WHOSE SONG IS CAROL SINGING?

Riverside
spin doctor
rubbish hides
tenants` 
distress

Why did we win? Why did we lose?And who was to blame? The political debate goes on...Even the Riverside  Housing Association`s spin doctors  have joined in with what appears to be a good dollop of rubbish.

The  sticky fingerprints of these spin doctors  is clearly evident in an article couple of days ago about the general election  in the influential social housing magazine, Inside Housing .

The article is  claimed to be written by the Carol Matthews, the   overall boss of Riverside, the giant Liverpool property development organisation.

The article says:”Let us readjust to the new political landscape after the election and focus on the communities we serve”.

If Riverside  Chief Executive Officer Matthews  really believes  what she has written  here and  has not written this rubbish to order  from her spin doctors she need go no further than do a bit of her precious focussing on the  community of Longtown(Cumbria).

In Longtown, her precious focussing would find a great deal of distress hidden away by her spin doctors.

In Longtown, sixty of Ms. Matthews` tenants are now destined for a fourth winter of freezing homes because they cannot afford  to pay for the energy produced by her dodgy boilers in their homes.

Fortunately, the general election has produced some genuine focussing on Longtown: the five Penrith and the Border constituency candidates all expressed their  support for the freezing tenants in their continued  distress. (See the previous post on this blog).

Much of this genuine focussing by the candidates follows a lot of hard work in the background by Paul Dill, secretary of the tenants` group, Longtown Action for Heat. He has managed to fit   this valuable support for the tenants between his exams at Lancaster University where he is studying computer science.

For Paul, 22, computer science is a handy course to study  because he is  also fast developing his Facebook entry which is  devoted to Longtown  Action for Heat.The entry is fast expanding ( and is where, incidentally, this blog is also available.)

And there has been genuine focussing too from Carlisle City Council.The Labour council leader Councillor Colin Glover and Longtown  Conservative councillor Ray Bloxhan had an hour-long meeting last week in the leader`s civic centre office with two of leading members of Longtown Action for Heat.

The two,  Chairman Jimmy Robb and his colleague Tim Hall were impressed with their  warm reception.Jimmy said afterwards:”I don`t think Councillor Glover realised the full extent of the Longtown problem.

“ We were glad to supply him with a  great number of documents as evidence of Riverside`s appalling management for many years. We look forward to a further meeting and taking things forward again.”

Councillor Bloxham has supported the Longtown tenants  since the heating problems started. And another Longtown councillor, Cumbria county councillor Val Tarbitt  is also a  continued stauch supporter.

She is hopeful for some success from the city council initiative. She is continuing with plans for more meetings with Jimmy Robb and Tim Hall.

Councillor Glover  plans further meetings with Riverside tenants  throughout the Carlisle area as he builds up a picture of the full  extent of Riverside`s  many failings over the years.

One city councillor told this blog:”Councillor Glover has a big task ahead of him.There are lots of Riverside tenants and leaseholders with lots of worries and they all have to be listened to.”

Sadly, this months`s council elections were not kind to one man who started this listening- and  also started genuine focussing on the Longtown tenants` plight. Liberal Democrat Councillor Michael Gee lost his city council seat at Dalston despite admirable work helping struggling Riverside leaseholders and tenants.

Carlisle Tenants` and Residents` Federation which has campaigned  for many years against Riverside has paid tribute to the  work of Councillor Gee  and his efforts which resulted in his being the first councillor to succeed in getting the city council involved in helping the tenants and leaseholders.

A spokesman said:”This was an  historic breakthrough.Councillor Gee deserves our grateful thanks”

 
Community Voice Carlisle is the blog of Carlisle Tenants` and Residents` Federation. Information  about the Federtion is available on 01228 522277 or 01228 532803.