Hatherley House
Ascham Homes and Hatherley House Residents Association
combat ASB and transform the
estate
Hatherley House Residents Association, made up
of four ambitious and determined ladies, was set up 1 year ago, by
Ascham Homes to help resolve the problems residents were
experiencing with anti-social behaviour.
A year on, with the help of Ascham Homes, they
have eradicated anti-social behaviour and have a new communal
garden area for residents, obtained through a grant from the
Community Council.
Ms Cetin; Chair of Hatherley House Residents
Association, spoke about her first experiences of moving onto the
estate. Ms Cetin completed works to the inside of her home to make
it feel homely for her family, but when she stepped outside her
flat she felt depressed. She was worried about her children going
out, as it didn’t feel safe. The communal entrance door just opened
and allowed access for youth trespassers to enter, who would sit on
the communal stairs drinking, smoking, defecating and urinating.
The fence was broken and wood kept being fixed to secure it, which
ended up being pulled down by the kids and broken again and again.
They were partying until the early hours of the morning in the
garden and leaving condoms, needles / syringes and beer cans on the
grounds. They even used the meter box as storage for all their drug
paraphernalia. Mattresses were left in the electric intake cupboard
for sleeping and fornication and youth would hang around on their
balconies and knock on residents’ doors to sell drugs. A residents’
child was pushed down the stairs by the youth and a resident being
robbed in front of their own doorstep. The residents took them to
Court, with evidence, however the perpetrators still came back.
Residents; Ms Cetin and Ms Pancar (Secretary
of the Residents Association) went to their Community Council and
Safer Neighbourhood Team meetings to raise their concerns. Staff
from Ascham Homes worked with the residents of Hatherley House, to
agree a way forward, including setting up a Residents Association
and give residents the option of choosing the metal fencing they
wanted. Ms Cetin sent an invitation for residents to come to this
meeting at her home, but didn’t expect anyone to attend as it was
snowing. However, it was quite a surprise to say the least when 28
residents turned up at her home, but she managed to squeeze
everyone in!
There were also problems in the block with
residents keeping scooters and plants in the corridor.
Residents weren’t happy with the fact that they had to keep their
communal areas clear, but understood the fire safety need to do
so.
However, Ms Cetin says ‘A Residents
Association isn’t only about talking on behalf of myself, I have to
act as a role model. When residents were informed to remove plants
and other items obstructing access in the communal corridor, I
removed my plants and the next day so did everyone else’.
A year on, working with Ascham Homes, the
anti-social behaviour has ended and the residents decided that they
would like a renovated communal garden with picnic benches for all.
The Residents Association attended a Community Council meeting and
submitted a form for funding. They obtained quotes for the works
and even created a computerised design of how they wanted the new
garden to look. All funding applicants were invited and residents
had to vote on which projects they would like to see awarded the
money. Ms Cetin spoke about the Hatherley House bid and received
the second highest number of votes, receiving £2,170 grant
funding.
Ascham Homes provided a lot of help from
preparing the relevant paperwork, to ordering the goods, fencing
plants, picnic benches and erecting them. The Grounds Maintenance
Team prepared the bedding soil, planted the shrubs and carried
compost. Ascham Homes staff even painted the walls of the
garden. Residents cooked and prepared for the event and the
official garden opening took place on 23 February 2011, where Ward
Councillors attended and cut the ribbon.
Ms Cetin says ‘We are thankful to Ascham
Homes, as now that all the anti-social behaviour has been
eradicated and the intercom door is fixed, there is a whole
transformation. I wish we had a Residents Association years ago,
this building looks like a piece of art now. You have to give
effort, as if there is a will there’s always a way’. Ms Pancar
added ‘We have had a lot of obstacles to overcome when setting up
the Residents Association, but with most of the residents now on
our side this is just the beginning’.
Erhan Mestanoglu, Community Development
Officer at Ascham Homes said ‘By setting up a Residents
Association, the committee were then in a stronger position to
obtain external funding. By doing so, this has bought
community cohesion on the estate. These are just some of the
benefits of having a TRA’.
Jo Murphy, Deputy Chief Executive Officer at
Ascham Homes said ‘Ascham Homes are very pleased to work with the
residents of Hatherley House and see the transformation that’s
happened. Ascham Homes staff and the residents have worked
exceptionally hard to resolve the issues that were bringing the
estate down and to turn the grounds into a place which residents
are now proud of. We hope that the Residents Association will
continue to go from strength to strength.’
The Resident Association’s future plans in the
pipeline include having an ‘activity area’, for children and
adults, by transforming the old drying area to play games such as
football, basketball, badminton and tennis. Watch this space!
If you are interested in setting up a
Residents Association for your area or want to find out about other
involvement opportunities, please contact the Resident Involvement
Team on: 020 8496 4038 / 4966, or email:
resident.involvement@aschamhomes.org.uk
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