Resident Involvement

Lucy Kean, Abri’s Head of Building Safety, attended the meeting and there was a useful discussion around the ongoing fire and building safety works happening on the estate. The Housing Manager also attended.

Paul Quinn introduced himself to the group. Paul has recently started with Abri in the role of Regeneration Project Director. Paul will take over from Mike and will cover all of Abri’s Regeneration portfolio, including Sawyers Close. Paul has joined Abri with 40yrs experience in housing, specifically regeneration projects, previously working for Clarion Housing and has managed projects both larger and smaller than the Sawyers Close Regeneration.

Gary McDonald introduced himself to the group, Gary is the onsite manager for Hill Group and will be on site throughout the project. Gary will also attend regularly to update the RPG.

Regeneration update - Gary gave a general overview of the works currently taking place. Mike noted that long delays were expected with the BSR approval because this was happening on many other schemes across the country.

Home Connections Update - 15 households have moved since September and there are 2 more households moving before Christmas.

Fire Safety Update - Abri is upgrading the smoke detection system in every flat as well and the fire doors will be replaced later next year. The programme to replace fire doors is taking longer than expected because this also requires BSR approval. Due to the festive season and recommendations from the fire service there will be Waking Watch starting this evening, there will be 4 trained officers to patrol the buildings 24/7 until all the upgrading works is complete. We have hand delivered letters this evening to ensure residents are aware.

The RPG and the Sawyers project team discussed community activities, regeneration updates and the recent parking consultation. The RPG received updates from the Home Connections Resettlement Officers. The Home Connections Group Manager will be attending the December meeting, and the Housing Manager will be attending in January.

The Group were informed that full final planning permission has now been granted from RBWM. The plans have been submitted to the government Building Safety Regulator and their approval is required before the main work can start. This is a new process with a new regulator, and they currently have a large number of applications.

The construction contract has been signed with Hill, this means the Social Value work can now begin, there will be internal meetings to monitor the delivery of this. The social value will amount to the equivalent of £3.5million which is a percentage of the cost of the redevelopment project.

Enabling works and demolition of the sheds is complete, there is work taking place for the temporary drainage for Hale.

The resettlement officers have now met with all households engaging.

Spreading the word - A discussion was had on how the group can better reach other residents to gather views and concerns on the regeneration project.

Planning update - We are currently awaiting the agreed Section 106 legal document to complete full planning permission. Once this has been agreed it will trigger other aspects of the planning. Developers need to obtain approval from the Building Safety Regulator to build new “higher risk” buildings. This is to ensure all safety elements are compliant prior to the build.

The archaeological dig has been completed and nothing of significance that has been found. The Budding balconies group will be making wildflower seed bombs,

The demolition of the Hale and 12 of the Broadleys sheds will be taking place in the next few weeks once they are all empty and checked, this is to make way for the new drains and other services.

Parking scheme proposal - There was a conversation around parking and a proposed parking scheme that Abri have run in another area Consultation will be sent out by Abri in the Autumn.

Project naming update - The final name for the development is likely to be “The Granges”, which is in the process of getting signed off.

The Group Home Connections Manager outlined a formal Tenant Offer document that sets out how customers will be re-homed. There was also discussion around the latest development updates, and a new member was welcomed to the group.

The Resident Partnership Group has been continuing to meet on a monthly basis.

The group was joined by the Service Charge Manager at Sawyers Close, which gave residents the opportunity to ask specific questions regarding the charges. Discussions took place around the service charges in the new development and how this might work. At its most recent meeting earlier this month, the group discussed the draft tenant offer with the Home Connections Manager.

Our Resident Partnership Group is up and running, with meetings held on every second Thursday of the month. At the most recent meeting, the group heard the latest planning updates on the park area, looked further into the tenant offer, and discussed social value and what this means to residents at Sawyers Close.

All agreed and signed a copy of the code of conduct.

Danielle thanked everyone for feedback on the Customer Engagement and Action plan, this will now go to the next project board meeting for final sign off. The Action plan as discussed is a working document and will be adapted over the duration of the regeneration project.

A Tenant Offer, disabled parking, general parking and rent levels in the new development were also discussed.

At the first meeting the Group introduced themselves and the purpose of the group was discussed through the suggested code of conduct provided. Residents were also given copies of the customer engagement plan and action plan to read over and give feedback on.

The idea of sub-groups and themed meetings was discussed, but it was felt that these may develop over time, rather than trying to set these up right away. For now, it was felt best to stick to monthly regular meetings and these groups can form organically when the regeneration moves forward.

The Group were asked about what they felt the proposed vision should be for the regeneration, and what they would want the legacy to be. It was discussed how residents want to be able to take pride in where they lived.

The group discussed the idea of a possible name change for the estate. The overall response from the group was positive about considering a name change. This was food for thought for the group to go away with.