Central Region News
Alison Dean and Steve Mather out and about in Oldham
Recently, Alison Dean, our newly appointed Chief Executive, and Steve Mather, our Chief Property Officer, went on a tour of some of our stock in Oldham. This visit allowed Alison and Steve to talk to customers about their experiences with us and better understand some of the challenges.
Led by Masood Chaudry (Area Services Manager), Alison and Steve’s busy itinerary included visits to:
The Primrose Community Centre and neighbourhood (part of the Oldham PFI)
Firstly, Alison and Steve headed over to The Primrose Centre where they met Gemma McGiffen (Housing Management PFI Manager). The Primrose Centre is part of the ten-year £113M Public Finance Initiative (PFI), delivered by the Inspiral Oldham Consortium which includes Great Places and Wates. At the Centre, they also met with Jan Wade (Community Development Coordinator) who runs the facility. Jan then led on a tour showing some of the brilliant initiatives on offer to customers such as The Community Fridge.
Alison and Steve then went on a tour of the Primrose Bank neighbourhood with Gemma and Tracy Richardson, who looks after this area.
Chelmsford Street and Napier Street, Werneth
Along with Masood, Alison and Steve then headed over to Chelmsford Street, where we have a handful of properties on both sides of the street. Here we have a mix of newly built properties, the largest being a five-bed. They discussed the quietness of the area and the good condition of the older properties.
Next up, was a walk around Napier Street where Masood explained some of the challenges, including recently resolved fly-tipping and grounds maintenance issues in some of the private gardens of the flats which are currently being looked at.
Maple Mill, Hathershaw
At Maple Mill (the site of a former derelict mill), Alison and Steve met Maddie Hodgson (Neighbourhood Services Manager) who walked them around the new development of 98 new homes. Maddie explained some of the features of the development and new homes, including bike stores and solar panels, as well as the bat houses and bird boxes which protect the biodiversity of the local area.
The Crossley Community Centre and neighbourhood (part of the Oldham PFI)
After a drive through the Crossley estate looking at Lansdowne Court and Stockfield Mount (two of our tower blocks), the visit concluded at The Crossley Community Centre, which is the other community centre that is part of the PFI.
Here they were taken on a tour by Naseem Ahmad (Community Development Coordinator), and they met the members of the weekly sewing class. They chatted about the importance of the Centre and the positive outcomes which improve customers’ wellbeing.
Commenting on the visit Alison said: “It was great to be in the Central region today taking the opportunity to talk to colleagues and catch up on all things PFI-related at Primrose Bank and Crossley. Our new homes on the former Maple Mill site in Hathershaw look fantastic and provide greatly needed affordable rented family accommodation for the area. Thanks to Masood for being a great host and to other colleagues who took time out of their day to talk to us about their work.”
Steve said: “It was a great morning out in our neighbourhoods meeting the team leading the PFI scheme at the fantastic Primrose Community Centre, discussing scheme security issues with customers on Napier Street and visiting the great new homes at Maple Mill in Hathershaw. Finally, we popped into The Crossley Community Centre in Chadderton to meet the members of the sewing club!”
Great Places supports Green Oldham
Great Places recently donated £1,000 from its social value pot to Oldham Council as part of the restoration project. This is a partnership between Oldham Council and Local Food First CIC to improve facilities at one of the borough’s growing hubs – helping them to support more Oldhamers who may be struggling to afford the essentials.
Wildbrook Growing Hub will be developed into a thriving base that benefits the community by producing food that can then be distributed to those in need via Oldham Foodbank.
Wildbrook Growing Hub is a former community allotment off Wildbrook Crescent, Fitton Hill.
The money will be used on a range of improvements, including the installation of raised growing beds, turning existing land into growing areas and new equipment.
A new hut will also be put in place – boosting facilities for the volunteers, residents, schools and community groups who currently get involved in sessions at the hub.
Tom White, Social Value Specialist at Great Places said:
“We’re delighted to be able to support the Community Food Growing Project at Wildbrook, thanks to generous funding donated by our suppliers.
"This is a great example of how social value can bolster the impact we have as social housebuilders, allowing our suppliers to help not only through the services they provide directly for our customers, but through local projects such as this that create a growing ripple of benefits for the whole community.”
