Fly-tips are cleared, repairs booked and tenants surveyed during Housing Community Days
Fly tips are cleared, home repairs are booked and tenants are surveyed during Community Days run by St Albans City and District Council.
A team of Councillors, staff and contractors visit Council housing areas across the District several times a year to offer first-hand advice.
They have face-to-face talks with tenants to listen to any concerns they may have and carry out a range of activities.
These include inspecting the area, arranging for any fly-tips or graffiti to be removed, and noting exterior or interior repairs that are required.
The team are often supported by neighbourhood police teams who deal with enquiries about crime and antisocial behaviour.
Housing Repairs contractor Morgan Sindall Property Services also brings a truck and offers a bulky waste collection service that is free on the day to help tenants.
Councillor Jacqui Taylor, Chair of the Housing and Inclusion Committee, attended the most recent Community Day at Lybury Lane and Down Edge, Redbourn.
Representatives of Morgan Sindall Property Services were out in force along with several Council housing officials.
Cllr Taylor said:
Our Community Days are a very valuable engagement exercise as we get to meet the very people that we serve in the area they live in.
We can hear and see for ourselves if there are any issues that need to be resolved and arrange for those to be done.
I was heartened to hear from one tenant, a young mum, that a recent repair she had asked for had been carried out satisfactorily and that she had no outstanding concerns.
We did, though, come across one particularly unsightly fly-tip and have contacted our waste contractor Veolia to arrange its removal.
Cllr Taylor added:
As a Council, we are committed to maintaining our estates to the highest of standards to ensure our tenants can be proud of their neighbourhood.
Community Days help us do that and I urge tenants to come along to them, when we are in their area to talk to our staff and contractors.
The next Community Day will take place around Hill Dyke Road, Wheathampstead, on Thursday 26 September.
Photos: top, Cllr Jacqui Taylor, far right, with members of the Community Day team at Redbourn; below, Cllr Taylor with Rebecca Robinson, the Council’s Project and Tenant Liaison Manager, arrange for the removal of a fly-tip.
Media Contact: John McJannet, Principal Communications Officer, john.mcjannet@stalbans.gov.uk