POWER DRESSING AND A CULTURE UNDER FIRE

Riverside and the three women in 

Power dressing in black...Victoria Beckham

black 
The three Riverside women are always in black, power dressing as it is known. 

Riverside Housing Association`s Three Women  in Black have power. And they use it, naturally.

 But sometimes, Riverside`s Three Women in Black use their power in a way that is controversial and in the past, that power has been   criticised.

Particularly strong criticism was made recently by the Longtown Riverside tenants at the last meeting of their new tenants` group, Longtown Action for Power, which has been formed to fight Riverside following two winters of freezing homes and the dreaded prospect of a third winter.

The Longtown tenants are not the only critics of Riverside.

In fact, Riverside power  as a whole in the Carlisle area is now under  the  critical spotlight.  

Councillor Michael Gee is so concerned about what he calls the “Riverside autocratic culture” that he is now campaigning to get a change in that culture, he told fellow Carlisle councillors this week.

Who then are Riverside`s Three Women in Black? What job do they do, dressed in this powerful fashion? And are they part of that culture criticised by Councillor Gee?

The Three Women in Black are junior bosses of  Liverpool-based Riverside, and they are  a well-known threesome on  doorsteps of the housing estates in and around Carlisle where Riverside owns more than 6.000 homes.

The Three Women in Black threesome always seems to have clip boards as the three move together on calls to those tenants who have problems and to some tenants who have none.

Now the question is being asked: Is this “power” approach to tenants and

leaseholders appropriate, particularly in view of the criticism of Councillor Gee?

Three power-dressed women on your doorstep with clip boards can make for a very unequal confrontation  for a complaining tenant, possibly full of anger,  recovering from having spent a  long spell of freezing nights in a sleeping bag on the floor.

And  three power-dressed women on your doorstep with clip boards can make for a very unequal confrontation for a pensioner in her seventies wondering how she will cope with the next energy bill if it is £4,000 and more, like the last bill.

What  then exactly was the criticism  by Councillor Gee that relates to the “power” approach of the Three Women in Black.

Councillor Gee told the city council`s Overview and Scrutiny Panel that he had received several complaints from  Riverside leaseholders in his Dalston ward.

Coun Gee...  determined on an explanation

He had therefore gone  to see Mr Dean Butterworth, Riverside`s regional director to find out why the leaseholders were not satisfied with Riverside- the leaseholders, he said, were not getting replies to their letters and were unable to cope with this situation.

Mr Butterworth, he said, had told him the culture among the staff at Riverside was not right and he had been trying to change that culture since he took over  at Carlisle nearly a year ago.

What then was wrong with the Riverside culture?

After the meeting, Councillor Gee explained:”The culture problem is that Riverside are far too autocratic- a deplorable attitude among all the staff of... `We are the great Riverside and we are here!`”.

Councillor Gee said that in view of the

 many  complaints about Riverside he had received from all over Carlisle and district, he was  now determined to get a full explanation of what was going on.

There were, he said, other complaints too, particularly about the Riverside charges now being imposed.

Councillor Gee has now gone on holiday. He said he will continue his campaign on his return.

Meanwhile, many people now hope there will soon be a switch  from black oufits in three Riverside wardrobes.

Hopefully,... a switch to pastel shades?.

The Longtown tenants are supported by Carlisle  Tenants` and Residents Federtion which publishes this blog. Information about the Federation is available on the first post of th
is blog, dated March 25 2013