Keeping on community building

This past Saturday saw Hillmoor Street Community Centre invaded by all manner of vampires daemons and spooks for PHPN’s Halloween Party.

Everyone Involved in organising this event deserves congratulating for a first class job, and I for one would like to convey my thanks. It was well organised with plenty of food, activities and prises.  I am also pleased to say it was very well attended, and everyone seemed to have a thoroughly good time.

But of course it doesn’t end there. As a group were are still in our infancy, and now we have put on a couple of events, we have the taste for it. There are now plans afoot for a Christmas party, as well as further workswaps on a variety of subjects.

See you all at tonight’s meeting.

Next Meeting and other events

halloween in pleasley hill

Bicycle Workswap

Come along to Pleasley Hill’s first free community Workswap. A fusion between a workshop and a get together to share skills, knowledge and equipment.

• Learn more about bicycles and bike maintenance.
• Share tools knowledge and bike parts.
• Have your bike fixed for free.
• Share what you know about bikes with others.
• Bring along parts to swap, donate or build and fix bikes

Bicycles are the cheapest, most efficient form of transport there is. On a bicycle you can travel up to 1037 kilometres on the energy equivalent of a single litre of petrol, and you can travel 3 times faster than you can walk, for the same amount of energy. And with Pleasley Hill only a couple of miles from town, they are perfect for getting about.

Many of us own bikes, but they sometimes need a bit of work. So come along to the Workswap and learn how to keep your bike in top condition. See what makes bicycles so great, share old parts and get new ones or just come along and share what you know. So if you are young or old come along.  As long as you are 12 years old or over you are welcome, even if you don’t own a bike! Children under 12 can come along in the afternoon to have their bikes repaired, but they must be accompanied by an adult.

Bring some food and drink (limited tea available) for lunch. Whatever bike(s) or parts you want to swap/donate/share/fix. And any tools you can, especially specialist bike tools.

Hillmoor Street Community Centre Saturday 24^th October

United we stand or divided we fall

Since I fist started taking a more active role in the community, I have had a lot of positive feedback. What I have not had much of is negative feedback, which to be honest surprised me at first.

It didn’t take long though before I started to hear rumours circulating that had a negative tone to them. My position was that I did not want to respond to it, and that it was childish. However after the most recent allegations, I feel I should publicly retort.

It started at the very first meeting when I suggested that I did not want to be seen as a leader of this group, and instead wanted each and every person to have an equal say. I said that since I had spent a lot of time and effort to start this off, I would like to see it managed in a fully democratic way. I said that I would like to run the group by consensus, and that positions such as chairing a meeting could be rotated amongst anyone who wanted to give it a try. I asked for consensus on this, and we achieved it. No one felt so strongly against this that they wanted to bloc it, which they did have the chance to do.

However not everyone was happy with the decision. Some people felt that a group should have a voted in chair person and that it should be run in a more closed and traditional way, as apposed to the completely open way I suggested. The people who felt most strongly about this were the people who have been involved in a previous residents association. I am told that this residents association was dispended due to lack of interest (because the group was not addressing peoples concerns, or even listening to them), and because some one was fiddling the money. The objection seems to boil down to the fact that as a group we want to give people their own say, while the objectors want to represent the people, and peruse their own agenda (as it is alleged to have been in the past).

The first rumour that we heard after this meeting was that some people were going to set up a separate group to compete with ours, with the intention of pushing us out. I was unsure at first how to deal with such a petty issue, but I decided in the end that it didn’t matter. If another group wanted to establish them selves based around different principles that was fine. Especially as any action they take in the community towards improving our situation is a positive action, and works towards our objectives.

Last week we received a leaflet for tea party. My initial reaction was surprise that I had not already heard about it, and that it had been distributed with MVMP’s leaflet. I was also glad that someone else was putting on an activity. What I did notice though was the entry fee. All the plans I have for activities are free, and I wondered where the money raised was going.

Unfortunately I was unable to attend the event, but obviously other people did, and what I heard back has disturbed me a little. Apparently a discussion was started regarding funding, and it was pointed out that our fund rising activities could have been better supported in the community, considering we are raising the funds for children’s activities. I am told the response was “what do you expect when it is run by a load of smack heads”.

Now I consciously try not got get involved in conflicts. It is my opinion, that we should be putting our diffrences aside and working together for all our benefit. However, in this case I feel I need to set the record straight.

While our group operates without a hierarchy, I am the person that runs this site, does all the printing, distributes the leaflets, books the community centre, currently facilitates the meetings and much more. I also am not, nor have I ever been a heroin user. Furthermore, I have not witnessed any one at any of our meetings clearly under the influence of heroin.

However……

If a heroin user was to turn up to our meetings, we would welcome them the same as we would welcome any other member of the community. If they live in the area, any contribution they make to the community has the same value as a non heroin user. The same goes for all drugs. We do not condone nor encourage their use, but we do encourage every member of the community to become involved.

