We’ve raised the question previously about how we can imagine residents associations and housing associations that are fit for the 21st century. Also this week someone has tweeted that 2015 is the year of social.
So let’s try and start to make this happen, starting right here. The Oakdale road map to peace.
Oakdale is a new estate in Gloucestershire and Bromford own and manage a number of properties for rent and part ownership on it. There have been a number of issues as the estate settles down and concerns have been raised by customers. This case is complex as there are a number of organisations involved in the development and management of the estate. But this case is by no means unique or the issues insurmountable.
Here is an invitation for those customers, for Bromford, for the developers, the local authority and whoever else to engage and discuss in public the problems and their solutions. Certainly the residents and Bromford should be able to do this and perhaps that would be a start. Let’s put all the issues in one place viewable to all. We invite submissions and responses for publication here, hosted by a third party with the interest of finding the best solution possible.
03/02/15 The Oakdale Manifesto 2015
The Oakdale Manifesto has been put together with comments and ideas from people across the Oakdale estate, from residents of all tenure types. Oakdale Links has encouraged anyone who wants to take action themselves by talking to the main protagonists and the Town, District and County Councils. We have put them together in order of highest risk to life and health.
1. We are cut off by vehicle from all roads except the A48 bypass
3. The street layout of Oakdale is a complex one.
4. Pedestrian links to Oakdale are also poor.
7. Upkeep of the estate is haphazard and when done, is not done at all expertly.
8. Play equipment and community space.
9. Mature trees on the development are in a dangerous state.
10. Gardens on the estate have been waterlogged and flooded in some cases.
Oakdale is an amazingly creative place with a diverse skill set to draw on. We have carers, nurses, demolition experts, entrepreneurs, engineers, electricians, artists, writers, designers and home-grown gutsy campaigners. Many talented people would like to move out at the first opportunity because of the difficult living conditions. Some are being forced to relocate because of bedroom tax. In short, we are experiencing the first signs of social instability and the cumulative effects of living on the edge of survival. We would like all the help that we can muster to turn this around and make our community somewhere that has a waiting list for people wanting to come and live here and be part of it. We have grown stronger together through adversity, but true community building can and will only happen when we have a sporting chance: places to come together and an end to the continual struggle against a tide of indifference and the shifting sands of accountability. Our lives are worth more than the cost of a few street signs. Our children are of equal worth to those in the rest of our town. Our neighbourhood is here, it is real and we are not going to be silent until that is recognised, however long and arduous the journey.
Bromford_SOS 
Thanks Bessy. We started campaigning, first for a promised bus link, in 2013. When the case has gone to court, and companies are found to be at fault, but years after the planning trigger was reached, this is still not in place, we have to wonder where we can go next. Developers are walking all over the local councils and obviously hold our legal system, as well as the people who move into homes that they build, in complete contempt, yet receive honours from our Head of State – and more ‘affordable’ housing is planned. We can only hope that our MPs will see the true state of affairs and represent the people of our country, not those who only seek their own gain. The housing here may have been affordable, but the toll on lives and communities is not. This pattern has continued, with our social housing provider far from the compassionate community builders that they would like us to think, despite this development being built with money from the Homes and Communities Agency. Protect your investment, HCA! Believe in your rhetoric, Bromford!
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Before they even start to think about building the new estates they to sort out the Oakdale estate they have plenty of issues to sort out. Such as the none existent bus link, the pathway needed by the muddy short cut. We need a path not a cycle path! they can’t fill up the houses here and they want to build several more estates in lydney north and east. We don’t have enough school places for more housing. just the greedy planners want to get richer.
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Well said Jess. Thanks for starting this petition and having the courage to go and talk to Lydney Town Council on Monday night. We should name the footpath after you if we ever get one! http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/347/919/305/
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Hi Rachel. Fiona Here. Another little update for you.
I mentioned in our last post that we were getting together with a number of different groups, such as the Town Council, Kier, Rooftop and the Police, to talk about the community’s concerns and how we could all help.
Well, we all met up on Monday 16th February, so I thought I’d round up what was discussed and agreed:
MMC
• ASDA – Their application for a new store is going to the Court of Appeal on 6th July. The application includes a footpath link and a shuttle bus service back to Lydney. MMC will provide a further update after the Court Hearing.
• Communal Public Open space and main play area – This land is managed by MMC until the scheme is complete. Once completed a Management Company will be set up. If you have a query about the public open space, you can send it to MMC via Lydney Town Council.
• Footpath link for Severnbanks School –MMC to investigate putting down hard-core as a temporary measure. They will look into ownership and any health and safety implications and let us know what they can do.
