£80,000 PLAY AREA SCHEME AND BIG HOPES FOR DALE END PARK

COMMUNITY  GROUP

HAS A VIEW…

TO BETTERING THINGS!

 Local people call it the Valley- a popular area for walks beside the River Petteril at Petteril Bank in Carlisle.

But the Valley is also well-known for its panoramic views of  the river- and the  M6 motorway and the West Coast main line- as it  quietly meanders its way into the city,  bound for the  River Eden.

Petteril Bank people say this  view of the river (seen in picture) is one of the loveliest   in the city. 

There are now hopes that this view will soon be much better known  following recent  efforts to improve the area. efforts that were prompted by the local community group, Carlisle South Community Association.

The association is well-known for its environmental work in Petteril Bank. particularly for the efforts led by Jenny Cray (pictured here) to make the area free of dog dirt.

Jenny`s efforts have been given publicity thoughout the city by the city council  Her picture is on the city buses and the council`s rubbish collection lorries. She is vice-chairman of the associaton

Jenny and other members of the association have been working with the city council Open Spaces Team for several months on work to improve the area, starting with the play area in  Dale End Park  which adjoins the Valley.

Groundwork North East and Cumbria is also involved, putting together a £80,000 scheme to  remove and renew play equipment  and install some new items.

The scheme is just a start.

 Hopefully the park and the valley with its lovely views will eventually be improved by more schemes and will eventually take its place alongside  the better-known city parks, Chances Park,  Rickerby Park, Talkin Tarn, and Hammonds Pond.

Carlisle South Community Association is part of Carlisle Tenants` and Residents`Federation.

Community Voice, Carlisle is the blog of Carlisle Tenants` and Residents`Federation. Information about the Federation Is contained in the first post of the blog, dated March 25 2013

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT SHOULD BE UPDATED

RIVERSIDE SHOULD

WORK BY PUBLIC

SECTOR 
RULES

Welcome to the club, Theo Blackwell.

Your nationwide Freedom of Information campaign is a welcome help to what for  years a Carlisle community group has been aiming for.

Theo Blackwell (right) is a leading London borough councillor. He appeared this week on the BBC Two Politics Today show  in a campaigning film to get the Freedom of Information Act updated.

The act applies to local and central government and allows the public to ask for details about how these bodies work. But the act does not apply to private companies, voluntary firms and housing associations who are publicly-funded to carry out work for local and central government.

Councillor Blackwell says the act should apply to these organisations. The Carlisle community group, Carlisle Tenants` and Residents` Federation agrees with that. The group has said so dozens of times in letters, emails, and meetings with councillors and with the city council.

In all these efforts Federation has been aiming to get answers from the Liverpool-based Riverside Housing Association which took over the city`s 6000 former council houses when they were privatised, 

But now Riverside fails to give answers when questions are raised about such issues as the demolition of several blocks of sheltered housing and the recent demolition of one-bedroom flats in Botcherby despite increased demand for one bedroom flats caused by the bedroom tax.

Councillor Blackwell is Cabinet Member for Finance at Camden Borough Council, one of the largest local authorirties in the country, and has overall responsibility and budget setting for £250 million.

 He says he deals with a"complex web"of private contracts. "It is time for  private sector firms to work by public sector rules" says Councillor Blackwell.

And that says the Federation should also apply to Riverside Housing Association. Riverside too should work by public sector rules.

Community Voice Carlisle is the blog of Carlisle Tenants` and Residents`Federation. Information about the Federation is given in the first post of this blog, dated March 25 2013

A CITY WAITS FOR THE MILIBAND EFFECT

THE END  OF COUNCIL HOUSE OWNERSHIP NEVER GOT THE  OPPOSITION IT DESERVED

Ed Miliband has stung  politicians into real  debate again. He stung his party at Brighton last week and this week stung the Tories  at Manchester.

At both party conferences, his threat to the power companies dominated  debates.

