Post by michele cryer on Oct 17, 2005 13:26:06 GMT
Here's copies of 2 emails I received via the Community Action List to which I belong...it concerns current housing issues on an estate in Glasgow...and how the local residents are responding to them...perhaps we should learn lessons from this in our housing areas/concerns? Subject: Community Councils
Comrades,
Matt asked me to forward this post from libcom forums
(http://libcom.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6628&start=30)
re community
councils and Woodside area of Glasgow onto the list here:-
"OK here is a personal example.
"In our area (Woodside pop 12.5k, N. Woodside scheme area est. pop. 8 - 9k)
The majority of housing is in a large scheme, of which the tenants
association that we (me and my partner, plus a handful of fellow
travellers) got started, through the period of April to July, falls. It is
small but growing - the GHA intially tried to crush us before we had any
real membership, by telling us to adopt their constitution, and their
organizing model (where a GHA rep is present at every meeting and where TA
is to act 'as a buffer' between tenants and the GHA) they laid down to us.
When we didn't they stopped us from using any of the normal facilities that
the association should have had access to - such as our tenants meeting
rooms, use of noticeboards in the foyer of the three tower blocks etc. We
started to hold meetings in drying rooms, but after an intitial excitement
these died a death, so we held a public meeting in the nearby council halls
(Woodside Halls), and picked up a few issues that we added to the huge list
of problems we'd already established. Fortune dealt us a hand after this
however when another group my partner and I were involved in established a
social centre nearby.
"Since then the TA has held a surgery and a small bring and buy sale but
meeting outside of the flats is a killer, and people won't use drying rooms
or houses to meet, so it's slow progress but it's picking up. We've been
fighting just to use our own meeting room now since June-July.
"The centre (George's X Chalkboard [local parlance is "george's cross" but
middle classes, maps and consequently non-locals refer to "st George's
Cross" so the name is cooler than it sounds intitially) seeks to link up
many of the issues that the TA raised, or that we raised in the TA, and
seeks to encourage others to establish similar TAs across the scheme, and
the surrounding areas - we're also indentifying others that are ongoing in
the area, and that have perhaps never received any attention before (e.g.
the presence of a mediaeval common in the area which is totally bereft of
any level of upkeep, infested with knotweed to needles, burnt-out cars and
all, which sits less than one mile from the Botanic Gardens in
middle-class-land where it has had 8.8 million lavished on a glass house
and stands to gain a 2.7 million visitor centre for all the yuppy-fucks and
luvvies to watch shakespeare... What is the deciding factor in budgetary
allocation - class) and bringing them together through the shop itself and
a newsletter we're soon to publish.
"Some of us are also trying to bring this work together through use of the
community council as well - I joined mine last week. It is already
operating extra-constitutionally with 23 members out of 20 that its
constitution normally stipulates, so we have set a good precedent for
widening the involvement."
<snip>
Reply:
"I think this raises some interesting issues about TA organising and stock transfer landlords.
Don't know how thinsg used to be in glasgow, but I've never come across a council in uk before that insisted on having their people at tenant meetings. I would be surprised if glasgow council did before the transfer.
My experience in islington was that councillors always tried to get in with new TAs and attend to meetings - they hated it when we banned them from general meetings on our estate, to the point that one councillor got on the front page of a local rag personally attacking two of us. But there wasn't much they could do about it. We used to invite council officers to meetings sometimes on our terms, to explain a policy or something they were doing. They on the contrary hated coming to our meetings, because they usually got a lot of abuse from tenants. Also, we began insisting on taping meetings with council officers, which made them very nervous.
I would think the TA in glasgow could make a very good press campaign out of this - banners outside the the meeting hall, or occupying it if they will go that far. Praps they've been doing this already - would be inreseted to know more. Don't know much about glasgow but it's the kind of thing the local press would have picked up on in my area - and i found the local press was often our best weapon, tho other times it cut the other way. Also, if this represents a change in policy from the council with GHA trying to exert tighter control on TAs that might even make a story for national housing press (and in any case worth sharing with people fighting future stock transfers). There's few things these landlords hate more than bad national press - embarasses them in front of their landlord pals. I could get contacts for hsing journalists if they're interested.
There's maybe other issues here about what's in the constitution GHA wants them to sign. Personally I never had a problem recommending TAs in islington to use the council's standard constitution - at least formally. It may not be ideal, but don't think it caused any genuine problems and you can still organise as you wish in practice. Other people - maybe Dave? - might have different views on this issue. Again, if GHA has changed the model that would be interesting."
