Citizens' Panel Newsletter

Issue 11: Spring 2011

Download a full colour copy of the newsletter 5.99 MB

In this Newsletter:

• Tameside Markets
• Customer Service
• Highway Services
• Social Housing
• Tameside Radio
• You Choose

‘Welcome!’

This is the latest Citizens’ Panel update where we tell you the results from our Spring 2011 survey. Thanks so much to all of you who took the time to fill in the questionnaires and send them back to us. The results are really helping us to make informed decisions when planning and developing services across the Council.

‘Tameside Markets’

Tameside markets are a popular choice amongst local residents. The vast majority of you (87%) have visited either Ashton or Hyde market during the last twelve months; with over a third of you (35%) having visited both markets. Individually, Ashton market was the most popular with 42% of you having made a visit over the past year, compared to 9% for Hyde.

When asked how often you visit Tameside markets, over a third of you do so at least once a week or more; 33% visit Ashton market this regularly and 35% Hyde market.

Satisfaction with the mix of trade available is also high. Over eight in ten of you (82%) agree Ashton market has a right mix of food and non-food traders, and 69% agree for Hyde.

Although we received a lot of positive comments about the markets generally, there are some areas you feel could be improved.

Some of you commented about the number of empty stalls within Hyde market and the need to revitalise the local area. Tameside Council are committed to improving the environment and functionality of Hyde town centre and a significant amount of work has been carried out with partners to prepare a vision for Hyde town centre. Significant public realm improvements, a new Market Square, improved signage and a targeted business support programme are planned over the next two years.

A draft Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) has also been prepared which proposes the Council’s planning policies in relation to developing Hyde town centre. The SPD sets out proposed policies by which the Council will assess planning applications and highlights specific development and public realm projects that will aid future regeneration of the town. You can have your say on the draft SPD by visiting www.tameside.gov.uk/planning/ldf/spd. The deadline for comments is 4pm on Friday 17 June.

Parking charges in Ashton were also highlighted within the results. Ashton Market is promoting free parking in the Town Centre after 3pm on a Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The possibility of refunding parking fees to shoppers who use Ashton Market Hall is also being investigated.

To find out more about what Tameside Markets have to offer please visit www.tameside.gov.uk/markets or contact Property Services on 0161 342 3268 (Ashton) or 0161 342 3338 (Hyde).

‘Here to help’

It is encouraging to report that despite these challenging times almost two thirds of you (64%) agree the quality of services provided by Tameside Council is good overall. This is an increase on the 2009 result of 59%.

The number of you who agree the Council gives residents good value for money has also risen significantly over the last two years. In 2009, 41% of you agreed this was the case compared to 48% in the recent survey. Less than a fifth of you (18%) disagree with this statement.

In total 61% of you contacted the Council in the last year, with over two thirds (70%) satisfied with your experience.

We are committed to delivering an excellent standard of customer service to our local residents. Monitoring performance through the Citizens’ Panel survey and acting on your feedback helps us to identify where improvements need to be made.

‘Highway Services’

In the recent Citizens’ Panel survey we asked you to rank the services delivered by our Highways team in order of importance to you. Overall, your top three priorities are:

• The condition of main roads and pavements e.g. bus routes and shopping areas
• The condition of local roads and pavements e.g. non-bus routes and residential areas
• Casualty reduction/road safety in respect of pedestrians, cyclists, drivers

Generally, agreement that services including the provision of winter gritting and the condition of roads and pavements have improved during the last three years have decreased compared to 2010. The effects of last year’s particularly harsh winter weather may have had an impact on some of these results.

The condition of our borough’s roads and pavements remain one of our top priorities. In recent years we have undertaken major programmes to improve road and footway surfaces. The results of the survey show us that demand for further improvements remain high. We will continue to prioritise these areas and seek additional sources of investment.

‘Housing Matters’

By law all local authorities are required to have an Allocations Scheme describing how social housing will be allocated in the local area. Social housing includes all properties owned by the Council and Housing Associations who operate in an area. This requirement applies equally to all local authorities including those, like Tameside, who no longer own their own housing stock.

Tameside Council, in co-operation with its Housing Association partners, will be developing a new Allocations Scheme over the next twelve months. This also includes the introduction of a web based application system for people to register for social housing. As part of the consultation around this process, we wanted to ask for your perceptions on how social housing is administered in Tameside and find out your views on some of the proposed changes.

