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February 19, 2019 at 6:17 pm in reply to: Dealing with a Housing Association, any experiences or advice? #30923
As Ed says, HA’s are cash-strapped. I have been waiting months for several repair & maintenance issues: the border fence at the rear is sagging down day by day. If the idiots would only realise it, that is just 2 sections of fence: when it finally goes, the whole lot will go, that’s 6 panels and a whole new fence. The problem is that all funding for support services was cut by Cameron’s government and successors. The only funding HA’s get now is for new builds, which of course is “affordable housing.”
When I tell you that I live in a Sheltered Housing complex, you will realise that it is a problem. In your case, I would be tempted to attend a council meeting with like-minded residents and bring up the problem of Security, criminal damage and anti-social behaviour in your area. You could combine this with a letter to the Police, Chief Constable or local Super.
I don’t think you will achieve a new front entrance from them: they will probably suggest some meaningless, totally unsuitable alternative that costs beans. Or ask if you can do it yourself by employing a trades person. If you do that, they will probably set the rules and materials that the trades person has to work with, accompanied by generous dollops of Elfin Safety. But you would need permission, for such a visible, structural issue though.
If I want to do something like that, I get it done and never ask permission, which is another hoop you are supposed to jump through. “It was like that when we moved here Guv!” They have never once returned to check anything I have done and I have been here 16 years. Welcome to HA hell Tadka! ??
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I'm out.Been a long time since I was a Tester and the game has changed radically, but I am informed that there will be a notice by the Tester that the car is dangerous, unfit for use on the road and not to be driven until repaired. You don’t have a Dangerous note John, so it would appear that you could drive it. However, I join PM in advising that you leave it be until time to take it for repairs.
I hope the final Invoice is not too painful: did you get a Quote? (Not an estimate)
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I'm out.I cannot direct you Dan, ?? but I am told there are websites that will take your membership and make you feel wanted again!
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I'm out.My village has a thriving, successful Community Centre, a large Sports and recreational Field, pavilions and a great hall, built with Lottery Heritage funds, money raised by the Community Centre car boots and renting the Field out for ‘Glamping’ and other organisations. It has its own committee, and the CC holds ownership of the whole area in Trust for the village. Under the previous Parish Council of oldphart minds, the PC attempted to take funds for the Parish and were very actively involved in legal measures to do this. They spent Parish funds on legal attempts and were shot down in flames by the court, which ruled that the Trust had precedence over the land, buildings and facilities. Then the truth about the misspent funds came out. At the next Parish Election, every one of the PC oldpharts were voted out and replaced by the present incumbents, who have a very different attitude.
The PC now works with the CC Committee and vice-versa. They have developed a system of ‘borrowing’ items, facilities, experience and funds if necessary, to and from each other. This has created a much happier village: the shop, for example, is run by volunteers and funded from both Committees. Fresh veg and meats are provided by local farmers and butchers, milk from a local dairy, eggs from a huge free range farm some 5 miles down the road. All paid for by one or both Committees and subsidised to almost supermarket prices – for really fresh foodstuffs.
Oh: and ice cream from a dairy farm turned ice cream manufacturer, a bit further away. And it is delicious!
Not every Parish Council is bad. Ours certainly is not, but it took a long time and a scandal to put things right. I love this village.
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I'm out.Didn’t get that one, but still getting quite a few Scandinavian “ladies” contacting my Gmail, now joined by Russians. Only on Gmail, my Hotmail/Outlook account does not get them. The Russians use impeccable English, the Scandinavian invites are all in whichever language, possibly Norse. I block them all, they go away for a while then return under another long name.
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I'm out.This popped up in my news feed earlier ‘Antisocial bees share genetic profile with people with autism‘.
Thanks for that Nolan, just sent it to my Aspergers No. 1 Gson. Waiting for his buzz…
Sorry! ??
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I'm out.Dwynne I never forget the Council meeting that Parish Councillors, myself and several other village residents attended, to oppose the building of new homes across the main single carriageway A157 road from the bungalows behind us. Our grounds for opposition were based upon lack of infrastructure, an exit road that is downright dangerous, and a busy bus stop adjacent to the exit road, which comes off a series of sharp bends. The exit road is routed at an angle which means that no driver exiting will be able to see vehicles coming around the bend. There were over 250 letters from residents objecting. The road is quiet atm, but in the holiday season, there is a constant stream of traffic including coaches, caravans, mobile homes and heavily laden cars, not to mention heavy agricultural traffic. When these homes are finally finished and populated, I expect RTC’s. In addition, we oldpharts and schoolkids coming off their buses, are taking our lives in our hands crossing the road even now. The only ‘obstacle’ to traffic is one of those dumb signs which tell drivers the speed of their vehicles. We are organising volunteers with Police-supplied radar guns: in the second largest, thinly populated English county, subject to Force cuts of £3.2 million over the next 12 months, we are to lose even more of our already thinly-spread Force. Our Council Tax precept is to rise by 11%, just to maintain the status quo.