With this in mind. I would love to see at our meetings drug users who have the inclination and the time to attend the meetings. Who are taking an interest in the community. In my mind they are a far more important demographic than the people who would spread unfounded rumours, and do everything in their power to undermine people attempting to do good in their community simply because they are not in sole control of the group.

Helping the community

Last night, MVMP were hosting a consultation with residents at Hillmoor Street Community Centre.

Over the last few weeks and months as MVMP have taken more of a role in the issues in Pleasley Hill. They have offerd to put on activites for children, which we appreciate. And we have been told many times how MVMP would like to engage with residents and consult them over the fate of the area. However, I am not convinced that the level of consultation is adequate, or that the sentiment of MVMP is entirely sincere.

When MVMP circulated their leaflet last week, they distributed a separate leaflet to the residents of Hillmoor street, who live in the houses that they now plan to retain. The leaflet said:

As you will be aware current proposals are to retain the blocks 1-26 Hillmoor Street for the foreseeable future, however your views are still welcome should you wish to attend and complete a short questionnaire

However when I arrived there, I was told there really wasn’t anything for me, and the questionnaire was for people who needed to be re-housed. Since I live in one of the Hillmoor Street houses, I will not need re-housing.

Some time ago, people living on Clarence Street and in the first block of houses on Chesterfield Road, adjacent to Clarence Street were sent a letter. It seems that many people do not remember it, but I quite clearly remember this letter as it contributed quite heavily to my decision to remain in Pleasley Hill. At the time I was considering buying a house in Kirkby, and this letter along with my son’s achievements at school convinced me to stay.

In this letter, MDC stated that some of the houses on Hillmoor Street were to be refurbished as temporary accommodation for the people who wanted to remain in the area during the re-development. Just the same as they now need to re-home other people. The impression was that people who chose to move from these houses on Clarence Street and the top of Chesterfield Road, would be able to move in to one of the new houses when they are built, and that Hillmoor Street would be demolished last.

Now of course they plan to retain these houses, and it would seem there is no firm commitment to allow people to move in to the new homes. I personally can’t help but feel I have been lied to in order to fill the houses on Hillmoor Street at a premium. A premium that is in my mind expected by South Yorkshire Housing Association only because the houses have been refurbished. Now when I say refurbished, what I really mean is that these houses now meet the decent homes standard. This is unlike the rest of the council houses in the area that need to meet this standard in the next few months to meet the government’s promise made ten years ago. In essence, the people of Hillmoor Street renting from SYHA have to pay extra because their homes meet a minimum standard.

The problem is that only a few weeks ago we were being led to believe that the decision over what to do about Hillmoor Street had not been made. That after all the talk of listening to residents and consultation, this decision was made without informing the residents of those houses is hypocritical. And what concerns me the most is that last night I was told that MVMP had always been of the understanding that these houses were to remain. This means that up until a couple of weeks ago, when we were being told that the decision had not been made, it in fact had, and there was never any intention to demolish these houses. The very least they (MDC, MVMP or anyone involved) could have done would have been to be honest, and present the reasoning behind their decision.

I was also told last night that there are no plans to replace the community centre on Hillmoor Street. Now we had been told this before, but my understanding was that MVMP wanted to listen to residents and change their plans to meet our needs. It was my hope that after the meeting hosted by MVMP on the 14^th of September, where the community made it quite clear that we do not want to lose the community centre the plans would be amended. This is however not the case.

They quickly point out that the Landmark Centre is not far away, but fail to address the points the community raise.

• Many residents of Pleasley Hill do not feel welcome at the Landmark Centre.
• Hillmoor Street Community Centre is used by our community very regularly, in many cases for free. Children’s activates, bingo nights and Meetings all use the venue. Can the Landmark Centre provide the same amount of time for our community, and at the same price? In short, it can’t replace our own building.
• Hillmoor Street Community Centre is right in the middle, in a mostly traffic free area of the community MDC and MVMP want to up heave. The Landmark Centre is Geographically divided from us by a busy road with a narrow pavement.

The evidence is beginning to suggest that despite all the rhetoric, nothing of any substance that the community ask for is going to materialise. I wonder how far we will get in asking for a decent park, or as the kids in the area want, a bmx park. Instead it would seem that rather than improving the community, over the last few years we have had everything taken away. We lost our allotments behind Clarence Street when they build the MARR road. We lost our “park” on the other side of Clarence street. And now it would seem we are going to lose the community centre too. With this in mind, how are MVMP helping the community? If it is simply by moving everyone out of their homes, and dispersing the community so that they can build new homes that existing residents can’t afford, then I don’t see that as help at all. I do however see it as a way to avoid making any commitments to existing residents, and to maximise the profits that the development will generate.

Jumble Sale

Jumble Sale

28^th September Hillmoor Street Community Centre

Pleasley Hill People’s Network will be holding a jumble sale on Monday the 28^th of September. All money raised will be used to organise activities for the community.