Ed Miliband`s sting cannot come soon enough for Carlisle where not so long ago his many supporters succeeded in giving him the city`s backing  when he was elected party leader

These Miliband supporters may now  get a chance to face up to  some of the disasters of the Blair years: the Cumberland Infirmary and the Academy schools –both now among the worst in the country- and the privatisation of the city council houses.

Carlisle council house privatisation never got the political opposition it deserved. Opposition was nowhere to be seen.

What  privatisation did get was an extra political push from John Prescott  when he was communities secretary.

Since then  privatisation has been enthusiastically embraced by the Carlisle Labour leaders, some of whom have joined in as company directors to help privatisation.

These supporters of privatised housing are happy to see consigned to history the social purpose of municipal housing.

And also consigned  to history,  the long tradition of Carlisle council house building lasting over a century and now replaced  by  a giant organisation running the houses for profit from Liverpool 100 miles away.

Ed Miliband`s sting cannot come soon enough for Carlisle.

Community Voice Carlisle is the blog of Carlisle Tenants` and Residents` Federation. Information about the Federation is  contained in the first post of the blog, dated March 25 2013.

BEDROOM TAX "NO EXCUSE FOR EMPTY HOUSES"

ACTIVISTS AND FORMER DIRECTOR IN RIVERSIDE PROTESTS

The housing crisis has never been far from the top of the agenda at  the party conferences. In Carlisle too there has been a lot of discussion,a lot of it highly critical.

Much of this discussion has centred on the giant Liverpool organisation, Riverside Housing Association which owns the bulk of the city`s former council houses.

Some of the city`s young activists-  the Axe the Bedroom Tax group- had a demonstration outside Riverside`s office in Botchergate.

And  Malcolm Craik,  a former director on the board of Riverside`s Carlisle operation, is calling for an investigation into why Riverside has thirty empty properties when there is so much homelessness in the city.

Mr Craik says that Riverside cannot blame the bedroom tax for the empty houses-  it has consistently failed to  anticipate  Carlisle`s housing demand, says  a letter to the Editor of the Cumberland News reprinted below.

The bedroom tax protesters got a lot of  newspaper publicity with their demonstration. Afterwards,Riverside bosses invited the protesters into the office for a chat. This Riverside welcome  was a bit over-the-top for the banner-waving activists.

It  was embarrassing for them. But despite this and despite  the plans to abolish the bedroom tax- at the Lib Dem and Labour party conferences- the Carlisle protesters failed to get a promise they wanted, a promise from Riverside not to  carry out any bedroom tax evictions.

More criticism of Riverside came at a special meeting of Carlisle Tenants` and Residents` Federation  called to discuss the continuing  controversial issues at Dixon`s Court, Shaddongate, where Riverside has 28 tenants and leaseholders.

These issues were previously discussed  a few weeks ago on this blog. Riverside tenants say that Riverside is failing in its duty of care and is failing to explain its service charges.

The issues go back for about three months and have still not been resolved. Tenants are now making new allegations about their health and safety.

The Federation continues to protest and support the Dixon`s Court tenants and will continue to until the issues are resolved.

HERE IS MALCOLM CRAIK`S LETTER:

Riverside Carlisle Housing Association says that it cannot let thirty of its three bedroomed houses in Carlisle.  ‘Bedroom tax' blamed for three-bed homes standing empty in Carlisle, News & Star, 23 September 2013. 

This should come as no surprise to the association as it has consistently failed to anticipate housing demand in the city; not only that but in recent years it has deliberately increased its weekly rents by more than inflation so that now it makes sound economic sense for many working families to purchase a home on the open market.

The ‘bedroom tax’ cannot be blamed for Riverside’s current lettings difficulties. Parliament enacted the Welfare Reform Act on 8 March 2012 and landlords had a year to tailor their business models to take into account the likely effects of the measures.

Of all the landlords in Carlisle only Riverside appears to be having difficulty letting its properties. Customer resistance to Riverside tenancies suggests that the association’s business model is not meeting local affordable housing need.

On 26 February 2013 Riverside’s divisional director told the News & Star that the association’s plans were driven by housing policy – not welfare policy.

