Low Furness and Ulverston Neighbourhood Forum

Affordable Housing
Is this organisation doing its job?

Dianne,

The reason I raised the matter of Affordable Housing was that I got the impression from recent circulars that the Neighbourhood Forum had changed its view on including this topic on a future agenda.

I gather this is not the case.

Earlier last year Councillor Halfpenny agreed at a meeting of the Forum to put Affordable Housing on the next agenda for the Ulverston Meeting.

I arranged for Judith Derbyshire from Penrith to attend this meeting.

Very close to the meeting date the venue was switched to Swarthmore Hall two miles outside Ulverston which cannot be reached easily without a car.

This cannot be regarded as Ulverston and resulted in a low attendance with at the most five members of the public present. The majority were present in connection with the other issues on the agenda or officers of SLDC - some were Quakers, there because of their association with the Hall. Not even the local Councillor Colin Hodgson (who normally attends regularly) attended.

Two of the public expressed their dismay to me afterwards that Affordable Housing had not been discussed in Ulverston itself. I have spoken to a lot of people in Ulverston that are deeply concerned about this issue. Many have children aged 20 - 30 still living with them because they cannot find suitable accommodation.

The following is clear:

Affordable Housing has not been discussed at the Neighbourhood Forum in Ulverston as agreed.

If the Neighbourhood refuse to do so they are not fulfilling their obligation under the remit set forward by the Cumbria County Council.

Taken from the County Council web site:

What are Neighbourhood Forums for?

Neighbourhood Forums help local councillors to voice your needs and wishes

Neighbourhood Forums provide opportunities for people to work together and get things done locally

Neighbourhood Forums are informal meetings where we can exchange information and discuss matters in person

Neighbourhood Forums provide an opportunity for small grants to be fairly distributed to community groups

Neighbourhood Forums help your County Council to target services more effectively

I believe only the issue of small grants is being handled well.

I understand that in the early days when the Forum was first set up that there were large attendances at the Forum from the public, however people lost interest when they found it was being manipulated by the County Councillors.

Now the meetings are poorly advertised and poorly attended in Ulverston - I found out about them through a church notice board in the village of Finsthwaite - I have never seen a poster for the Forum in Ulverston in contrast to the activities of the Ulverston Artists Assoc. which are everywhere.

In our view the Forum meetings should not be chaired by County Councillors but by members from the Community who are 'non-politicians'. The former should be there to convey the views of the Public to the County Council not to control proceedings.

We believe that what is needed is a bottom up organisation where the public is in charge of the Forum and the Councillors are in their to 'serve the public interest'.

If there is a rethink of the way the Forum is run I am sure there would be less apathy to politics and the Forum in particular.

I would like an answer from the Councillors that run the Forum.

Do they refuse to have a meeting at the Coronation Hall Ulverston to discuss Affordable Housing?

Will they reconsider the way the Forum is run?

I am including copies of this email to Councillor Hodgson and the local M.P. Tim Farron who i know to be particularly interested in this issue.

Sincerely

Geoff Dellow

On 31 Mar 2008, at 11:11, Whitehead, Dianne wrote:

Dear Geoff

Your e-mail asking for confirmation that affordable housing will be on the agenda for the next forum meeting has been passed to me.

Affordable Housing was on the agenda of the meeting at Swarthmoor which was attended by both Brenda Gray, the SLDC Cabinet member with responsibility for Housing and Judith Derbyshire from Cumbria Rural Housing Trust. I am aware that at the end of that meeting you asked for it to go on the agenda again, , but I can only repeat the response that you were given then. We had just had a meeting with the relevant people there and we would not repeat it again until there was some change in the situation.

We all accept that affordable housing is an important issue, but I am not clear what you are trying to achieve by requesting it again at the neighbourhood forum meeting. If you can explain that to me, I may be able to advise you on the most appropriate route, but I honestly don’t believe that having the issue on the agenda again is going to help

Dianne.

Dianne Whitehead

Area Support Manager, Cumbria County Council, County Offices

Kendal, LA9 4RQ

01539 773157, 07970 043229, dianne.whitehead@cumbriacc.gov.uk