that can be applied. Please don’t stick any notices to any vehicles that are abusing parking as you might place yourself at risk of ‘causing criminal damage’. The Housing Service can place notices, but please be aware parking control is not a duty or responsibility for them it is done on the same basis as a “favor”. There is good news on the horizon though as our phase (phase 3) of consultation on our preferred estate parking solution is due between April and June 2016. You will see from the budget that is in the appendices that £35,000 has been set aside for this for our estate. The first two phases are well underway and current information is that phase one is due to start on the 1st June for those estates. Depending on the approach the council wants to undertake to consult with residents we might need to call an interim meeting dedicated to our preferred parking solution. Please just be mindful this meeting might happen under the auspices that we have been given short notice. The Head of Estate Services is leading on this project now.

Current issues with parking We are/or have dealt with the following issues since the last meeting;

• Continued with “stickering” cars with notices. • Dealt with a van fire

o Fire risk assessment moving forward o Company directly requested not to park o Photographed o Represented the issues raised by tenants.

• Raised with Senior Housing Management concerns about risk of commercial vehicles on the estate and any controls open to residents.

o Await a response that was requested in time for the meeting. o Will take the views of the meeting forward.

• Dealing with a commercial vehicle that is reported as permanently parked on the estate. • Continue to challenge Housing contractors when the park on the estate. • Dealing with a car parked to the rear of WBH in front of the gate. Not only blocking access for emergency

vehicles to the rear but blocking in Groundworks contractors who were on site at the rear dealing with the gardening project.

Parking inconsiderately is a huge problem that will soon be resolved. It seems to me that no matter how much activity the TRA or Housing Officer undertake the lack of penalty makes the effort in most cases, a waste. So I

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would ask residents to be patient as if we elect for a form of ticketing I feel confident this will resolve the matter very quickly.

Parking consultation

We held an interim parking meeting and by now every property should have received there Parking Consultation Pack from the Council. This must be received by the council no later than Monday 8th August 2016. Every resident whether they own a car or not is entitled to vote and we would encourage you to do so. The current situation is a nightmare not just for existing car owners but also for emergency service access, which we might all rely on at some point. If you have not received your consultation pack, please call 020 8753 5646 and a copy is available on our website. This is the last opportunity for residents to have “their say” on the parking solution that will be delivered. The booklet explains everything but essentially;

• We will need to have the area modernised, new lines and ramp access for wheelchairs where appropriate. • If the majority vote to have a “locked gate” solution, then no other parking enforcement will be available.

This will mean if the gate is left open and a non-resident vehicle parks they will not get a ticket and the Housing Officer will not be able to take any action against their parking.

• We turn our estate into its own parking zone and anyone without a valid permit would be subject to a ticket. Traffic wardens would patrol as they do on the streets.

o If all the estate spaces are taken and a resident has no choice but to park on the street. They would have to pay for parking on the street either every occasion or pay for a second street permit.

• We join an existing parking zone and residents would only require one permit. o As we are part of a bigger zone then off estate vehicles could park on the estate as could their

visitor’s with tickets given for those not paying the right parking fee. • The majority decide to keep parking as it is at the moment.

o There will be no parking enforcement and the Housing Officer would not be able to intervene or take action.

• You can suggest an alternative. The TRA and/or Council are happy to help residents to understand the options available to them.

Note this is an anonymised version for distribution to TRA members via the website.

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Appendix

Minutes of last meeting

This excludes the last “Chairs report” as it was given out at the last meeting. It will be available online or on request.

Safer Neighbourhood Team (SNT) reports

Since the last meeting there has only been one report dated July.