TWO-FINGER REPLY TO FALSE ACCUSATIONS

Riverside 

and the issue of `elf `n safety

The recent success of author Pat Hitchon  marked a big step forward for her community group friends who  helped her.

 Sadly, Pat (right) has died but her work lives on and her community group friends now recall their battle to help  in the face of deplorable  accusations.

These were made by the giant Riverside Housing Association  of Liverpool in its continuous efforts to stifle any democratic representation by its 6,000 tenants in the Carlisle area.

In the efforts to help Pat, the Botcherby Forever community group fought back and Pat`s successful book was a  two-finger reply to Riverside that its policy of false accusations, black lists and bans on community groups was a disaster.

Pat`s book, Botcherby A Garden Village is a local best seller.  Pat acknowledged in the book`s dedication the help she got  from the group at monthly meetings  over four  years.

The Riverside black list still exists  some years later .

The black list dates from one regular monthly meeting in Botcherby`s Crown Social Club. The group had come into being some months earlier after residents  became concerned about a grandiose  Riverside  Botcherby estate improvement scheme that involved  much demolition of their homes.

All previous meetings of the group  had been held in the social club and all had been attended by Riverside officials, anxious apparently to negotiate a safe  passage for the improvement scheme. It was no secret from the start of the meetings that alcoholic drink had been available at these meetings

So it came as a shock to the group when the Riverside officials failed to turn up at one  meeting, blaming the drink. The officials said that they had been instructed to stay away because of possible drunkenness at the meeting.

But there had never been drunkenness in the past- most community group members had coffee or soft drinks- and the group  would in any case  not allow drunkeness, argued the group officials.

Sorry, replied the Riverside officials.Our management have ruled that we could be in physical danger. Because of Health and Safety regulations, we can attend no more meetings.

Health and Safety as everyone knows has been reduced in popular parlance to `elf `n safety and is a big joke generally.

But to Riverside, Health and Safety was a convenient way  to get back on track to  its previous policy of having nothing to do with community groups and abolishing them if possible.

In their place, Riverside instituted a bullying policy through its obnoxious  Persistent Complaints Procedure  under which it acted as  policemen judge and jury to impose sanctions against tenants and groups.

Pat who was 78 was born in Carlisle and had a career in office management in local government but her creative talents  shone through as a researcher and writer.

With her brother Gil, she  wrote Sam Brough RSA:the Rivers in Bohemia and went on to produce two definitive works of enduring interest: Chanel and the Tweedmaker and Botcherby  A Garden Village



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