MINUTES
Northampton/shire CAP Meeting
Date: / Written By:10th July 2012 / Sue Taylor
Present:
Jenny Wilson (Chair)
Jeff-Scott Turner (Secretary)
Bob Kent
Maggie Kelly (NCHA)
Sue Taylor (NCHA)
Apologies:
Fadumo Ahmed (Vice Chair)
Jenny Hamilton
Natasha Mackenzie
Dave Pearsall
Hannah Wilson
Action
Welcome and Apologies
1. / Adoption of minutes and Matters Arising - the minutes from 29th May 2012 were adopted by the group as an accurate record.
Matters Arising:
The CAP group asked for it to be noted that they expect to see someone from the Estates Dept and this is still not happening in Northampton. Sue repeated what Andrew had explained at the previous CAP meeting: there were various reasons, staff covering for illness, being new to the job and the geographic areas they are covering, an increase in anti-social behaviour cases. However, where workload allowed Andrew agreed someone from Estates would attend the CAP but would anyway provide a response to action points so this can be fed back at the meeting. / AK
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1.4
1.5
1.6
1.7
1.8 / West Cotton Close - Floor coverings - supply of water and electric for cleaning equipment being considered under the Estate Improvement Budget. See 2. below. Update from Andrew Kalmar: The brick bin store has now been rebuilt and a roof has been put on it to stop residents from first floor and higher flats throwing bags directly out of their window into it. The next step; to convert part of the bin store to a storage facility, put in hot water facilities, a secure door etc will need planning permission. Chris Moore will take this forward but unfortunately it can be a long process and could be refused by the Local Authority. Updates will be provided in the future.
Balfour Close - request for a disabled car parking space –Sue Taylor has spoken to the resident and they will contact Jay Patel.
Balfour Close - NCHA will support residents in making a case for double yellow lines on Balfour Cl. A resident has contacted the Local Authority – they have no objections to double yellow lining Balfour Close but it may have missed this year’s budget. An application needs to be made to the Local Authority.
Balfour Close - Noise of front doors banging. Prior to making a formal complaint the CAP asked Sue to refer to Sharon Adam, Head of Maintenance.Result: A Maintenance Inspector will be on site all day on 17th August to adjust flat front doors.
Stylo Building - dripping water noise from guttering. Update from Sharon Adam: Final quote received, Chris Moore to place order for works.
Newsletters - Andrew Kalmar has agreed newsletters to be used, bi-monthly to quarterly depending on information/need.
Willow House - Fence Posts – in the Action Plan for Willow House. Update from Chris Moore: the rotting post(s) have been replaced.
Willow House - signage for cameras – Heather Hart dealing - update requested. / ST to liaise with Jeff Scott-Turner and Jane Baxter
Heather Hart
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6.3
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9. / Estate Improvements Update
The budget for the 2012/13 year is £15,400 for the GNS region. Bid applications to date and supporting documents will be brought to the October CAP meeting.
Policies
(i) Terms of Reference for Resident Involvement Review: the CAP group asked who will interview TRC members who will also have to apply for Regional/Specialist CAPs. Maggie Kelly confirmed: Two members of the TRC and two NCHA staff, Maggie and a member of the RI team.
(ii) Code of Conduct: no comments by CAP
(iii) Update on Mutual Exchanges Policy – details provided to the group for information only.
Tenant Roadshow Update
Maggie provided an update. Examples of the postcards to be mailed to residents in the area were seen. Posters will also be displayed. Jeff suggested putting directions on the poster if possible.
CAP Action Plan
Sue presented a draft Action Plan for further consideration. The group saw the merits of having a Plan but felt it should be postponed and discussed again by the CAP group in October, post the reorganisation of CAP groups in the RI structure review.
Tenants Issues
The following were raised at the meeting:
The Stylo – Guttering problem - See 1.5 above.Work to rectify this has been authorised and will be done imminently.
The following were raised via the CAP meeting reply forms:
Lacey Court/Balfour Close – Problems with noise. Details passed to Jay Patel, Estates Officer.
Willow House – request for metal barriers to be erected on the wall surrounding the car park, to prevent children climbing onto it. Being considered under the Estate Improvements budget.
Tenant Training
The Training Folder has been updated with details of the 2012/13 TPAS training programme with Chair courses available in Birmingham in late August. Anyone interested, please speak to Sue.
Any Other Business
(i) Quids in Survey – all CAP members were given survey forms to complete and return either on the day or via post.
(ii) Pet Policy Review – Sue presented the main changes to this policy. The feedback from the CAP group was:
They wanted reassurance that the new policy conditions are not retrospective, for example that tenants in houses with two cats would not be asked to remove one cat. Andrew Kalmar’s response provided in red:The policy will not be retrospective.
The question was also raised about when existing pets died. Presumably any new pets would be subject to the new policy conditions, written permission needed and maximum numbers adhered to. On this basis over time will the new conditions apply to all tenants? Yes, over time the new policy will apply to all tenants.
The group asked whether the policy will be applied to IHT residents in exactly the same way. We try to apply our policies across the all services however, one has to bear in mind that IHT have different terms and conditions within their lease. Where there are similarities, this policy will apply to those customers.
It was felt that the Application to keep pets (Appendix A of the policy) was extreme in requesting the number of particular pets e.g. fish, as this could only ever be a snapshot in time due to them breeding. Noted, but we do need to be aware of pets within our properties i.e. snakes, lizards (they carry a number of diseases) for example and so therefore, it would be difficult to draw up an exhaustive list of what we may or may not need to know .
Date and Venue of next meeting: Tuesday 2nd October, The Meeting room at The Pinnacle Building, Northampton. NN1 1PB.
However, to be confirmed closer to the date as it may alter due to the Resident Involvement Strategy Review timetable. / ST
JP
All CAP members are invited to attend the NCHA and Tenants
and Residents Consortium Roadshow on Tues 21st August at
Shankley Way, Northampton. NN5 7BB. 11am – 2pm. Please
come along to make the event a success and encourage
neighbours to do so – thank you.