Walk this way!

Our Board Members, Cllr Marc Francis (Lead Member for Development and Housing) and Senior Managers went out and about to visit our estates last week – including seeing the start of our 100-day action-plan, designed to make a real difference to our estates.

The group got to see many of our estates, including Avebury, Bazely, Will Crooks, Barley Mow, Collingwood, Chicksand East, and Robin Hood Gardens. They were able to see the action plan first hand, including painting and acid cleaning of communal areas in blocks.

Area Caretaking & Estates Services Co-ordinator and ‘tour guide for the day’, Paul Herbert, explains, “We wanted Board Members and Senior Managers to see the work that the Block Improvement Team, Caretaking and Repair Squads are doing to make local estates cleaner, greener and safer, and to show residents that we’re committed to responding to their concerns.”

He adds: “We’ve been talking to residents’ groups on estates to make sure that we are concentrating on their priorities. On the Collingwood estate, the tour bumped into one of the residents from Northesk House who was keen to hear about the improvements to our services from, Maureen (Maureen McEleney, Interim Chief Executive) and Paul (Paul Leo, Head of Housing and Customer Access) - and wished them luck!”

For the first round of activity, estates have been chosen that will particularly benefit from some extra attention. The action plan is on top of the regular programme of caretaking and estate maintenance that will continue across the borough. Other estates will join the programme later.

29/08/08