Therefore he added there were no plans for one-bedroomed flats. Contemporaneously Riverside announced that it was demolishing one-bedroomed properties in the city.

I find myself coming to the conclusion that Riverside has to a great extent been hoist by its own petard having failed, for whatever reason, to understand its own market.

Of course the City Council with its homelessness remit should have ensured that Riverside produced a sensible mix of properties to help reduce homelessness in Carlisle.

The City already has tenancy nomination rights with Riverside, negotiated at the time of the Stock Transfer, and has four members siting on the Riverside board of governance.

I expect that Jessica Riddle, the city councillor responsible for housing, will investigate why it is that Riverside has thirty empty properties at a time when homeless in our fair city remains so high.

Community Voice Carlisle is the blog of Carlisle Tenants` and Residents` Federation. Information about the Federation is on the first post of this blog. dated March 25.

UNEARTHING HISTORY FROM FORGOTTEN SCRAP BOOKS

More community
memories for Pat`s
garden village

Several family scrap books have been unearthed in forgotten drawers at home, and many hand-written histories re-discovered since Pat Hitchon set off  to write the story of the village of Botcherby, Carlisle.      

These journeys into the past have also yielded dozens of photos, notes, and archives. The number of people who have come forward with these half-forgotten items is now  well over 50.

Next week,  Pat will   be  making another monthly report on her progress  to members of the Botcherby Forever  community group who have helped her for almost a year with their memories.

The meeting will be held in a new venue, a venue which is itself very much part of the Botcherby story, St Andrew`s Church(pictured above) in Wood Street. The street is Georgian and is also listed.

The  church  itself  is not so old,  dating from 1880. Photos of  vacant ground being blessed before the church was built are among the Botcherby  historic items handed to Pat recently.

Today, St Andrews is facing  problems, similar to all churches, caused by falling attendances.

The Rev Steve Donald who has charge of the church, talked about these problems at the last meeting of Botcherby Forever.

He said it is now  planned to alter the inside of the church by removing the organ and using that space as a community meeting place.

Possibly, Botcherby Forever will use that space in future.  The group is badly in need of a permanent venue for its  meetings. In  not much more than a year, the group has been forced to meet in four different venues.

Pat`s book is to have the title”Botcherby—a Garden Village” and is due to be published next year. The Botcherby Forever community group is part of Carlisle Tenants` and Residents` Federation.

Community Voice Carlisle is the blog of Carlisle Tenants` and Residents `Federation. Information about the Federation is contained in the first entry of this blog, dated March 25 2013.

FREEDOM...TO DO MUCH AS RIVERSIDE SEES FIT

Freedom of Information is serving Carlisle badly says a community group, because it does not  include housing associations.

These organisations do whatever they  see fit because they don`t have to answer questions about their operations in a democratic way as they would if they were covered  by the Freedom of Information Act.

Riverside Housing Association is the latest association to fail  to answer questions when it demolished 16 flats in Borland Avenue, Botcherby. Carlisle, says a Letter  to the Editor today from Carlisle Tenants` and Residents` Federation. The letter is to the News and Star, Carlisle.

Here it is:

A dark shadow remains over Carlisle despite the very welcome spotlight shone by your newspaper on the Freedom of Information Act.
T
he News and Star  did a great public service with its spotlight. But sadly, many people will conclude that the Freedom of Information Act serves Carlisle  badly.

Badly, because  housing associations- the biggest landlords in Carlisle- are unlike other public bodies : they don`t  do Freedom of Information,  the Act does not include housing associations.

Nationally, some of these housing associations  are also big

and powerful .One of the biggest in the country, Riverside
owns 50,000 homes nationwide. About ten per cent of these
are in Carlisle, and this Carlisle holding gives Riverside a near-monopoly of the city`s social housing.

It also gives Riverside very similar powers  to the city council in running

the  housing estates.

On these estates, the council  has a good record in dealing with information under the Act. But Riverside is under no such legal obligation. Nor is Riverside very ready to explain what it is  up to on these estates.

