ACTION:

1. Apologies

Mrs Kim Barnes.

2. Complaints Session

Sue Goldman stated that her flat was overcrowded so she has applied for a transfer. She had seen Bruno Bridge and was told she will have to wait until she her block is decanted for a transfer, otherwise the only properties available are short term lettings. She was also told that she cannot get transferred off the estate into a MHT property unless she is suffering from harassment.

Robin Hawkes stated that priorities are always for decants. There is a shortage of "3 bed and upwards" properties. It is possible for tenants to transfer to other parts of MHT but they have very few properties in Hackney.

Nick Strauss said that Sue Goldman had been incorrectly told that she could only transfer to MHT properties if suffering from harassment. Sarah Cunningham added that the only people transferred to MHT so far have been those at the top of the transfer list who have been harassment cases. Nick Strauss said that tenants were promised in the offer document that they would be able to transfer to MHT properties. Sue Goldman stated that she had wanted somewhere in hackney and was not told at the time that MHT had few properties in Hackney.

Robin Hawkes will discuss the case further with Bruno Bridge and reply to Sue Goldman.

Canalside

Sue Goldman left the meeting

Refuse Collections (Jerry Piper)

Jerry Piper has reported to Canalside that collections have been late over Christmas. Rubbish has overfilled the paladin bins and been left on the ground next to them. Sarah Cunningham stated that she had been in contact with Service Team who said they had "kept to their schedule" over Christmas. Jerry Piper said he was asking Canalside to provide extra bins to prevent the overfilling.

Sarah Cunningham felt that extra bins would not solve the problem. Jerry Piper stated that he was requesting more paladin bins in any event. He did not want to end up having to prescribe a solution to Canalside. Robin Hawkes stated that Canalside are pursuing Service team over missing collections. Jerry Piper emphasised that refuse storage provision is "very tight" and it was easy for the bins to get overfilled if a collection is late.

Canalside to order more bins for the affected blocks and also to pursue Service Team to ensure they do the twice weekly refuse collections on time.

Canalside

Bin Chamber at Garden Place (Jill Excell)

Jill Excell stated that there were 4 bins at Garden Place but they cannot be put back into the bin chambers because someone has planted trees which prevent access. Some tenants have put rubbish in the bin chamber which is rotting. The cleaner is not cleaning the communal areas properly.

R Haw replied that the bins are meant to be put into the bin chamber by a different route, not where the trees are. The cleaner has just started work but is being instructed on what he should do. The cleaner has started litter picking today.

Canalside

Sign for Garden Place (Ivy Matkin)

Ivy Matkin said that when people are told that Garden Place is "just off Haggerston Road" they cannot find it. The block needs a bigger sign so people know when they have got there. Robin Hawkes replied that Canalside is looking at getting a larger sign for Garden Place.

Canalside

Mouse Infestation - Benfleet Court (RH)

Robin Hawkes wanted to update the committee. The block was treated in August but the mice have come back so Canalside are going to treat the block again. Rose Hayes stated that the residents of Benfleet Court had got up a petition about the problem.

3. Minutes of 20/11/2000 - Accuracy

Item 2.1 a), Repairs to Lights - "Whitmore House" to read "Catherine House"

Item 2.4, Repairs to Lights - Change "Sarah Cunningham could not comment on lights but" to "Sarah Cunningham said she would look into what happened with the lights and"

Minutes agreed with the above amendments

4. Minutes of 20/11/2000 - Matters Arising

Item 2.2, Site Inspections - Nick Strauss stated that the EDMC request for site safety monitoring reports had been outstanding for 5 months. He thought he had started a formal complaints procedure but in any case Tim Goodwin is being "incredibly rude" to him. There was still no evidence presented to the EDMC that the site safety is being regularly monitored. There were plenty of problems on Orme House. Nick Strauss feels he will have to get a petition with 50 signatures and write to the Hackney Gazette if the problems are not resolved.

Robin Hawkes felt there were 2 issues: Items not picked up on inspections and reports to EDMC not satisfactory. There was a report to the EDMC at the last meeting and he hoped that the petition would not be necessary. The security of the sites is far better now than it was before the issues were raised last year. Robin Hawkes agreed that the committee should get copies of the inspection sheets.

Nick Strauss replied that the issue was that 5 months ago it was agreed that reports should be submitted but this has not happened - what was the view of the other EDMC members? Jerry Piper said he remembered that the committee was given to understand that there would be "no problem" with them getting the inspection reports. He believed that the committee’s concerns were being taken seriously but they are not getting the reports. Robin Hawkes confirmed that Canalside does the inspections once per week.

