Richard Baum

Last night’s Local Area Partnership was notable for a couple of reasons.

A local resident came along last night and raised an issue in the public forum which was very upsetting. His partner is a tenant of Six Town Housing at Sherbourne Court, and her flat is riddled with damp. She has a baby of 1 and another on the way, and the baby’s mattress is covered with damp, her clothes are damp, and the entire flat is a health hazard. Complaints have been made and not responded to properly, and when the tenant requested help with a bath, she was told to fit it herself.

We were all shocked by this tale of inadequate service from Six Town. It’s not the first such story we’ve heard, and it won’t be the last. As a regular at Rainsough Tenants and Residents Association, I am frequently made aware of some shocking cases of atrocious customer service from the Council’s Housing Arms Length Management Organisation. This one was particularly upsetting though, and made even more so because, yet again, nobody from STH had bothered to come to the LAP. This happens all the time, and I think in all the LAPs I have been to, STH have come to one ever. They are a part, a vital part, of the Local Area Partnership. Many of our most vulnerable residents need their help and support. It is galling to see them ignore their responsibilities and act so shoddily.

Today the issue has been chased up, and despite a baby’s health being put at risk due to faulty maintenance, STH’s response has been to schedule a meeting three weeks from now. This again is just unacceptable, and I am trying to force a meeting as soon as possible and much sooner than that.

Moving on from the disappointment of the STH issue, there were also a couple of interesting presentations last night. Firstly the skate park presentation from local young people, which showed that they really are determined to make progress on what I think would be an excellent new facility for local people. They’ve got their work cut out, both in terms of funding and getting the public on board. But they’ve certainly got a lot of goodwill from members of the LAP.

There was also an update on plans for Philips Park, which will be restore dto something like its former glory (and more) if a Heritage Lottery Bid is successful. And there were also pleasing reports from the Primary Care Trust who were consulting on health care priorities locally, and from the Police who reported a drop in crime in the area recently.

This weekend I am going to a wedding, part of which involves a ceilidh, which I am informed is basically Irish dancing, and will doubtless involve me flailing around like I am undergoing a serious attack of the central nervous system, and wishing to the Lord above that I was elsewhere.

All good fun…

Rick