To ensure the success of this sale we are asking people to donate anything they can. The more we are able to collect, the better the activities we put on will be. Some ideas for donations might be:

• Old clothes that are still in good condition
• Toys, bikes and board games
• Media, such as DVDs, CDs or games
• Ornaments

Anything that we are not able to sell will be donated to a charity, or saved for further sales.

If you would like to donate anything, simply bring it along to a meeting, or call Mark on 07833691886 to arrange for us to collect it.

Next Meeting

Now that the group has been established, we will be meeting every fortnight from Monday the 21^st September.

We are currently working towards holding several activities in the coming months, including Halloween and Bonfire Night celebrations.  To raise funds for these events, we will be holding a jumble sale at Hillmoor Street Community Centre in the coming weeks.

If you would like to help out with these activates, donate items for the jumble sale, or loan equipment for activities, you are most welcome to come along to the meeting and get involved.

Pleasley Hill People’s Network is open to everyone in the area. It is not a hierarchal organisation, so has no “leaders”. And all the decisions are made with the agreement of everyone there. It exists simply to improve the area for all of us by making our voices heard.

Hillmoor Street Community Centre

21^st September 2009 7.15pm

MVMP’s Meeting – Monday the 14th September

On Monday the 14^th, MVMP held a meeting for the residents of Pleasley Hill, to explain more about their plans and who they are. For anyone who has been involved with Pleasley Hill People’s Network up until now, there was very little in the way of new information.

The first part of the meeting involved a presentation on who MVMP are, and the work they have done in the past. They also explained a little about the structure of the company, and how residents can be elected to the board of directors. We have a link to their site in the menu to the right of this page, and I would recommend reading some of the information there if you would like to know more about them.

The second part of the meeting was a questions and answers session. Many of the questions raised had been addressed at some of the public meetings we have held over the last few weeks, based on information we had gathered from MVMP and MDC.  Some of the new information we got from Monday included the amount of compensation that residents can expect to receive when moved out of their homes.

Tenants can expect to receive:

• Home loss payment. The figure given was £4700
• Tenants may also claim disturbance costs, for things such as removals vans etc.

Owner-Occupiers can expect:

• The full market value of their home.
• A home loss payment of 10% of the full market value of their home.
• May also be able to claim disturbance costs.
• Possible additional relocation grant.

There were concerns raised about the market value of homes, and some residents expressed concern over the fact that the value of their homes may have fallen due to the state of the area. MVMP tried to ease these concerns by saying that there had not been problems with this on other projects, but little real information was given to put people’s minds at rest. They also said that the home would be valued as though nearby properties were not left empty.  This however does not address the fact that some home owners may now be in negative equity due to the recession, and the recent drop in house prices. Add to this concerns not only over the nearby empty properties, but the general state of the area after years of council neglect, it is no wonder that home owners are concerned.

Another major topic of discussion was the way in which tenants will be re-homed. As the majority of the existing homes are 3 bedroom houses, people were concerned about having to take small flats, and large families were concerned that their needs would not be met. The response from MVMP was simply that each tenant/family would be evaluated and offered suitable homes.

It was also highlighted that the map handed to Pleasley Hill Peoples network little over a month ago, and on which our discussions have been based, has now changed without any notice. It concerns me that MVMP say they want to consult with residents, but at this stage we have little input as to what is happening with the planning. It seems that the residents are only to be involved once a plan has been drawn up, which raises questions about just how much involvement residents can have, and how much we will be able to adjust the plan to suit our needs.

One of the major changes to the map, was that part of the housing on Hillmoor Street is now to be retained. This came as a bit of a shock to some residents of Hillmoor Street, as they had moved in to these houses from Clarence Street and parts of Chesterfield Road on the understanding that they were temporary accommodation while the redevelopment went ahead, and that the residents of these houses would be able to move in to new housing once it was built. It now seems that this is not the case, and that the residents in these houses are expected to remain in them even after the redevelopment.

Finally, MVMP also talked about funding that can be accessed by Pleasley Hill People’s Network, and offered to help with activities for children, and community learning.

It was a little disappointing to see so many people turn up to this meeting and ask questions, or complain about issues that we as a group have been trying to deal with. I encourage anyone with any concerns about the area to come along to our meetings and get involved with finding our own solutions to our own issues.

With this meeting out of the way, MVMP have two open days where they will present their master plan for the redevelopment. These open days will be held at the Pleasley Landmark Centre on the 23^rd of September 3pm-7pm and on 24^th of September from 9am-12pm. The promise is that their will be new information at these open days.

And there is of course also the next PHPN meeting on the 21^st of September, at 7:15pm.

Pleasley Hill Halloween and Bonfire Night Celebrations.

At Mondays meeting there was a strong agreement that we should organise both a Halloween party, and bonfire night celebrations. Organisation for both events is in it’s early stages, but moving forward very fast. Many members of the community have already offered equipment, time and support for these events, but obviously any further volunteers or ideas are most welcome.

A working group has been established to organise these events, but as always everyone is welcome to join in. So please, if you feel that you have anything to offer get in contact as soon as possible, or come along to the next meeting on the 21st of September.

More details will be posted very soon, so watch this space!