• Dog Poo Bins –MMC and Forest of Dean Council to look into a mechanism for installing the bins in the communal area and paying Lydney Town Council to empty these. Update to be provided at our next meeting.
• Trees in the Public Open spaces – These trees are surveyed annually by MMC. Most have Tree Preservation Orders (TPO’s) in place. Work on these trees will be completed by MMC prior to the Management Company being set up. If you have a query, you can send it to MMC via Lydney Town Council.
• Off Site Trees – MMC are carrying out some work to the trees that are outside of the scheme boundary but within their ownership.
• Lighting and Pavements outside of Cambourne Place– MMC are talking to Gloucestershire Highways about this.
• Bus Route/service – MMC are going to provide an update to Gloucestershire Highways. However there are some technical issues that need to be investigated further. For example, a provider will need to be found who will agree to take on the service.
• Cottage and guard hut – MMC are going to check the safety/security of the cottage and arrange demolition if necessary.
Kier
• Bledisloe Way Signage – Kier will install one additional sign as per the scheme plan marked out by Lydney Town Council.
• Road Gritting –Kier and Lydney Town Council to explore the provision of blue grit bins as a temporary measure before the roads are adopted.
• Gardens – Kier are currently working with Bromford and Rooftop to resolve the problems with a small number of gardens which are not draining adequately (Bromford gardens had problems identified/reported prior to September 14)
Other
• Gardens not surveyed – Unfortunately, if we (Bromford) weren’t made aware of any issue before September 2014, we will not be able to carry out an inspection. If you or your neighbours have made us aware of an issue before this date, please let us know so that we can check our records.
• New Litter Bins – These will be supplied once the dog waste bins have been installed. FOD Council will investigate and confirm.
• Road map/speed limit signs on main road – Gloucestershire Highways confirmed that signage would need to comply with necessary legislation. They’ll need detailed evidence to support any request. If you contact Highways they will be able to provide further guidance, but this needs to be done over the phone or email, not via twitter.
The next step will be a follow on meeting in 2-3 weeks where updates can be provided on all the things mentioned above. Then, as promised, a community day will be arranged in late March/early April (Mary will confirm a date for you as soon as we have it). We’re really looking forward to getting this organised. Mary and I hope it will be useful for you and your neighbours. It’ll put you in direct contact with the people who can get your problems sorted.
Thanks for following and tweeting Mary over the last couple of weeks. I hope it will help to iron out any queries your community might have. Feel free to say hello when she pops over for her weekly walk around Oakdale.
She is out of the office at the moment but will be back on 6th March, but feel free to tweet me on @FionaBromford in the meantime.
Many thanks,
Fiona.
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Hi Fiona,
Thanks for your ongoing commitment to this peace process.
1. The bus link has been MMC’s responsibility from the outset. Please check Section 106 agreements from the initial planning application. The trigger was at the 50th home occupied. Asda had not submitted a plan when they made an agreement. I am objecting to the renewal of planning for Phase 2 of Oakdale because of outstanding Section 106 commitments. As a social landlord on an HCA funded development, you should have been actively fighting for these elements to be in place especially as the first residents were your tenants, some of whom have disabilities and mobility problems. As they have not been delivered, you too should be submitting an objection to renewal of outline planning permission for Phase 2.
2. We do not trust our Town Council when it comes to communications so if we have a query regarding public spaces on Oakdale, we will pass it onto you, Kier and MMC via social media and email. We prefer to have all communication in a written format. Telephone calls that are not recorded are not sufficient to collate responses and hold people accountable. We have many examples of when we have had to do this and prove that conversations took place. We are a democratic organisation and ‘cosy chats’ over the phone and/or coffee are not appropriate as we cannot share with our members.
3. The health and safety implications of the current state of the footpath to Severnbanks School is of immediate concern. Any measures to improve this will be welcome, but why make it temporary? The original path of FLY86 goes that way, our member has collected over 100 signatures on a new, hand-written petition from our community only and on the original planning application, the developers claim that the estate will be ‘permeated’ by footpaths. Indeed, the route currently used is shown as one. We will follow up with a letter to the Health and Safety Executive.
4. There are trees in dangerous condition now in areas that children are supposed to play in and that are accessible to them. Please clarify when the last tree survey by MMC was done and when the next one is due. Please ask them to publish the last report. We will follow up with a letter to the Health and Safety Executive. Please advise us which trees outside the scheme are having work done to them.
