Issue - meetings

Question 1.

i.               Resident of Ekin Road speaking to agenda item 11 ‘Update on new building council housing delivery’. Spoke on behalf of the ‘Save Ekin Road’ community group, which comprised over 60 people from Ekin Road.

ii.             Continued to oppose any proposals to demolish their estate.

iii.            Urged the Council to fully investigate and pursue an ‘upgrade and refurbishment’ plan.

iv.           Requested in March 2022 that a 2-stage timeline for the project was adopted. This had been outlined to residents, however felt communication with residents since then had been poor.

v.             The timeline and a list of options had been provided at the Liaison Group meeting on 16 March. The Ekin Road website was updated soon after, but residents were only written to on 14 June, 3 months later.

vi.           The last time residents were written to with project details was January, a 5 month gap. There was an undertaking to write to all residents again in April which did not happen.

vii.          Felt attempts to engage with officers was frustrating.

viii.        Wrote to the Council on 21 February, recommending maintenance and improvements for the estate.

ix.           Wrote again on 3 March, with questions about how the project might be carried out.

x.             Then wrote on 3 April, with questions about the project options presented in March. A response was not provided until 5 May.

xi.           Felt the Ekin Road information website was not a good or effective resource.

a.    Documents were poorly labelled and difficult to find.

b.    Hyperlinks were not clear.

c.    Much of the information was now inconsistent or out of date.

d.    Many residents were not internet-connected.

e.    Often encountered residents who said they had no idea what was going on.

xii.          Asked the Council to:

a.    write to all residents within a week of each liaison group meeting, or of any substantial progress milestones, informing them directly of key updates.

b.    That in such letters it was made clear where on the Ekin Road website supporting material could be found, and specifies that residents may request paper copies sent out to them by calling a given number or writing to a given address.

c.    To respond to project queries, from the community group or any resident, within 3 weeks of receipt.

d.    Redesign the Ekin Road website to make it more useable and regularly review it.

The Interim Assistant Director Development responded:

      i.         The upgrade and refurbishment of Ekin Road properties was one of the options which was being considered for the site.

    ii.         Acknowledged that there had been a communications gap but noted that several questions had been raised which required input from a number of teams across the Council and the County Council. Also noted that a number of individuals had also raised questions. The Council tried to provide responses to questions as quickly as they could but some of the questions were complex and therefore took time to respond to.

   iii.         There had been 21 incidences where residents had been written to, had a flyer sent to them or events had been held where residents could attend and ask questions. This did not include the ‘Thursday events’ being run with the Housing and Repair Teams.  

  iv.         Residents were able to contact the Development Team by email, in writing or by phone.  Paper copies of documents could be made available to residents and copies were always provided in the Barnwell Library and Abbey People hub.

    v.         Officers would try to respond to queries within 3 weeks of receipt of questions, but this would depend on the complexity and number of questions asked.

  vi.         Was happy to discuss the issues raised regarding the Ekin Road website at the next Resident’s Liaison Group.

Supplementary Question:

        i.       Noted a reliance on the Ekin Road website to communicate with residents about the project. Advised that there were residents who were not internet connected and would not see updates posted there. Also noted that the website needed to be kept up to date.

      ii.        Asked why residents had to wait until the liaison group meetings to raise issues / provide feedback as these took place every 3 - 4months. 

The Interim Assistant Director Development responded:

        i.       Letters would be sent to residents who were not internet enabled and paper copies of documents could be requested or viewed at the Barnwell Library and Abbey People Hub.

      ii.        Responses to some queries took time because of the complexity of the issues. Officers would try to provide responses quicker where they were able to.