At the meeting, 2 Councillors very long in the tooth, had to be nudged awake. I knew we had lost when the Chair began to dismiss our real concerns, one by one. I was asked to leave, simply for standing and voicing my fears, clearly and forcefully, but not loudly and without any form of abuse. we had asked the local media to attend: they promised, but failed to appear.
The only local government I have respect for, is our own local District Councillor and our Parish Councillors. All newly elected after the above fiasco.
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I'm out.In 2003 I formed an RA in my neck of the woods, initially just for the 23 bungalows which housed all us Oldpharts in Sheltered Housing. Started by myself and a good mate in the Close, now sadly an Alzheimers victim in care. We took annual turns as Chair and vice Chair, with a Treasurer, Secretary, and a Constitution, written by both Chairs and assisted by an ex-barrister. All carried out under the auspices and with the help and support of our Social landlord, in the good old days before Tory cuts and whilst the Housing Trust was still local to Lincolnshire.
It has by now metamorphosed into one of the largest Housing Associations in the UK and all the support funding is gone. The only government funding they get now is for new builds: maintenance and repair is on a glacial timetable. The fence between my property and next door has been reported for 3 months and is about to fall down for the 3rd time.
We requested members from the rest of the village via the Community Centre “White Pages” newsletter delivered every house. We called ourselves The L*******e Area Residents Association and attended a Parish Council meeting, whereupon one Council member (a horrible old bat) stated that we could not call ourselves after the name of the village, as we had not “reached out” to other village residents. I asked if she had received and read the White Pages. She affirmed that she had, so I asked how she missed our half-page advert, requesting residents interested to contact me. That original Council has been gradually replaced by younger and much more tolerant, efficient people, I am glad to say.
We became a good group and we collected sub’s for various activities including organised trips out: my fellow Chair was PSV licensed and the landlord gave us use of a minibus. We had regular meals out including Christmas Dinners, theatres, cinemas, days out, and we brought some older, housebound residents back into a life outside of 4 walls. Then the Treasurer became seriously ill and the Secretary decided to quit. I called an EGM and asked for volunteers to fill both posts. They all looked at one another. Bear in mind that just 4 of us had done all the work for several years: I told the meeting that, without a Treasurer we could not function and would have to fold the Association. That was exactly what happened. We held some funds, held a vote concerning disbursement and asked the landlord to act for us in giving the money to the NSPCC.
For some time afterwards, ex-members were asking if I could reform the Association. My response was always the same: yes, if you want to volunteer to be Chair, find a Vice Chair, Treasurer and Secretary, you may take that step yourself. I had enough of being the donkey and the other donkey was of course no longer in the paddock.
I was reminded of the song – “Everybody wants to go to Heaven, but nobody wants to die.” Sadly, many of the former members have indeed passed on. Associations are always worked and organised by a tiny few, whilst the rest are content to let them.
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I'm out.Sorry Nolan, I have posted on the Forum regarding my Republican view of the Monarchy, but I have come to partially agree with Dwynne.
The Forces of Law cannot please everyone here, they are perceived to be in the wrong, whatever they do. A prosecution for the original RTC of any citizen at the DofE’s age, in the same circumstances, would result in the same verdict. What can be served in prosecuting any ordinary citizen of that age? However, the Duke immediately committed another offence, by not wearing his seat belt whilst driving. In consideration of the previous incident, that is the offence for which he should have been prosecuted, and indeed any other citizen would be prosecuted, after committing two offences in a very short time.
As stated by Ed, the D of E did not help his own case, nor the jaundiced view the public now takes of him, by not immediately giving up his licence, in realisation that he is not capable of driving safely, with due care and attention. I would imagine that the Royal’s member with the largest cojones might have had some choice words for Daddy: Princess Anne, the only one of his offspring who have had the nerve to criticise him. Or anyone else, for that matter: I have met with her 3 times and twice she dismissed people trying to curry favour. (I was not one of them, safely kept my mouth closed until she spoke to me) The Princess Royal is one that I do have respect for. She was the Patron of a Disability College I attended in 1996/7, attended our Awards ceremony and gave both barrels to one poor Talking Head. He wanted those in wheelchairs accepting awards, to be lifted onto the stage. “Nonsense you stupid man! I will go down to them!” And she did. Her brothers do not possess any of that attitude.
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I'm out.Brexit, Shmegsit …
Great summing – up from the Daily Mash.
It’s all far too serious to be taken seriously at this late stage anyway.?
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I'm out.Thanks Chris.