5. Please explain why there is a cut off date for garden surveys of September 2014. Please explain why no one alerted residents of the cut off date. Please survey all gardens reported and rectify the situation. We will gather information ourselves and investigate taking legal action if you do not do so. We do not agree that a few gardens are affected. All gardens on Oakdale are affected, some worse than others. With a high percentage of ‘affordable’ homes, we are not best placed to cover costs and work ourselves, especially those with disabilities and care commitments and those who are bringing up children single-handed.
6. We have already been told (a year or so ago) that new litter bins will be put in by FoDDC once dog waste bins are put in. This is not news. It is also not happening. Please advise on dates for this.
7. We do not agree with Councillor Vaughan that the only extra sign that is needed is one for Bledisloe Way numbers 18 and onwards. We need signs on all the apartments. These do not need to be to Hghways standards, but do need to have the street address. For example, physically, the OVerstreet Green apartments are in Bledisloe Way and the entrance to the Par Four Lane apartments is in Feathers Drive. There are no signs to say so. This is easily rectified and could save lives. We will follow up with a letter to the Health and Safety Executive. We also need a sign at the south of the site where Feathers Drive and Par Four Lane diverge. There is no way of telling currently which street is which way. This does need to be to Highways standards so we will write to GC Highways about this recording the number of incidents that we know of where police and ambulance crews have got lost. Please supply a contact email address.
8. We have no confidence in the local management of this estate by Bromford. We have had an illegal eviction where the tenant’s and her child’s belongings were all destroyed. We have also supported people who we believe have been bullied and further intimidated by staff because of complaining about them. Please advise us why you think we should work with and trust the people responsible for these actions? Ignoring these issues as though they never happened is simply not good enough.
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Hi Rachel
Thank you for your response. Updates on many of these issues including the bus link, litter bins, footpaths and trees will be provided after the next Stakeholder meeting. All residents will be invited to a Community Day within the next 4-6 weeks where residents will be able to meet representatives from Bromford, Rooftop (another Social Housing landlord with homes on the estate) Lydney Town Council, Kier, MMC and the Police. I hope that Oakdale Links will support and promote the event. This is a great opportunity for all residents to come along and discuss issues which are important to them and share ideas for the future. I’ll let you have the date as soon as the event has been arranged.
In terms of the gardens – there is no specific cut off date, but given our customers started to move in during 2011 we would have expected any resident with a problem to have reported it to us by now. Bromford residents can contact Mary Skinner if they do have a problem and would like to discuss this further. Private owners will need to speak to Kier and Rooftop customers to raise with their own Housing Manager.
Whilst we want to work with you and Oakdale Links for the benefit of the community, we do need to raise issues with the accuracy of what is been posted on social media. You have made a number of comments in your response that are unfounded or incorrect.
You talk of an “illegal eviction” by Bromford. We take these comments very seriously and are aware of the case you are referring to. We have tried on a number of occasions to speak to you as the information you have is incorrect. Though we are limited as to the information we can share, I can assure you that we take our responsibilities seriously and only seek eviction as a last resort as in this case. Having reviewed the circumstances, there is no issue with the legality of the action taken. I am unable to respond any further to posts regarding this matter other than to reassure our customers of our commitment to helping them have a successful tenancy with us.
I am shocked by your allegations that staff have being bullying and intimidating. Again, I take these matters very seriously, although no reports have been received directly to a manager here at Bromford. Please let any customers affected know that they can contact me to discuss their experiences in confidence and a full investigation will take place.
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Dear Fiona,
I was with the evicted tenant at the District Council offices when a housing officer told her that her rent had been paid and was still being paid after she left. I believe that Bromford had to then pay it back to the District Council. If her rent was being paid before, during and after the eviction, even after new tenants had moved in, is this not an illegal eviction? I am only going on what we were told by people we can reasonably believe were telling the truth.
Bromford Managers were indeed informed quite some time ago about concerns about bullying. After a complaint was made, a Manager phoned the person concerned. It was after the complaint was raised that I was told further intimidation took place. Again, I can only go on what I have been told and I have no reason to think that they were not telling me the truth. However, I was not present at the original incident. I have kept records of conversations by email with Bromford and also a conversation with the person who made the allegation. If I were to share them without permission however, I think it would be a breach of Data Protection.
I do not think that experiences can be discussed ‘in confidence’. I have no confidence in you or in the organisation that you work for, based on my own and others experience. I have been led to believe that there was already an investigation. I thought that the phone call from a Bromford manager to the person was part of that process.
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As a resident of Oakdale i would like to raise the issue of the 10 ft high mount of grass that has been left behind where the builders yard was until recently at the top of Par Four Lane, but the yard has been dug out. I live opposite this and the mount of grass from the right end had started to be pulled down but has been left unfinished. it is an eye sore. I don’t like to complain but think the estate should be tidied up and finished off and not look like a building site any more. Thank you
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Hi Jessica
I suggest contacting Kier about this. We will also raise this with them at the next stakeholders meeting.
