FEDERATION SURPRISE AS

RIVERSIDE BOSS QUITS

News that Mr Patrick Leonard is to leave Riverside Housing Association came as an unexpected surprise  this week.

His reason for moving  is not yet known. Nor is it known who will succeed him a regional director in charge of Riverside`s Carlisle operation.

Mr Leonard`s new job is at Howgill Children`s Centre at Whitehaven,  a registered charity.

Mr Leonard took charge  of Riverside  Carlisle  when the city`s 9000 council houses were privatised ten years ago.

Since that time, Riverside`s Carlisle operations have been criticised  many times by the Federation which is now campaigning for the houses to be returned to  city ownership.

The Federation says the houses  should belong to the city as  part of Carlisle`s 100-year old heritage of  building council houses.

News of Mr Leonard`s departure came on the same day  that the Federation was discussing Riverside with members of a Carlisle City Council scrutiny panel. A Federation representative went along  to ask a  couple of questions about Riverside.

Particularly, the Federation wanted to  know how well Riverside was coping with its tenants` bedroom tax problems. And also, whether Riverside was being properly  checked  by the council as being fair and efficient with its tenants.

The answers from the panel were very  disappointing- there seemed to be  no scrutiny of Riverside, scrutiny which  might prod the organisation into a better performance.

The Federation will  discuss the disappointing panel meeting and Mr Leonard`s surprising departure at its next meeting  on April 18.

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CARLISLE TENANTS` AND RESIDENTS` FEDERATION…actively helping communities… and campaigning

Carlisle  Tenants` and Residents`Federation  came into being  more than fifty years ago when the city council tenants  needed representatives  to work with the  council. The tenants formed themselves into tenant groups and these groups came together to form the Federation.

The  city council was one of the first civic authorities in the country to build council houses. It continued building for more than 100 years and nationally gained a reputation for excellence.

Today, each  housing estate in the city  now  has its own character and each of them attracts great loyalty from the people living there. The housing estates are a significant  part of the city heritage.

 But the tenant groups on these estates have  largely disappeared  following a change of ownership ten years ago.  The 10,000 Carlisle council houses were then privatised and taken over by the giant Riverside Housing Association of Liverpool which nationally owns 50,000 houses and is one of the biggest housing associations in the country.

For the next six years the Federation  worked with Riverside, as it had previously worked with the city council, and  continued to represent  tenants and the tenants` groups.

But this became a lost cause. The co-operation was going nowhere.  Tenants` groups on each estate were abolished by Riverside. Riverside also attempted to abolish the Federation.

But the Federation refused to be abolished. The Federation  is now more active than ever. It is very involved with helping communities throughout the city. 

At the same time, the Federation  is actively campaigning to support the city heritage of 100 years of notable council housing.

The Federation meets at 7 pm on the third Thursday of every month in the Family Church, Petteril Bank. Riverside tenants and other Carlisle residents are welcome to attend.

Community groups closely associated  with the Federation include the registered charity, Carlisle South Community Association which is based at Petteril Bank and another group, Botcherby Forever. For more than 20 years, the Federation has also actively supported community work run by Upperby Parish  Hall.






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