HOUSING RESOURCE CENTRE -"JUST WINDOW DRESSING"

The white elephant

in the

room

An imposing sign said it all. The sign was just a yard or two inside  the entrance to the Carlisle city centre head office of Riverside Housing Association.

The sign appeared to leave no-one in any  doubt about the great importance to Riverside of its  6,000 Carlisle tenants.

Head office in Botchergate, Carlisle

The sign said: “Tenants` Resource Centre.”

 Inside the resource centre  was  an impressive battery  of computers- a couple of dozen or so along with  a load of office equipment to go with them.  

All in all, everything seemed to be provided:  more than enough to keep the most industrious Carlisle tenants happy, tapping away and clicking a mouse for hours on end.

 Money not been spared: the cost was an estimated  £20,000 . It appeared that Riverside - based in Liverpool 100 miles away -  had done its faraway tenants very proud when the centre opened in English Gate Plaza, Botchergate 15 years ago.

That was was soon after Riverside moved into the city to take over the city council houses.

But  there was a problem. Although everything was splendid and grand, the Carlisle  Riverside  Tenants` Resource Centre  seemed at attract few tenants. In fact it appeared under-used.

Worse than that, people said the centre wasn`t being used at all.

As the computers gathered dust, concerned tenants and community groups protested to Riverside that  the centre was in the  wrong place. Most tenants lived up to a couple of miles away on the estates  at the edges of the city

These tenants were not going to pay a bus fare to get to use a computer in a city centre office, especially as the centre was  open only during the day.

Instead, the centre should be located to be handy  for where people lived said the concerned tenants and community groups.

But Riverside ignored the protests And the computers gathered  more dust. Eventually the much-vaunted Tenants` Resource Centre  appeared to become  just another office in the Riverside head office complex.

Now it appears that the Tenants Resource Centre will vanish completely  along with the adjacent head office reception desk. Fewer and fewer tenants are calling at the reception desk and there are plans to close it.

 Sarah Paton, Riverside`s north region director explained:

“We believe  it will be  much more cost-effective to invest in providing services in our neighbourhoods.”

This seems to be a long-winded way of saying what the concerned tenants and community groups had been saying for years, said a spokesman for Carlisle Tenants` and Residents` Federation which publishes this blog.

The spokesman added: “ Riverside`s so-called Tenants` Resource Centre was doomed  from the start. The big sign and all the computers gave  the impression of it being  an exceptional high grade facility  provided by caring landlord.

“But it soon became obvious that  the so-called resource centre was nothing more than expensive  window dressing that quickly became a white elephant.

“Despite the protests over the years that  any resource centre should be located  on the estates where people live, Riverside took no notice.

“Now 15 years later the penny has dropped. Riverside is at last to  make  some sort of new effort on the  estates.”

“Riverside`s tenant resources are at last to be centred on where they are needed"


Carlisle Tenants` and Residents` Federation publishes this blog. Information about the Federation is available on 01228 522277 or 01228 532803