Ivy Matkin stated that the fencing around Orme House had been discussed by the design group. Robin Hawkes stated that the fencing has features to ensure site safety.

Robin Hawkes to get Tim Goodwin to address any site problems at Orme House and to issue the inspection sheets monthly to the committee.

Robin Hawkes

Item 2.4, Repairs to Lights - Nick Strauss has cycled past Catherine House again at 6pm and seen that the flood lights are still off. Robin Hawkes stated that it is the resident caretakers duty to inspect the lights and to report defects . Sarah Cunningham added that they should also check the time switches. Robin Hawkes stated that there appeared to be a gap between the inspection and the repairs. Rose Hayes said she was not happy with this comment, inspections or repairs have not been happening. Robin Hawkes stated that it was not satisfactory if the lights are not being repaired after being reported.

Rose Hayes reported that the lights at Nightingale House on the top were off for 6-7weeks, she saw them on for the first time last week and it appeared that it had been a time switch problem. Jerry Piper asked if the caretakers were trained sufficiently to repair the time switches, for example where some cupboards had two lots of switches did they know enough to put the problem right? Sarah Cunningham stated that all caretakers are trained sufficiently to put right the time switches. Robin Hawkes pointed out that the staff were not "new to the job".

Nick Strauss suggested that the Tenant Support Worker could go round the estates and check with residents for lighting defects. Robin Hawkes felt that should not be necessary - it is the caretakers job to check.

Canalside

Item 3.5 b), Ascent 21 Community Programme Consultation - Agreed that A21 be invited to the next meeting.

Secretary

Item 5.2, Letter from MHO to Contractors at Whitmore House - Sarah Cunningham confirmed that she had received the letter from Paul Sprenger. Sarah Cunningham had confirmed with Riz Aziz that he had sent a letter to the contractor following the meeting in October, she had sent a copy to Sheila Seabury and thought she had sent one to Rose Hayes and Paul Sprenger as well. Rose Hayes and Paul Sprenger both stated they had not received a copy.

Sarah Cunningham to send copies of the letter from Riz Aziz to Paul Sprenger, Rose Hayes and also to the Tenant Support Worker at 9 Horner House.

Sarah Cunningham

Item 5.1, Parking Policy Review - The Tenant Support Worker stated that the 6 month review was due in February. Can it come to the next meeting? Agreed to discuss further under policies item on agenda.

Item 5.4, Declarations of Interest - Ivy Matkins list had been lost and the Tenant Support Worker asked whether IM’s list of outside interests needed to be circulated again. Most members of the committee felt other people did not need to know about Ivy’s commitments.

Item 5.5 b), Newsletter - The Tenant Support Worker has spoken to the distributors and believes they have done the deliveries properly. Nick Strauss suggested that the Tenant Support Worker should accompany the distributors on their next delivery as a monitoring exercise, this would also halve the delivery time.

Tenant Support Worker

Item 9, Festive event - The committee agreed that the Christmas Party was a success and thanked Canalside for organising it and for the presents received.

5. Report Backs

The Tenant Support Worker had laid out copies of minutes and other information from various organisations and committees for members to collect if they were interested. The Tenant Support Worker reported that A21 had still not given any information despite his continued requests.

Jerry Piper reported that the harassment policy as amended by the committee had been approved by the Canalside board.

Design Group

Nick Strauss reported that Aluminium window frames had been approved for Orme House and that he suspects that they will be approved for the rest of the old blocks in Haggerston East as well. Nick Strauss felt that the other estates should ensure that they get good quality windows as well.

Robin Hawkes stated that there had been lots of discussion on this issue. He believed that in the long term there was "not a lot to choose between UPVC and aluminium" window frames. They were using aluminium frames in Haggerston East because the original windows were steel framed Crittal windows which had very narrow frames.

Jerry Piper said there had been a long discussion at the Canalside Board meeting on subjects that were normally discussed at the design group. A delegation of tenants had come to the board with disagreements about the design groups decisions. Maybe the design group should report highlights back to the EDMC as this would to avoid the same situation happening again. Rose Hayes stated that the committee already gets notes of design group meetings. Jerry Piper agreed but said he did not always get time to read them and it would be helpful to discuss them at the EDMC. Nick Strauss suggested that it would help the design group if they could refer items back to the EDMC where they were not happy with the choices being presented to them. Maybe there should be a wider consultation on key aspects concerned such as window frames and sound proofing.