I hope you will be able to join us at the forthcoming Community Day when residents will be able to come along and meet representatives from Bromford, Rooftop (another Social Housing landlord with homes on the estate) Lydney Town Council, Kier, MMC and the police. We should have a date very shortly. We are hoping that residents will come along and discuss issues which are important to them and share ideas for the future. I’ll let you have the date as soon as the event has been arranged.
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Why don’t you invite residents including Jess to the next Stakeholders meeting? How many people at the last one had actually been to Oakdale? Where was it held? Who was the Chair? When was it held? Can we see the minutes please?
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I would really like to come Fiona. If you could let me know the dates it would be great.
thank you
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My garden does not need attention and I must object strongly to this assumption that all gardens have issues .Oakdale is not a community it is a housing estate with a community group . Personally I have never had any problems with Bromford and I have lived on the ‘estate’ from the beginning . I have always found them helpful with anything I have had to deal with .There are issues with the estate but please do not think ‘we’ represents everyone .
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I am also a resident on Boating Lake Lane.. I was one of the first people to move onto this estate and have witnessed all aspects of the build up here.. I’ve seen the houses and blocks of flats go up. I’ve seen more houses go up in all the gaps between the original ones. What I have not seen is any type of enthusiasm towards anything that isn’t profitable. Speaking personally Bromford seems to be a one way relationship where I pay them rent. That attitude is summed up by Fiona’s little update basically passing responsibility to anybody other than Bromford. Since I’ve lived here I have asked for one toilet flush to be repaired and ended up waiting 6 weeks. Now I find out on this page that my ruined bog of a back garden won’t be repaired by my landlord because They never told me there was a deadline for when bad drainage is ok to ruin your garden. It’s more likely that Bromford would rather spend money on building more empty properties than looking after and maintaining the ones they are being payed for.
I fully agree with all the complaints I’ve read. The land opposite my house has also looked like a wasteland since I moved in despite being told it would be landscaped within 6 months. I’m actually amazed and relieved that they have not crammed more houses on there. Would be nice to have a green for the kids. It’s no wonder the estate has the reputatation it does around here. It’s cut off from town and unfinished.
I would hope Bromford can look at all the feedback they are getting about access, bus routes, gardens and general landscape and start to concentrate on managing and looking after the community of tenants they already have, Rather than throwing all there efforts into destroying a lovely piece of what’s left of the old golf course and cramming in a load more houses with more of the same problems.
And is it too much to ask for a park with some actual park equipment in it like a slide or a swing??
I’m sure this will fall on deaf ears because it’s someone else’s responsibility.
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Hi Dean
I’m sorry that you are not entirely happy with your home or the Oakdale estate. I will ask Mary, your Housing Manager, to contact you to discuss anything you may want to raise with us. I believe you moved into Oakdale in 2011. Our records show that you have not mentioned any problem with your garden to us previously. I’m sure you will agree that it is impossible for us to resolve a problem if we knew nothing about it. Mary can, however, discuss this, and any other concerns and suggestions you may have, when she contacts you.
The reason we haven’t taken responsibility for everything is that we do not own all of the land and others do have responsibilities. We are taking a coordinated approach and offering advice on who to contact to all residents regardless of their landlord or tenure or if they are a private owner.
You have mentioned the golf course and the building of further homes on Oakdale. The undeveloped land is owned by MMC. Whilst I believe things will be moving forward later this year I’m not sure of MMC’s exact timescale for developing, or the mix of properties to be built. If the next phase of the development is to include any social housing MMC will invite various Housing Associations to express an interest. There is a good chance that we will not be involved at in the next phase. MMC will give an update on their plans at our next meeting and I will let you know what is said. You may also like to contact them directly or via Lydney Town Council.
I hope you will be able to join us at the forthcoming Community Day when residents will be able to come along and meet representatives from Bromford, Rooftop (another Social Housing landlord with homes on the estate) Lydney Town Council, Kier, MMC and the police. We are hoping that residents will come along and discuss issues which are important to them and share ideas for the future. I’ll let you have the date as soon as the event has been arranged.
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For clarification, first comments on the Bromford response were from Oakdale Links Committee. All residents are welcome to be members of Oakdale Links if they choose to be and we gave out nomination forms to all occupied homes here in time for our AGM. I’m glad to hear there is one house where they have been no problems, Mrs Z! Please feel free to contact us if you would like to. Contact details are on http://www.oakdalelinks.org.uk. We will be doing a survey of the estate in the coming months if you would like to participate in that.