Fun in the sun
There was lots going on in our Oldham PFI neighbourhoods over the summer holidays for the kids to get involved in.
Over at the Primrose Centre and Dew Way in Oldham, we held our Family Fun Day which included a litter pick, followed by crafts, planting, games and refreshments. These events were well attended with around 30 children at each who came along to get involved along with their parents and grandparents.
These fun days also give us the opportunity to get valuable feedback from the community, and this information is then used to help us tailor and improve our services for customers.
Leanne Keane, Community Partnership Manager at Great Places said:
“Over the summer we held two family fun events in our Oldham neighbourhoods, which were well received by all who attended. They all commented on how they enjoyed it and would love to see more events like this in the future.
“It was a great opportunity for us to hear from our residents about what they want and need from us in the community."
Great Places receives green light for £9.86 million supported living development in Bury
Bury Council has approved our Affordable Development Team’s plans for its supported living apartments and affordable homes at Kemp Heaton Avenue in the borough.
Plans for the £9.86 million development on a brownfield site between Bury Cemetery and the Peachment Place extra care apartments were developed in close consultation with the Council’s Housing Strategy and Adult Social Care Teams. The intention of creating a sustainable and mixed community close to Bury town centre, providing a safe and secure place for those with disabilities to live.
The development will comprise 18 apartments providing supported living accommodation, along with eight two-bed wheelchair accessible bungalows, 10 cottage style apartments and seven two-bed houses. Once completed, Bury Council will manage the nominations and allocations process for all homes.
The site will also include 52 car parking spaces and associated landscaping.
Commenting on the planning approval Nick Gornall, Director of Development at Great Places said:
“We’re delighted that Bury Council has given the green light to Kemp Heaton Avenue.
Developed in close consultation with the Council, the development highlights Great Places’ commitment to working with partners to provide much-needed specialist homes in the local area, allowing residents to remain close to friends and family in accommodation which meets their support needs.
Our vision is to create a diverse development that’s safe and secure with a range of homes to meet identified local need and foster a sense of community. With 18 apartments for supported living, wheelchair-accessible bungalows, and a mix of other affordable homes, this project has inclusivity at its heart. We’d like to thank all partners involved and look forward to breaking ground this autumn.”
Central Repairs Update
Your latest repairs update from your Head of Property Services.
In the first quarter of the year, the Great Places Central repairs team has seen some changes within the team, with a new Property Services Manager joining, as well as an additional Roofing Working Supervisor whose role it is to ensure our properties across the region are maintained and managed alongside our in-house roofing teams. We have also recognised demand for roofing has increased so also employed another roofing team of two colleagues. With over 1800 repairs carried out in Salford alone this patch continues to be the area with highest demand within the Central region. We now have some support on cyclical gutter cleans through our facilities management team and work has started in some areas. We are currently reviewing data across all patches to establish trends and demands with a view to making continuous business improvements.
How we’re doing at a glance in quarter one:
- Customer satisfaction: The average customer satisfaction rating for the Central region was 8.4 out of 10.
- Repairs completed: 5,503 repairs were completed to enhance customers’ homes.
- Timeliness: 79% of repairs were completed within target time frames.
- First-visit fixes: 77% of all repairs were successfully completed during the first visit.
- Empty properties: 63 empty properties were prepared for new customers, with an average turnaround time of 5.1 days.
- Disrepair cases: At the end of the quarter, 54 disrepair cases were still active.
These surveys are in real time – upon completion of repairs – and different to the TSM surveys.
Continuous improvement
At Great Places, we’re dedicated to continuing to enhance our performance and services for our customers. Here’s how we’re making a difference:
Ongoing improvements
We are launching a new communications platform in our Customer Hub which offers more streamlined routing of calls and a single platform for web chat, emails and social media.
We are also working towards system enhancements to simplify the way repairs are reported through to our Hub, which will hopefully reduce the call handling time.
We are continuing to work with our customer service teams to actively seek your feedback to improve our services and help us introduce new measures to continue to provide you with the best experience.
Thanks for your continued support and remember if you have any questions or need any further support you can contact us via Chatbot on our website or email: customerhub@greatplaces.org.uk.
Jonathan Hunter, Head of Property Services – Central Team