Overall awareness of the Council’s responsibilities around social housing and how properties are allocated is low. Around a quarter (26%) of residents feel well informed of the local authority’s responsibility to have an allocations scheme. A further 29% are aware of the different Housing Associations operating in the borough, and 25% of the type and location of properties these have to offer. Unsurprisingly, awareness was higher amongst those residents who live in rented accommodation compared to those who either own or are in the process of buying their property.

Once the fully developed allocation scheme has been drafted further consultation will take place with a range of stakeholders including community groups and individual service users. The final policy will be accompanied by a summary scheme outlining how properties will be allocated and how applicants can register. This will help to address the low awareness levels evidenced in the recent Citizens’ Panel survey results.

The two household groups you consider should be given the highest priority in the housing allocations procedure are:

• Older people where a move is deemed desirable to help them continue to live independently (77% high priority)
• Working households who are on a low income (66% high priority)

In line with your responses we will look how we can give increased priority to older people and how we can include low income working households on the Council’s housing register.

We will explore the options available to develop a web based application process taking full consideration of your responses from the recent survey. Overall the majority of you think the introduction of a web based registration system is a good idea (47% agree v 26% disagree). Agreement that a web based registration system is a good idea is more popular amongst respondents aged 44 and under (55% agree), compared to 38% of those aged over 45. We intend to build in more support and advice in this process for older people and for those people who do not necessarily have easy access to the internet.

If you want to find out more about housing in the borough Tameside Housing Advice team are available to provide general information on both social and private housing, debt advice and homelessness prevention. You can contact the team by visiting their website www.tamesidehousingadvice.org, calling them on 0161 331 2700 or sending them an e mail at info@tamesidehousingadvice.org.

‘Tune in to Tameside Radio’

Tameside Radio maintains its position as the borough’s third most listened to radio station according to our recent results. Over a third of you (36%) have listened to Tameside Radio during the last year, with only Key 103 (53%) and Radio 2 (41%) attracting more listeners.

The popularity of Tameside Radio amongst local residents continues to rise with awareness of the station at an all time high. Over eight in ten residents (86%) have heard of Tameside Radio, up from 81% in 2010. There has also been an increase in the number of listeners tuning in at breakfast time (between 6am and 10am), from 36% in 2010 to 44% in 2011.

If you have yet to listen to Tameside Radio why not tune in to 103.6FM and give it a try! Or, if you want to find out more about the station you can visit their website at www.tamesideradio.com.

‘You Choose’

Tameside Council has recently launched a new £500,000 fund to support local voluntary and community organisations called You Choose. You Choose is delivered through a participatory budgeting model with local people deciding who gets the funding. Eight events will take place across each of the borough’s neighbourhoods in 2011-12.

The two lively opening events took place on Saturday afternoons in Droylsden and Denton and Audenshaw in April 2011 which saw the Council support 38 community groups by providing £110,025. 168 residents voted for projects over the two events with 94% of event attendees either very satisfied or satisfied with You Choose.

One successful project has seen youngsters at St Stephen’s Catholic Primary School, Droylsden, get their own chicken shack and run producing free range eggs thanks to a £3,000 grant from Tameside Council’s You Choose Fund. The project was voted for by Droylsden residents and will help all involved learn about environmental issues, gain new skills, and involve members of the wider community.

School Site Manager Gary Allcock said: “Science, maths and English have become far more interesting subjects since we have taken them outdoors with the gardening club and the chicken run will help us to develop this learning further.”

Funding for the You Choose scheme comes in part from the recycling efforts of local residents with savings made by the council from landfill.

Tameside Council Deputy Executive Leader Cllr John Taylor, who is responsible for grants, said: “Despite massive cuts in council funding and funding for the voluntary sector from the Government we will try to protect community groups with this new £500,000 scheme. The You Choose initiative aims to put the community at the heart of choosing what they want to see happen in their area."

Executive Member for Neighbourhoods Cllr Kevin Welsh said: "It's very important that people come along and vote at the You Choose events; it is a great way to get involved in making decisions on how money is spent in your neighbourhood."

To find out more about You Choose, including the dates of future events, please visit www.tameside.gov.uk/youchoose or call 0161 342 3149.