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(Shurely, The Lunches Continue; Ed)



Visit to Chell Heath

20th March I think it was when I went with fellow Bentileans and Chell Heath Estate Management Board member, Brian Leigh, to have a look round the Chell Heath estate -- onetime worst area in Stoke-on-Trent -- and what an eye-opener it was!

Forget fancy windows, new doors, and kitchen and bathroom units -- like they're having up Galloway Rd etc. -- the residents of Chell Heath have been given patio doors, conservatories, new garden walls and gates, and even new gardens!!

Did I say "given"? "Won" would have been a better word. Or even "achieved". For the council didn't just come along one day and say, 'Oh, your estate's looking a bit rundown, here's £15Million to do it up a bit.' No, the people of Chell Heath had to form a residents' association and fight very hard indeed to get the things they have today.

They had to persuade the council they meant business, that they were really committed to improving their estate, and then had to work with Priority Estates Project (PEP) to put together a glossy, detailed application to persuade the Dept. of the Environment that they deserved a slice of the Estates Action money (set aside by the government specifically for rundown areas estate), and then compete against other dumps (areas in need) like Hume in Manchester.

Let's make this clear: Estates Action money is money set aside by the government on the premise that if they gave it directly to local councils they'd only waste it on repairs, maintenance, or building new houses, and is for the specific purpose of reviving rundown areas which may not have become rundown if their councils had had the money in the first place (oo-er, sounds a bit political). And to get the money, areas have to meet certain criterior of dump-i-ness and, because it's a small cake, have to compete with other areas for a slice.

Old, 'wouldn't be caught dead there' Chell Heath met those criterior and with help put in a competitive application and got themselves a £15Million slice.

According to Board member, Brian Leigh, the residents were then approached and asked what they'd like their slice of the slice (so to speak) spent on. Some of the houses were so bad inside that the money just had to be spent there (and so they didn't get their gardens done), others were OK inside and so got nice new gardens, garden walls, patio, conservatory upto the amount of their slice. This has led to some friction to the extent that those who had to have a lot of work done inside their homes look with envy at the nice gardens they were unable to have. And, it's true to say, that not everyone who had their gardens turfed, new walls, gates, & fence have kept them in pristine condition (there's always some), but on the whole one couldn't help but be impressed.

Neighbourhood Office/Flat

As well as nice new walls and gates (which, with the litter that finds its way onto my gardens, made me a little green, I must confess), we were shown round their Council Neighbourhood Office (for the paying of rent, reporting repairs, and getting advice). It was certainly more upmarket than Unity House, and it was a refreshing sight to see officials not hiding behind security screens like they were expecting a visit from the IRA. And, while there's little chance of Bentilee getting the £75Million we'd need to do what they've done in Chell Heath (and that's not allowing for inflation), we will definately be getting a Neighbourhood Office. One thought does occur to me though: the two neighbourhood Offices I've seen so far are both in areas which have had lots done for them; repairs and compleaints therefore are probably down and the staff can come out from behind the glass with confidence, but what about downtown Bentilee? The council are seen to have helped mainly four unpopular streets, with the majority of the estate still without even the new windows and resentful of the four streets 'dumpy' enough to have got a slice of Estates Action money -- just how safe would they be in the middle of that?

TANHOUSE

Having delayed publication a week to visit the place (Tanhouse estate, Skelmersdale nr Liverpool) I'd best remember to say something about the visit.

In common with Chell Heath, Tanhouse have themselves an Estate Management Board and had a slice of Estates Action. Not being familiar with the area (I didn't even know where it was -- I thought Yorkshire!), I can't rave about how improved it was but we were assured it was. Before it was litter strewn, now there was none in sight (no litter bins either!); before there'd been problems with drugs, now no more than elsewhere; before there'd been a feeling of being neglected by the takeover West Lancs District Council (previously they'd been part of Skelmersdale) now they have their own Neighbourhood Office, and like Chell, a Neighbourhood Flat (an office for the EMB members). It was certainly a pleasant estate now -- all pebble-dashed houses and cherry blossom trees, with none of the parking problems of Bentilee -- having been designed as a residential estate, separate from the main road, with plenty of garage space.

And, Very Important This, the EMB office staff (not the council office) sure knew how to put on a buffet lunch. Not that I can be bribed with food, but I don't mind people trying.

Neighbourhood Flat

I should point out here the difference between a Neighbourhood office and Flat. The Office is just an extension of the Council Housing Dept -- specifically for a local area; the Flat is the office for the Estate Management Board and therefore Bentilee may or may not get something similar depending on whether or not Bentilee residents decide to opt for such a Board. This depends on the feasibility (established by PEP), based on local commitment (as local residents would have to make up two thirds of the Board members -- councillors making up the rest), and the structure of the estate. Bentilee, it's felt, is too big to be managed just by one board, and would probably need two or three.

Bentilee: Why 3 Boards?

Asked this question, PEP Project Co-ordinator, Ian Powell, replied that it's because, after years of centralised management of council estates, they've finally realised that Big is Not Beautiful as far as housing management goes, and that 1000-2000 houses is the easiets size to manage successfully. Bentilee with its four thosand plus dwellings (depending on how you draw the boundary) would therefore require three or even four boards for best effect. One way of splitting the estate up might be every street one side of Ubberley Road, every street the other side, the Berry Hill side of Dividy Road, and Townsend (Bucknall). Many residents who've been to the PEP events held to date feel though that it would lead to problems if you split the estate in this way. Say one board got Estates Action money to give all their residents new doors and windows, how would residents of the other three boards feel? Perhaps like many residents already feel about Galloway Road: Jealous.

Meanwhile, though, the future of local housing management looks very exciting. Who knows maybe in six years time we may even have a musical written about us like Hawes Street, Tunstall (i.e. Good Golly, Miss Molly by Bob Eaton). In which case, I can but hope my small part would be played by Robert Redford. he'd need some make up though.

Copyright John Steele 1992, 1999

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