Aidan White’s piece (Newham Voices Issue 17) on the council’s community engagement and housing strategy was interesting and I acknowledge the initiatives being taken, but as an ex-Chair of a tenants and residents association, I wonder if more could be done.

The Friends Tenants and Residents Association I was with covered the area behind East Ham Town Hall. We held eight meetings during the year and met very comfortably in the Flanders Community Centre.

We did everything we could to attract people to our meetings. We posted notices around the blocks of flats. We presented information on council developments at every meeting, explained that we could take up residents’ concerns – and we even offered refreshments.

But there was a disappointing lack of interest. Maybe most residents and tenants don’t fancy going to meetings.

However, I think providing information is vital so I would strongly advocate putting up notice boards on entrance walls on blocks of flats. These should provide contact details of the caretaker and of Housing Liaison Officers. There could also be the address of the nearest housing hub and contact information on local councillors and, possibly, a facility for tenants to post messages.

I’ve looked at tenant participation actions from other councils and these include a housing services newsletter, Zoom training for tenants, a scrutiny panel that provides an annual report on service delivery and opportunities for tenants to give their views on Facebook.

I certainly would like our council to dip into some of these ideas.

Peter Landman – peterlandman85@yahoo.com

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