Just a quick reminder that my advice surgery takes place this Saturday from 10am until 11am at the McEwan Centre (portakabins) on the Leybridge Estate, off Eltham Road/Leyland Road.
You can pop along to raise any issues you think I might be able to help with. If this Saturday isn’t good for you, you can always contact me at home or visit Paul or Sven’s surgery (details here).
The Lewisham Homes Lee Green Housing Office on Eltham Road has now closed. As tenants in the ward will be aware, I campaigned against this closure when it was first proposed last summer. Many residents said they didn’t receive the consultation document from Lewisham Homes, and many objected to having to travel to Catford to see their housing officer. However, the Mayor and Cabinet approved the closure on November 14th. It’s a real shame as it’s yet another empty unit in Leegate, and another local service lost.
Lewisham Homes originally planned to close the office at Christmas - but we were able to persuade them to keep it open until the end of the lease, which was good news. I know residents at Leybridge and Newstead are now talking to Broomleigh about potential office arrangements after the stock transfer - and as residents will vote on these in the ballot, they’ll be keen to get things right.
To their credit, Lewisham Homes have arranged two surgery dates each week, where residents can see someone face-to-face. These will take place on the ground floor of Merridale, Carston Close. The surgery times are:
Properties in Lee Green Ward are now managed from the Holbeach Housing Office in Catford (just round the corner from Argos). You can call the office on 8314 7991 or email enquiries {at} lewishamhomes.org(.)uk The office is open 9-5 every day except Wednesday, when the hours are 10-5.
Repairs should always be reported on 8314 8314 or emailed to repairs {at} lewishamhomes.org(.)uk
Separately, all Lewisham Homes offices will be closed from 12 midday on Friday 18 April for all staff to attend their Annual Staff Conference. The out of hour emergency repairs service will continue to run during this time. The number is 8314 8314.
Lewisham Council is still landlord to properties managed by Lewisham Homes, so if you are having problems, you can still get in touch with your Councillors (as indeed you can if you’ve got problems with a housing association). My contact details, as always, are here.
As you might have read in the last ‘hard copy’ edition of Focus, residents on the Leybridge and Newstead estates are working with Broomleigh Housing Association on regeneration proposals for their estates. These improvements will only happen if residents vote ‘yes’ in a stock transfer ballot to take place later this year.
We think this is a great opportunity for the estates, but recognise many residents may have questions about the stock transfer process or want to know more about Broomleigh. To assist, I’ve arranged for a member of staff from Broomleigh to attend my surgery this Saturday between 10am and 11am at the McEwan Centre (portacabins) on Leybridge Court. If you live on one of the affected estates, please do come along and ask any questions you have - no appointment is neccessary.
I really enjoyed attending the Leybridge Court Christmas Party, which was held on Saturday.
The Tenants and Residents Association organised a really good bash for the kids on the estate, and special thanks must go to Muriel Fawn and Kirsty Jessup for pulling it all together.
The kids had a great time, and even got to meet Father Christmas (see pic). Any passing similarity between myself and Father Christmas is, of course, purely coincidental…!
I went to the Lewisham Homes open day this morning. The day was really well attended, with plenty of residents from all over the borough, including a fair few from Lee Green (I’m pictured with Muriel Fawn, from the Leybridge TRA).
Lewisham Homes is the Council’s new ‘Arms Length Management Organisation’ that is responsible for managing most of the remaining Council homes in the borough. The homes are still owned by the Council, but Lewisham Homes are responsible for managing them (in the same way that Circle 33 used to manage homes in Lee Green).
The day took the form of a market place, with various sections of Lewisham Homes explaining what they do, and also representatives from Council departments, the police and energy watch. Lots of opportunities for residents to have their say and get involved.
I bumped into a few Lee Green residents who seemed quite impressed with the day, and hats off to Lewisham Homes for putting it on. Lewisham Homes have got a tough job on their hands, reversing years of mismanagement, and I hope the feedback from residents will be useful in helping them improve their services - which has to happen in order to unlock the government’s decent homes funding.
View the map to see where we've been helping out.
From Leepedia