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Dean, I think one of the reason for not making a footpath for access through to Lakeside and Severnbanks is that they
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…will try and cram as many houses as possible there – right to the boundary of the fence. Otherwise, why put in temporary measures when there is such an obvious need for a footpath and historical use of the route?
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Hi Rachel.
We have some more updates for you as promised. Here we go:
Oakdale Community Event
Our community event is now ready to go and booked for Tuesday 28th April between 3.30 – 5.30pm. It will be held at Lydney Community Centre, in Naas Lane.
Everyone involved in the scheme has agreed to attend the event. So you should see representatives from Base Estates, Bromford, Forest of Dean Council, Lydney Town Council, Kier, MMC2, Rooftop and the Police.
It should be a good afternoon and it would be great to see you and your neighbours popping along.
Management Company
We’ve mentioned before how a management company was being set up and put in place to address any issues regarding the communal areas. Well, the good news is that one has now been appointed by MMC. This will be ‘Base Estates’.
Base Estates will be writing to all residents with details of the services they will be providing on Oakdale. You may have seen them out and about cutting grass last week.
Bev Oliver, Estate Manager for Base Estates, will be attending the Community Event next week to meet residents and answer any questions.
Stakeholders update
I tweeted before that I would get an update on the points raised in our last meeting. As promised, here are some updates:
• Signage (within the scheme) – An additional sign is being fitted for the Bledisloe Way flats. We’ve been advised, by the police, that Oakdale addresses are now on their SatNav’s and they have not had any recent problems finding addresses. If lots of residents express concerns, Kier will, however, look at this further.
• Dog poo bins and grit bins – Base Estates will be following this up.
• Cambourne Place Footpath – the pathway has been reported to Gloucestershire Highways who will assess and arrange for any works needed.
• Footpath linking phase 1 & 2 – MMC has provided the below response on these works:
“MMC have explored the possibility of extending an unofficial link from Phase 1 to Phase 2 to enable residents to access a short cut to the local Primary School. Unfortunately it is not possible to allow any pedestrian access across Phase 2 land until such times that Planning Permission has been secured for the Phase 2 development. The land is privately owned and an unofficial access route could compromise health and safety and create liability issues to both owners and residents.”
MMC will be able to answer any further questions about this next week.
• Trees – MMC have provided this update:
“MMC have instructed a registered Aboroculturist to inspect all trees within areas of public open space across the development. The report will specifically address issues arising from the earlier report prepared in June 2006 and suggest methods of improvement or if required removal. In addition to this MMC will issue a variation of condition to the existing consent for Phase 1a/1b to suggest the removal of (subject to aborocultural assessment) certain tree numbers as identified on the tree constraints plan ( 411-419 ) which fall to the rear of properties 52 – 80 Lakeside Avenue.”
• Bus Link – MMC have submitted a revised application to Gloucestershire County Council for the bus link between Cambourne Place to Lydney. Once approved a legal agreement can be signed and the works completed. Lydney Town Council has invited Lydney Dial-a-Ride to explain how Dial-a-Ride may be able to assist, in the future, with the public transport route to/from Oakdale. We should have more information about this in late May/June.
• Cottage and Guard Hut – These have now been demolished by MMC. Concerns have been raised about what has been left and this will be fed back to MMC.
• Post Box – Good news. Lydney Town Council’s application has been successful and a Royal Mail post box will be fitted in your community.
We do have the minutes from the meeting. If you wish to see them, just let us know.
We’re really looking forward to the community event next week. If you have any queries, concerns or suggestions for Oakdale please free to let us know or share them with us next Tuesday.
Otherwise, Mary is on hand on Twitter – @maryskinner6
See you next week!
Fiona
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Hi Rachel
David here. I’ve got an update for you.
As you’re aware, we held our community event on Tuesday (28th April) at the Lydney Community Centre. A range of topics were discussed with Rooftop housing, MMC, Base estates, the council and the local police at hand to answer queries and concerns from customers and residents.
We’re sorry that you weren’t able to make it on Tuesday and we appreciate that not everyone in the community was able to attend and share their thoughts. So with that in mind, we’ve created an online feedback form so anyone on the scheme can feedback to us:
http://www.bromford.co.uk/news-hub/your-news/2015/april/customers-share-their-thoughts-on-lydney/
Thanks
David
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Hi Rachel.
David here. I hope the month of May has been treating you well.
As promised, here are the minutes from the first meeting which took place. Apologies for the delay in getting these to you. We’ve tweeted the link to you as well.
I hope this helps.
Click to access oakdale-stakeholders-meeting-16.2.15.pdf
Thanks
David
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