Agenda item - Residents Question Time

Responses to items raised at the Tenant Only Meeting held on 12 May 2016 (copy attached as ‘blue pages’).

4.1       The following points and actions were raised by residents and officers:

4.2       Item 2 – Scaffolding

·         Communication needed to be improved between Mears and residents.

·         An agreement had been made where the scaffolding companies, used by Mears, would be charged if the scaffolding was not taken down within two weeks of the job being completed. Residents were encouraged to report scaffolding that had been left up for a lengthy time.

4.3       Item 4 – Estate inspections

·         Residents and Local Councillors were encouraged to attend estate inspections.

·         Communication needed to be improved between the estate inspectors and residents.

·         Tenants were required to maintain their gardens and it was a breach of tenancy if this was not being done. It was encouraged that tenants report gardens that were not being maintained.

·         It would be helpful to have a leaflet including contact information for charitable organisations that help clear gardens.

·         The inspections were advertised online and hard copies of the ward booklets could be sent to residents who did not have access to the internet.

4.4       Item 5 – Grass cutting

·         It was difficult to manage pathways being cleared, as different areas of land were covered by Highways, rather than the HRA.

·         The weather in 2016 had caused an unexpected growth and City Parks had struggled to handle this.

·         The Head of Tenancy Services agreed to speak to City Parks and feedback their expectation of how much grass should be cut per day.

4.5       Item 5 - Pot-holes in Downland Court car-park

·         It was an ongoing problem that had been damaging cars in the area.

·         The Council and Mears were assessing the conditions of the car parks and it would be completed by October 2016.

4.6       Item 6 - Downland Court: Re-decoration of common-ways

·         An internal survey had been completed of the communal areas and the data was to be analysed. This information would be available on the website.

·         The communal areas in all Council properties would be redecorated similar to achieve a standard look.