Comrades,
Matt asked me to forward this post from libcom forums
(http://libcom.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6628&start=30)
re community
councils and Woodside area of Glasgow onto the list here:-
"OK here is a personal example.
"In our area (Woodside pop 12.5k, N. Woodside scheme area est. pop. 8 - 9k)
The majority of housing is in a large scheme, of which the tenants
association that we (me and my partner, plus a handful of fellow
travellers) got started, through the period of April to July, falls. It is
small but growing - the GHA intially tried to crush us before we had any
real membership, by telling us to adopt their constitution, and their
organizing model (where a GHA rep is present at every meeting and where TA
is to act 'as a buffer' between tenants and the GHA) they laid down to us.
When we didn't they stopped us from using any of the normal facilities that
the association should have had access to - such as our tenants meeting
rooms, use of noticeboards in the foyer of the three tower blocks etc. We
started to hold meetings in drying rooms, but after an intitial excitement
these died a death, so we held a public meeting in the nearby council halls
(Woodside Halls), and picked up a few issues that we added to the huge list
of problems we'd already established. Fortune dealt us a hand after this
however when another group my partner and I were involved in established a
social centre nearby.
"Since then the TA has held a surgery and a small bring and buy sale but
meeting outside of the flats is a killer, and people won't use drying rooms
or houses to meet, so it's slow progress but it's picking up. We've been
fighting just to use our own meeting room now since June-July.
"The centre (George's X Chalkboard [local parlance is "george's cross" but
middle classes, maps and consequently non-locals refer to "st George's
Cross" so the name is cooler than it sounds intitially) seeks to link up
many of the issues that the TA raised, or that we raised in the TA, and
seeks to encourage others to establish similar TAs across the scheme, and
the surrounding areas - we're also indentifying others that are ongoing in
the area, and that have perhaps never received any attention before (e.g.
the presence of a mediaeval common in the area which is totally bereft of
any level of upkeep, infested with knotweed to needles, burnt-out cars and
all, which sits less than one mile from the Botanic Gardens in
middle-class-land where it has had 8.8 million lavished on a glass house
and stands to gain a 2.7 million visitor centre for all the yuppy-fucks and
luvvies to watch shakespeare... What is the deciding factor in budgetary
allocation - class) and bringing them together through the shop itself and
a newsletter we're soon to publish.
"Some of us are also trying to bring this work together through use of the
community council as well - I joined mine last week. It is already
operating extra-constitutionally with 23 members out of 20 that its
constitution normally stipulates, so we have set a good precedent for
widening the involvement."
<snip>
Reply:
"I think this raises some interesting issues about TA organising and stock transfer landlords.
Don't know how thinsg used to be in glasgow, but I've never come across a council in uk before that insisted on having their people at tenant meetings. I would be surprised if glasgow council did before the transfer.
My experience in islington was that councillors always tried to get in with new TAs and attend to meetings - they hated it when we banned them from general meetings on our estate, to the point that one councillor got on the front page of a local rag personally attacking two of us. But there wasn't much they could do about it. We used to invite council officers to meetings sometimes on our terms, to explain a policy or something they were doing. They on the contrary hated coming to our meetings, because they usually got a lot of abuse from tenants. Also, we began insisting on taping meetings with council officers, which made them very nervous.
I would think the TA in glasgow could make a very good press campaign out of this - banners outside the the meeting hall, or occupying it if they will go that far. Praps they've been doing this already - would be inreseted to know more. Don't know much about glasgow but it's the kind of thing the local press would have picked up on in my area - and i found the local press was often our best weapon, tho other times it cut the other way. Also, if this represents a change in policy from the council with GHA trying to exert tighter control on TAs that might even make a story for national housing press (and in any case worth sharing with people fighting future stock transfers). There's few things these landlords hate more than bad national press - embarasses them in front of their landlord pals. I could get contacts for hsing journalists if they're interested.
There's maybe other issues here about what's in the constitution GHA wants them to sign. Personally I never had a problem recommending TAs in islington to use the council's standard constitution - at least formally. It may not be ideal, but don't think it caused any genuine problems and you can still organise as you wish in practice. Other people - maybe Dave? - might have different views on this issue. Again, if GHA has changed the model that would be interesting."
