skip to main |
skip to sidebar
AFTER passing through security, Jean England, of Whitemoor, Alison Thorpe, of Strelley, and Ennis Peck of Clifton, found themselves walking along Downing Street, heading for the Prime Minister's house. Armed with more than 1,000 signatures of support for their campaign and clippings of stories from the Post, the three Nottingham City Homes (NCH) residents were joined by Nottingham South MP Lilian Greenwood and Gedling MP Vernon Coaker. NCH tenants launched the Nott Decent campaign in September after NCH was warned by the Government it could face a 25 or 40 per cent reduction in its Secure, Warm Modern programme. The project replaces thousands of windows, doors, kitchens, and bathrooms in council houses across the city. After knocking on the glossy, black door in Downing Street and handing over their petition, Ennis Peck, 82, said: "It was a really special moment that you don't think you'll ever do in your life." Mrs England, 60, said: "It didn't feel real, it was special that we, as ordinary tenants, were able to do something for the rest of the tenants." And Mrs Thorpe, 48, said: "Delivering the campaign to Downing Street was very, very special – that we've got this far and in this short time. But we're not stopping here – we need to get out there even more. We're still going to continue to fight. We've got all the four MPs behind us and that's really refreshing. Without their support we wouldn't have got as far as we have done." Mr Coaker said: "It's about ensuring that people's homes are of the standard that they should be. It's very easy money to cut but we shouldn't abandon people in that way. But it's also about what it does for the local economy, (more than 600) people are employed repairing the kitchens, doing the bathrooms. It's nice for me and Lilian to come along but it's a grassroots campaign, people coming together to achieve this. Ms Greenwood said: "Nottingham City Homes did what was required of them, they've delivered. Tenants have seen the difference, but to cut the programme when it's not half way through seems to be desperately unfair. Just because of the way the work was scheduled, some people will have their homes done and other people, for no good reason, will be deprived of that opportunity, and that seems to me to be completely arbitrary and unfair." Read more on the Nottingham Post website.
NOTTINGHAM residents went to 10 Downing Street yesterday in a bid to urge David Cameron not to slash funding for council house improvements. Three Nottingham City Homes tenants handed over a petition with more than 1,000 signatures calling for continued investment in refurbishing council houses. It follows news that the Decent Homes programme (called Secure, Warm, Modern in Nottingham), which is replacing thousands of old windows, bathrooms, kitchens and heating systems in city council houses, is under threat. The £165 million scheme, expected to run until 2013, could be scrapped or reduced, following today's spending review. Jean England, chairman of the NCH Tenant and Leaseholder Congress, which launched the campaign, said: "Now we've taken the petition to Downing Street, I hope the Government will listen to us today and let Nottingham keep its funding so that we can live in decent properties in comfort and security like they live in." She was joined in Downing Street by NCH residents Ennis Peck, 82, of Clifton, and Alison Thorpe, 48, of Strelley, as well as Gedling MP Vernon Coaker and Nottingham South MP Lilian Greenwood. Ms Greenwood, who organised the opportunity at Downing Street, said: "I think it's really important that people from Nottingham come down and say it like it is. These cuts can get tied up in figures but the important bit is the human cost of these cuts, what they'll mean to families. It doesn't have to be this way and it isn't fair." Read more on the Nottingham Post website.
FOUR Nottingham MPs are backing a residents' campaign calling for the Government to continue funding a council house improvement programme. The Nott Decent campaign was launched by tenants after Nottingham City Homes, which manages the homes for Nottingham City Council, was told it could see a 25 per cent or 40 per cent cut to its programme, Secure Warm Modern. Following fears it could be scrapped or reduced, MPs Lilian Greenwood of Nottingham South, Chris Leslie of Nottingham East, Graham Allen of Nottingham North and Vernon Coaker of Gedling, are urging the Government to listen. Ms Greenwood was out in Clifton, yesterday, collecting signatures for a petition with Jean England and Alison Thorpe of the NCH Tenant and Leaseholder Congress, which launched the campaign. The Labour MP is also hoping to ask the housing minister to make an announcement about the future of the programme in the House of Commons, on Thursday. Mr Allen, who has already spoken to housing minister Grant Shapps about the programme, said: "We always work very closely together and it's great. I think it's probably one of the most prolific campaigns I've been involved in. "We'd like the funding to be kept on track but as a second best, even if the funding is reduced, we want the programme to continue so we can regulate it. "The minister didn't make any promises but seemed open that it was a sensible way to run it." As part of the campaign, the residents have been distributing postcards for people to send to MPs to show their support. The four Labour MPs have now received hundreds of these postcards and have said they are wholeheartedly backing the campaign. Read more on the Nottingham Post website by clicking on the logo below. 
Every time Jean England uses her new warm bathroom she remembers her old one - and thanks her lucky stars. Mrs England has had a new bathroom and kitchen fitted at her home under the Government’s Decent Homes programme. She is chairwoman of the Tenant and Leaseholder Congress (TLC) for Nottingham City Homes (NCH), which has launched a campaign to guarantee funding for planned improvements amid budget cut fears. The campaign, called “It's Nott Decent”, is being led by the congress at NCH. The group includes tenants, leaseholders, forums, resident associations and other NCH customers. They are urging residents to lobby councillors and MPs and send them a campaign postcard. Since the launch of the campaign last month, the TLC has been busy making its voice heard. It has got hundreds of signatures on a petition and has lobbied MPs across the city. Alison Thorpe, vice-chairwoman of the congress, has also met a Government representative from the Homes and Communities Agency to explain the campaign. Read more on the Nottingham Post website by clicking on the logo below. 
