Agenda item - Residents Question Time

            Item 1 – p. 11 – Estate Development Budget (EDB)

31.1    Residents asked about the deadline date for bids, as there was some         confusion on            this and hoped that tenants would apply.  Hilary Edgar,     Housing Service Operations Manager stated that officers had   asked for initial bids to be sent in by July with the deadline for full bids       16 November 2019.

31.2    Residents stated that it was difficult for tenants who lived in properties       without communal areas, such as most of the Woodingdean           estate, to        put in a bid for this   funding, since the EDB did not cover other areas    and therefore fencing was the only aspect of improvement that        residents could bid for. The Officer stated that currently the         criteria for      bids were being reviewed but that there was no hard decision on this          matter at present.

31.3    There was a discussion between residents and Ododo Dafe - Head of       Income, Inclusion & Improvement about applying for funding for      buying plants or requesting tarmac for outdoor areas. Residents      were unsure how to get funding for the upkeep            of these areas, after             they had initially been awarded these items and there was         special           concern for elderly and disabled residents who were             unable to do 

            gardening upkeep.

31.4    Officers agreed that upkeep, as well as issues such as parking were          long term objectives for areas and this would be discussed within item             37, later in the meeting.

31.5    Officers and residents had a discussion about different types of ground     maintenance and coverings that could possibly provide the most environmentally friendly solutions such as grasscrete.  The Officer    suggested that this could possibly be funded by a different   environmental budget – rather than the EDB.

31.6    Residents stated that there were very few residents associations now         and the Chair asked Officers whether more money was being            sought from the HRA in future.     Officers replied that the HRA money could be used differently for items required by tenants and that this           could possibly work better for residents than the EDB long term          sustainability on some bids. The Chair confirmed it was important for     tenants to be engaged in applying for funding.

Item 2 – p. 13 – Communal facilities in Whitehawk

31.7    The Chair and residents discussed the costs of different venues and         Councillor Platts stated that there is a Council bid for Freedom   Partnership where the objective is to share space as well as find             new facilities. Councillor Platts confirmed that there needed to be   further discussions on this issue and that she hoped to provide more          information in the near future. One resident disagreed with the statement on page 15 and said that not enough information was being given on this.

31.8    RESOLVED – that the Panel agreed to note the report.