Riverside has a freedom in Carlisle denied to the council-  freedom to act much as it sees fit.

A couple of weeks ago in Botcherby,  Riverside demolished 16 one-bedroom maisonette flats in Borland Avenue. Before the demolition, there were protests  from a local councillor, from Botcherby people,  and from a protesting petition.

Riverside said it had consulted these people. But  this consultation never included an explanation of why the demolition had to go ahead despite the protests and despite the city shortage of one bedroom accommodation, made worse by the bedroom tax.

Riverside never explained because it didn`t have to explain.

A  Freedom of Information request would have forced an explanation

There have been several similar Riverside demolitions over the last few years in other parts of the city. Sheltered accommodatation  and old people`s bungalows have gone . And  like the Botcherby demolitions,, the reason why they have gone  has never been explained by Riverside.

Riverside`s unexplained demolitions have been challenged repeatedly, particularly by the tenants` and residents` organisation, Carlisle Tenants` and Residents` Federation.

But such challenges are easily brushed  aside by an organisation that has the freedom to do exactly what it thinks fit.

One hundred years ago, Carlisle council also had the freedom to do what  it thought fit,.But, unlike Riverside, it did it in a democratic way which it was prepared to explain. What  the council thought fit  to do 100 years ago was to start building council houses..

Down those 100 years the council also  thought  fit to continue building until  9,000 homes  were created and Carlisle was doubled in size through a handful of newly-created council estates.

Ten years ago, all this ended with the takeover of the city council houses by the giant Liverpool organisation, Riverside.

Riverside`s unexplained demolitions and other unexplained measures- all of them, no doubt, decided  in a what-we-think-fit  way in Liverpool -are now changing for ever what the city council created  during a century of democratic government.

Freedom of Information would force Riverside to explain these unexplained demolitions and tell us what is going on.

Carlisle people who built these estates through their rates and taxes have right to know what is going on.

Community Voice Carlisle is the blog of Carlisle Tenants` and Residents` Federation. Information abourt the Fededration is  contained in the first post of this blog, dated March 25 2013

DID SOMEONE MENTION DEMOCRACY?

TENANTS PROTEST

BUT WHO IS LISTENING?

Two protesting groups are  joining forces here, outside the derelict site that once had on it sixteen one-bedroom maisonette flats.

The flats are in Borland Avenue. Botcherby, Carlisle, and were demolished a few days ago by the giant Riverside Housing Association.

One of the protesting groups is campaigning to end the government`s bedroom tax which has massively increased the demand for one-bedroom accommodation, such as the demolished flats.

The other protesting group is campaigning to halt the continued demolition  by Riverside of one-bedroom accommodation throughout Carlisle.

This demolition has gone on for several years and there are now no  one-bedroom replacements, despite increased demand.

The anti-bedroom tax group plans to take its protest to M.P.s, to Parliament, and if necessary to David Cameron in Downing Street. This protest is democracy at work.

The anti-demolition group plans to take its protest to....where? Where can the anti-demolition protesters go? They have no democratic process. Democracy has been denied.

And no one seems to be listening. Not even the local councillors. Only one of the three Botcherby councillors has spoken out against the demolition. And if they did  happen to speak out, what good would it do?

Robert Betton, the one Botcherby  councillor who is listening

said: "A petition with 400 signatures failed to stop the demolition of these flats. Riverside didn`t properly consult the people of Botcherby who are now even more short of one-bedroom accommodation.

 "Now we must let the rest of Carlisle know what has happened to these flats so that they are prepared to take a stand against any further demolitions by Riverside.”

Carlisle Tenants` and Residents` Federation supports the  protesting people of Botcherby. The Federation has campaigned for  several years for the Liverpool-based Riverside organisation to  be open and democratic and be properly accountable to all residents of the city estates.

Community View Carlisle is the blog of Carlisle Tenants` and Residents` Federation.  Information about the Federation is contained in the first post of this blog, dated March 25 2013