Brackla Meadows NewsIssue 1 November 2014

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Meet the team

Wales & West Housing are commited to working with our residents and listening to your views. In a recent consultation, the overall majority of residents wanted to be kept updated via a newletter. There are a lot of changes happening within housing and we, as an organisation, want residents to feel confident in being able to approach our staff.

Welcome to the first edition of Brackla Meadows News

Andrew LesterAssetManagement Officer

These are the staff who work at the scheme. All staff can be contacted via our Customer Service Centre on

0800 052 2526.

StuartLock

Tenancy Support Officer

Andrew Pritchard

Housing Officer

Jenny WilliamsHousing Manager

LauraAllcottCommunity DevelopmentProject Officer

New officeWe understand that you, our residents, want staff who are accessible to you. As a result, we now have an office within Action for Children, where residents can meet with staff to discuss any issues they have.

By working alongside Action for Children, it has ben agreed that the scheme will be fitted with free wi-fi for service users of the centre. This will allow staff at the centre to provide more training opportunities for our residents.

All residents are welcome.

Gemma Kennedy

Tenancy Enforcement

Officer

Introducing your Neighbourhood Policing teamPCSO Steve Bowen is part of the local policing team for Brackla.He is the point of contact for your neighbourhood policing team. Together with PCSO Emma Watkins and PC Tracy Jenkins they deal with the issues that concern you the most.

You can phone PCSO Bowen on 07805 301476 Email Steven.Bowen@south-wales.pnn.police.ukYou can phone PCSO Emma Watkins on 07825 377220

To report a crime ring 999 in an emergency or 101 for a non-emergency. Remember to always ask for an incident number.

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During the summer Wales & West Housing staff carried out a consultation to gather residents’ views of the scheme you live on.

Phase 1 included Teilos Drive, Clos Y Wern and Clos Y Waun. Of the 120 residents consulted, 36 responded and we’d like to thank those of you who shared your views. Phase 2 will be starting within the next month, and will include Heol Bryn Glas, Heol Y Rhos, Heol Y Coed Rise and Dan Y Coed Rise.

Brackla Meadows News | Issue 1 | November 2014

The main issues you raised were:

• Lost community spirit• More activities for children• Rubbish across the estate• Lack of recycling• Repairs including fencing and boilers• Youth annoyance / rear access alleyways• Cost of living and debt issues

said you feel safe in your home

said you feel safe on the estate

said the estate is well kept

33

You said:

34

26

What we are doing about these issues

Social groups

Staff are working with residents to set up social groups. Residents have formed ‘Funky 50s’, an over-50s group, with the numbers attending growing each week.

More residents are attending the Family Centre for drop-in advice and training courses.

Wales & West staff are working closely with staff from Action for Children to ensure as many residents as possible attend the centre.

A new action plan of projects to be run from the centre is being discussed between WWH staff and staff from the centre.

Container painting

A project to get local children involved in painting the community container is due to be held during Spring 2015.The design will be chosen by local children to give them a sense of pride in their community.

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Brackla Meadows News | Issue 1 | November 2014

Litter picks

WWH staff and our contractors, Green Futures, are carrying out more litter picks across the scheme. Work is taking place to promote recycling by working alongside BCBC. Staff are also looking at working with local primary schools to encourage recycling with children.

Fencing ...WWH are planning to bring in fencing upgrades to feather-edge wooden fencing for the whole scheme. This will be completed as a planned programme which wil be shared with residents once the details have been agreed.

... and alley waysA project has already started to look at the rear access alley ways and the possibility of removing them and incorporating the area into exisiting gardens, which will make residents feel a lot safer in their homes.

Discussions have been held with the residents who will be affected by the first alley way to be looked at as part of this project.

Boiler replacement

Senior staff in WWH’s technical department are looking at the curent system for replacing boilers.

It has been noted that some boilers are very inefficient, so a new system is being discussed.

We will feedback to you on this issue when a decision has been made.

Don’t let money worries weigh you down

If you are worried about money problems, why not book an appointment to have a chat with Stuart Lock, our Tenancy Support Officer, who has years of experience in this area? Stuart has already helped a number of residents across the scheme and will be pleased to meet with you.

We are also looking at a recycling scheme, where an item may not be needed by one resident but could, however, be useful to another resident.

This method has already helped several new families moving in to the area.

Brackla Meadows News | Issue 1 | November 2014

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Residents in Brackla donned their gardening gloves and dug out their trowels recently to plant native flowers and help brighten their community. The group, led by Brackla Events Committee, came together on Tuesday 28th October to plant wild bulbs and brighten up the public footpath between Clos Y Waun and Heol Bryn Glas.

The event was arranged as part of Grow Wild, a £10.5m programme supported by the Big Lottery Fund and led by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, after Brackla Events Committee was awarded a £500 grant.

The Grow Wild programme inspires communities, friends, neighbours and individuals across the UK to come together to transform local spaces by sowing, growing and enjoying native wild flowers.

Over 30 local residents attended the planting day to lend a helping hand, with assistance from Wales & West Housing and Keep Wales Tidy. A number of budding young gardeners were amongst the group, with children as young as 4 digging in and getting their hands dirty.

In total, over 1,000 bulbs were planted, including native bluebells, snowdrops, wild daffodils, lily of the valley and wild garlic. The group hopes the wild flowers will make the footpath more welcoming and add a splash of colour for residents, with the route regularly being used by people walking to and from the town centre or the local school.

Andrew Pritchard, WWH Housing Officer said: “Here at Wales & West Housing we believe in working closely with our residents in order to make a difference to our communities together. It was fantastic to see so many residents taking part in the Grow Wild Project in Brackla and the day proved to be a real success – with the emergence of some up and coming gardening stars!”

Grow Wild project

Community Container project

If there is anything else that you would like to see included in this newsletter, or you have any feedback / comments about this edition, please do not hesitate to contact us on 0800 052 2526 or email contactus@wwha.co.uk

In between Heol Bryn Glas and Clos Y Waun there is a container which can be used by residents to store equipment and also make use of when organising and taking part in community events.

WWH will be working with local children, who will be helping us to design a mural to be painted onto the container during Spring 2015. Look out for photos and a write-up in future editions of Brackla Meadows News.