Ivy Matkin, Rose Hayes and Jill Excell (who are on the design group) felt that enough consultation had been done already, they also stated that residents had been given the chance to comment on the plans but few did.

Robin Hawkes said that Canalside needed to get a contract in place by March and windows had been discussed a long time. He repeated his view that there was "not a lot of difference between UPVC and Aluminium". Powder coated aluminium was also "a good deal more expensive" than UPVC, the decision would need to be on the benefits of aluminium versus the cost. He added that most RSLs use UPVC.

Nick Strauss suggested having an EDMC General Meeting "very soon" where these issues were discussed. Jerry Piper stated that he did not know about life expectancy etc. until the discussion at the board meeting.

The Tenant Support Worker stated that the change in specification was a drop in standards which needed to be taken to a general meeting. Robin Hawkes stated that he felt a change in materials did not mean a drop in standards and there "could not be a general meeting every time the specifications were changed".

Members agreed that there should be an open meeting for all residents but that given the time constraints there was not time to call a General Meeting. Nick Strauss knew of residents on the estates who had skills and knowledge that could add to the debate. A general discussion ensued on whether there should be a formal discussion (where residents could hear each other’s views) and a vote or whether there should just be a "drop-in. Nick Strauss suggested that Simon Lukes and the Tenant Support Worker could be present to do a questionnaire.

Agreed that:

An open day to be held on Saturday Morning 3/2/01 from 11-00 am to 1 pm at 9 Horner House for Whitmore Estate tenants.

Canalside to provide samples of the windows and doors for residents to look at and their architects and cost consultants to attend. There will be open discussion where architects will listen to tenants.

HAWK TRA to provide staff to carry out the questionnaire among residents.

Canalside and HAWK TRA

6. Canalside Policy: Equal Opportunities and HIV

Rose Hayes suggested that the item be deferred as it was 8-40 pm. Sarah Cunningham stated that she was going to be on maternity leave in April for "many meetings" and asked if it could be discussed for 10 minutes.

Agreed that committee members would look at the policy outside of the meeting and give comments to Sarah Cunningham by 2/2/01 and that 10 minutes would be spent on the policy at the next meeting.

EDMC Members

Nick Strauss stated that he had written to Bruno Bridge about the policy and had received a reply. Nick Strauss had copies of the letters which he circulated to the committee.

Sarah Cunningham stated that she also needed to know from members by the next meeting of any particular areas of concern they had in the Equal Opportunities Action Plan.

EDMC members

Sarah Cunningham gave a list of policies that were due to be reviewed by the committee: Rent Arrears, Parking, Estate Standards, Anti Social Behaviour, and asked the committee to "prioritise which ones to look at" in the next few months.

Agreed that policies should be reviewed as follows: Equal Opportunities and HIV - February; Estate Standards - March; Anti Social Behaviour - April; Rent Arrears - May.

Canalside

Nick Strauss suggested that a "Parking Sub-Committee" should discuss parking and report back to the EDMC since it had been agreed to review this policy in February. Nick Strauss stated that other residents could be involved such as the person who had made a complaint at the October meeting.

Agreed to set that a Parking Sub-Committee would meet, initially to consist of Sarah Cunningham, Nick Strauss and Ivy Matkin and date to be confirmed among them.

Sarah Cunningham

7. Any Other Business

Burglary at 9 Horner House (Sarah Cunningham)

6 Catherine House was burgled and spare keys found there used to burgle 9 Horner House. Sarah Cunningham has met the loss adjusters and they are happy for a claim to be put in by Canalside as long as they are given receipts. There is an excess on the policy (the amount that the insurers won’t pay) of £2,500. Canalside are to repair the kitchen. The Tenant Support Worker confirmed that he has receipts for the computer and telephone which he will give to Canalside.

HAWK TRA, Canalside

Robin Hawkes stated that he has met with Michelle Asbury (Food Co-op manager) and the food co-op are to use 9 Horner House in the future as an office and also to use 9 Horner House and 5 Belford House for cookery and hygiene classes. 6 Catharine House will be used by Canalside for other purposes.

Finances

Nick Strauss stated that the EDMC needs to do some paper work for its finances: An invoice to Canalside for £1460 for Tenant Support work and an invoice to HAWK TRA for around £600 for a share of the film money.

Jerry Piper to liaise with the Tenant Support Worker about issuing the invoices.

Jerry Piper, Tenant Support Worker