Earlier this week, Alison Dean, our newly appointed Chief Executive, and Steve Mather, our Chief Property Officer, went on a tour of some of our stock in Oldham. This visit allowed Alison and Steve to talk to customers about their experiences with us and better understand some of the challenges.
Overview of Alison and Steve’s visit to Oldham – Monday 15 July
Led by Masood Chaudry (Area Services Manager), Alison and Steve’s busy itinerary included visits to:
The Primrose Community Centre and neighbourhood (part of the Oldham PFI)
Firstly, Alison and Steve headed over to The Primrose Centre where they met Gemma McGiffen (Housing Management PFI Manager). The Primrose Centre is part of the ten-year £113M Public Finance Initiative (PFI), delivered by the Inspiral Oldham Consortium which includes Great Places and Wates. At the Centre, they also met with Jan Wade (Community Development Coordinator) who runs the facility. Jan then led on a tour showing some of the brilliant initiatives on offer to customers such as The Community Fridge.
Alison and Steve then went on a tour of the Primrose Bank neighbourhood with Gemma and Tracy Richardson, who looks after this area.
Chelmsford Street and Napier Street, Werneth
Along with Masood, Alison and Steve then headed over to Chelmsford Street, where we have a handful of properties on both sides of the street. Here we have a mix of newly built properties, the largest being a five-bed. They discussed the quietness of the area and the good condition of the older properties.
Next up, was a walk around Napier Street where Masood explained some of the challenges, including recently resolved fly-tipping and grounds maintenance issues in some of the private gardens of the flats which are currently being looked at.
Maple Mill, Hathershaw
At Maple Mill (the site of a former derelict mill), Alison and Steve met Maddie Hodgson (Neighbourhood Services Manager) who walked them around the new development of 98 new homes. Maddie explained some of the features of the development and new homes, including bike stores and solar panels, as well as the bat houses and bird boxes which protect the biodiversity of the local area.
The Crossley Community Centre and neighbourhood (part of the Oldham PFI)
After a drive through the Crossley estate looking at Lansdowne Court and Stockfield Mount (two of our tower blocks), the visit concluded at The Crossley Community Centre, which is the other community centre that is part of the PFI. Here they were taken on a tour by Naseem Ahmad (Community Development Coordinator) and they met the members of the weekly sewing class. They chatted about the importance of the Centre and the positive outcomes which improve customers’ wellbeing.
Commenting on the visit Alison said:
It was great to be back in the Central region today taking the opportunity to talk to colleagues and catch up on all things PFI-related at Primrose Bank and Crossley. Our new homes on the former Maple Mill site in Hathershaw look fantastic and provide greatly needed affordable rented family accommodation for the area. Thanks to Masood for being a great host and to other colleagues who took time out of their day to talk to us about their work.
Steve said:
It was a great morning out in our neighbourhoods meeting the team leading the PFI scheme at the fantastic Primrose Community Centre, discussing scheme security issues with customers on Napier Street and visiting the great new homes at Maple Mill in Hathershaw. Finally, we popped into The Crossley Community Centre in Chadderton to meet the members of the sewing club!
Alison’s next visit is to the North Region on Thursday 25 July with Mike Gerrard, our Chief Financial Officer.
