Verbal update to be received.
Minutes:
The Interim Director of Commercial Investment informed the panel that as he had recently joined the Council, he was unaware that the panel had requested written rather than verbal updates but assured the panel that he did not have an issue with producing written reports in future.
The Interim Director of Commercial Investment explained to the panel that his role had recently been created within the council and stated that he had procurement responsibilities which included contract management.
The Interim Director of Commercial Investment acknowledged that there had been numerous issues with Brick by Brick over the past year and stated that after three important Cabinet meetings earlier in the year, the decision was made that Brick by Brick would wind itself down. The Council exercised its shareholder function to change directors and therefore change the course of Brick by Brick. In the past year there had been a review into whether the company would be dissolved or sold to another organisation and they decided not to. The strategy would now be to trade out Brick by Brick’s 23 sites, 21 of which were due to be completed this financial year. This would result in an around extra 370 homes being delivered into Croydon this year and there was a proposed acquisition 104 of these properties by the local authority. The Interim Director of Commercial Investment mentioned that he believed this would be completed by the end of the calendar year but accepted that there would be some issues such as GLA funding etc.
The Interim Director of Commercial Investment informed the panel that there are six other sites that would be looked at and of the six sites, five would shortly be going on the market. In terms of personnel changes at Brick by Brick, there was an advert for some new directors with expertise in terms of housing to make sure that the housing that was built would be suitable for residents.
The Interim Director of Commercial Investment explained that there were two sites that would take longer than this year to complete. He mentioned that he had a report which was the first quarterly update and would be taken to the next cabinet meeting. This was an update report so no decisions would be made from it.
In response to a question from chair, the Interim Director of Commercial Investment informed the panel that Brick by Brick had planning permission and had started to appoint builders and those sites would be fully developed and traded out in line with their plan. The mix and ratio of London affordable rent, social rented houses, private for sale houses as well as some shared ownership homes would continue to be delivered. These were the 23 sites and there were six sites where they had received planning permission but had not placed those contracts, these were the six sites that he had referred to in his earlier comments.
In response to a question from a resident, the Interim Head of Tenancy & Resident Engagement stated that she would take away the residents request for a meeting with Brick by Brick and the new Operations Manager taking over his area in order to arrange a site visit. The Interim Head of Tenancy & Resident Engagement assured the resident that if it was not possible for Brick by Brick to attend a meeting then at the very least they would have a meeting with the new Operations Manager to discuss their issues.
In response to questions from residents, the Interim Director of Commercial Investment provided an update to the panel on the new development at Heathfield Gardens, he stated that all 20 units had been sold and there was now a desire to ensure that these properties were occupied in the near future. The Interim Director of Commercial Investment acknowledged that placing residents in their recently developed units would reduce the dependency on temporary accommodation and explained that many of the Brick by Brick units were in the sale process and there had been some bulk transactions by housing associations, some units would go through a different process to provide affordable housing and other units had been put up for private sale. The Interim Director of Commercial Investment informed the panel that the council would not force sales of units but there would come a point where a decision needs to be made as to whether the council need to step in and buy the properties at a different rate.
The chair invited the Head of Environment Services & Sustainable Neighbourhoods to provide the panel with an update on grounds maintenance throughout Croydon. The Head of Environment Services & Sustainable Neighbourhoods informed the panel that he had recently taken on the enforcement section, this meant that issues such as anti-social behaviour, fly tipping and littering were within his remit.
The Head of Environment Services & Sustainable Neighbourhoods explained that the reduction in services last year had made it difficult to carry out grounds maintenance across of the Councils housing stock across the borough. The Head of Environment Services & Sustainable Neighbourhoods stated that for the past 6 weeks all of his grounds maintenance resources had been devoted to housing areas in the borough. The Head of Environment Services & Sustainable Neighbourhoods explained to the panel that his department would be working closely with their colleagues in housing in order to provide a more proactive grounds maintenance service, the grass cutting operations on all of the housing areas within the borough would be coming to an end and these resources would be redirected towards the areas surrounding highways.
In response to questions from residents, the Head of Environment Services & Sustainable Neighbourhoods assured members of the panel that despite winding down grass cutting operations, the resident grass would be cut. The winter maintenance programme would be starting shortly which involves planting for next year and cutting areas that have not been touched. The Head of Environment Services & Sustainable Neighbourhoods offered apologies that the grounds maintenance programme had not reached to particular estates, the service had initially prioritised emergency sites which had the most complaints and went systematically through the borough.
In response to a question from a resident, the Head of Tenancy & Resident Engagement explained that the grass cutting operations had been completed on the Croftleigh Avenue estate however the steep banks had not been cut due to the lack of correct equipment. The Head of Environment Services & Sustainable Neighbourhoods then informed the panel that there are certain areas of Croydon that the council were not equipped to cut, they usually outsource this work to external contractors.
RESOLVED: That the Panel agreed to note the verbal updates.