Paine
Outside Housing
Recent activity
Comments (94)
-
Comment on: Mixed-up policies
With all due respect, Mr Schofield, what depressing defeatist codswallop!
There are reams of good evidence around on the success of mixed communities and I'd suggest the Joseph Rowntree Foundation's work (http://www.jrf.org.uk/publications/mixed-communities-success-and-sustainability) just as a starting point. You'll find there are a number of factors covered that are untouched in the article.
So why the selective reading given by Mr Schofield above? What makes a manager at a large provider suggest the UK should follow the literally glowing example of the Paris banlieus? And could it be linked to vanishing subsidy and the increasing Govt pressure to sweat HAs?
Once mixity is abandoned the next step is anybody's guess. However, I wouldn't bet against large London providers buying up land in Stoke just yet. -
Comment on: Council sent complainants' details to ASB offenders
Deputy heads will roll.
-
Comment on: Planners revisit 100-year-old overcrowding strategy
I don't want to attack the new interest in garden cities. I really don't. But without a parallel programme of increasing densities in the inner parts of the biggest cities (in the manner of Barcelona) any new greenfield sites will simply become dormitory towns. That is what happened with Letchworth and with Welwyn. What's more, lacking the transport infrastructure for a slew of new dormitory towns, we would be playing to another of this country's weak points.
The TCPA must propose plans which are less a pragmatic compromise with the status quo and more in line with what they surely know is the best way forward. I'm tired of the green vs brownfield argument being presented as a zero sum game. -
Comment on: Government publishes revised planning reforms
Doesn't this mean that all the planners that have been laid off by councils will now be recruited again to deliver local plans? If not, how else are they to be put together?
And where will the line be drawn for authorities that have a "record of persistent under delivery of housing"? How "persistent" do they have to have been? Will they still be eligible for bonus payments for granting permissions in their area, despite their past records?
I'm somewhat confused by Liz Peace's statement - isn't the statutory requirement for a regular statement on housing (and employment/training) need an established part of any LA's duties?
On the face of it, there seems to be little progress on what the strategy is. And I'm still concerned that providers haven't achieved any force behind the argument for clearer commitment to social housing from the framework. Development departments up and down the land, where are you on this? -
Comment on: First lenders and house builders sign up to Newbuy
Just to clarify my earlier comment: Newbuy seems aimed at shoring up what purports to be a free market to the benefit of housebuilders and lenders. I'm not sure helping folk buy new houses built on pre-crash figures is really that wise.
I also quite like "Network" by Sidney Lumet (Paddy Chayefsky script)
Discussions (0)
Paine has not added any discussions yet.
Posts (19)
-
Posted in: Council Housing is not subsidised
Melvin, don't be coy. Do tell.
-
Posted in: Scrutiny Panel of Tenant's - How its your's doing -
Before I bow out of this thread (and I've certainly had more than my tuppence-worth of CIH bandwidth) I just wanted to say that allowing the senior management/board to select the scrutiny panel isn't right either. But given a choice between selection and election for a new panel, I'd choose the former every time.
-
Posted in: Scrutiny Panel of Tenant's - How its your's doing -
Actually Hugh, a number of RSL's have opted for elections. Probably because it more or less guarantees a weaker scrutiny panel and therefore the next best thing to zero consumer protection.
-
Posted in: Scrutiny Panel of Tenant's - How its your's doing -
The turnout is a side-issue, really.
Scrutiny panels are meant to - among other things - replace the inspections previously carried out by the Audit Commission. You needn't be popular or a "fighter" to do it. It's not that kind of job.
Scrutiny is about skill at gathering evidence. An election might let candidates express their suitability in terms of understanding of tenants' issues but it could not guarantee that the winners had the right range of skills necessary for doing the job.
It would be like electing your doctor. The one with the best bedside manner would always win, even when a better qualified doctor was available.
Perhaps when and if these panels take off and have been around a while, elections might work. Until then, taking that much risk with the protection they offer tenants seems an unwise gamble.
-
Posted in: APRIL 2001 -- Value For Money and how should tenants scrutinise/monitor it?
Phew! Relieved you aren't upset, Rick.
Perhaps the fact you frequently learn from those who disagree with you could be instructive in other ways but I agree, not everyone is forthright in their views.