That’s the route her big bro (now 25) took: as an Aspergers lad of 18, he had already passed Cisco and Microsoft qualifications, was set to go to Birmingham Aston University. Had one visit and I suspect that the crowds and atmosphere didn’t suit his solitary nature, caused by the Aspergers, often wrongly perceived as anti social. I have to point out that he has not seen his dad for many years and his mum divorced that waster when gson was very young. I have been the biggest male influence in his life, I know him better I suspect than his mum. For the second visit to Brum, he had to get out of the car to be sick when only a few miles from home. I knew instantly that he did not want to go, took him away from mum and grandma, asked him if he wanted Uni. No, granddad, was the reply. So he concentrated on getting a local job, really worked hard at it.
Today he is right hand man to the boss of a local IT company with contracts all over the place, has his own ‘executive’ apartment, cooks and keeps the place spotless. He is waiting to attend Lincoln Uni 2 days a week for a specialist Microsoft course, paid for by his boss. He would never have been in that position, had he gone to Uni at 18. Bringing him home caused friction between our daughter and myself, but she now admits I was right. He is also reinforcing his sister’s IT education and they are great together, much closer than when she was the “annoying baby sis.”
Life.
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I'm out.Les: find the value of your car from this site, just check the Year box:
Based upon that, you might be horrified to discover that it is a write-off. Sorry to bring you bad news, but that is the way of the motor insurance world nowadays. I join others in advising you to let the insurance companies sort it out. I applaud your detective work, why let these people get away with damaging your motor, which is worth more to you than any insurance quote?
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I'm out.Gdaughter currently favours the RAF as a career Chris, I am not steering her in any way but would prefer her to have options based upon an RAF career, from Uni. I think it is inevitable that she will go to Uni eventually. Her results are all A and A*, one of her tutors told me that she would like a class full of Eleanors!
I certainly would not like to see her in an Army or Naval uniform, but always it would be her choice.
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I'm out.I agree with Dwynne here:
” …BUT for all of the posts posted here, can anyone say that it has made or will make an iota of difference to the end game? ”
And here:
” Policies are meaningless, how often in general elections do we hear (irrespective of your political colours) parties offering what everyone wants to hear, then once in government such promises disappear quicker than snow on the equator?
The ambition / intention of any politician / political party is to allow you (the electorate) to get what they want!! ”
It is irrelevant that agencies are picking up keywords and noting the contents of our rabbiting here. The whole contentious issue of Brexit and the failed democratic process of the referendum, remains corrupted by lies to the population by the politicians and others, from both sides of the argument. We were supposed to trust the words of these people. Who thinks that any politician can be trusted now, even those who may be trustworthy and may speak honestly, from belief based upon intelligent consideration? British politics and British MP’s are now tarnished and discredited by the events since Cameron first gave his intent to have a referendum. Politics and democracy is about to undergo changes within the next two years. Whether those changes are beneficial to the people, only time will tell. We need a genuine People’s Party, with an honest and strong leadership and I do not mean Labour. The fact that a few rabid ultra-Protestant Ulster politicos can disrupt and affect the workings of the UK Parliament, should tell us all we need to know.
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I'm out.Think you meant your BIL hanging up his spanners Steve (no offence meant)
After I left aircraft work and the Army, I went straight into vehicle work, studied motor engineering in my spare time and eventually became a workshop foreman. The new work was very different, including engines, which did not include gas turbine engines. This meant that I didn’t really miss aircraft work and still to this day, I miss working on vehicles much more than I miss working on aircraft.* I worked on a lot of Classics after the owner got involved in importing and restoring them. As a bit of an old Classic myself, that was my favourite work.?
Anyone carrying out aircraft work in my day, had something called a “Shadow Board”. This was a long triangular shaped, lockable, glass-fronted cupboard which held all the tools. Each tool had its own shadow on the board, with MOD part number. All the boards were checked and locked by the crew chief, accompanied by a Tech Officer, at the end of a working day (or night) No one wanted to find a spanner or screwdriver, wrapped around the controls of a crashed aircraft!
I think your BIL may be the same after retirement and/or leaving his present job: as ex-HMF yourself, your civvy working life has taken a different path. I think most of us do that, although in my case I have had many different jobs and careers, got used to being able to change direction. I have a mate who was a very good REME VM (vehicle mechanic) joined the Police force and made Sergeant quickly, he retired as a Superintendent I believe. I saw him years later when he was a police sergeant. He was taking myself and 2 other witnesses to Crown Court for a GBH and Attempted Murder trial. We both burst out laughing when we saw each other in those circumstances, he said at least he wasn’t cuffing and escorting me in a police van! Rather unfair I thought.??
*If a car breaks down, the driver can usually pull over and call recovery. If an aircraft breaks down, it often falls out of the sky. Not a good result.
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I'm out.I received one of these. Deleted and dumped. Glad to know you’re onto it Lee!
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I'm out.Yes Steve, Roy and Leslie Adkins, a great read. Husband and wife writing team, could never get my Gert to concentrate long enough to write more than one page! Yet she spends hours on a 1,000 piece jigsaw, takes it all apart, moves it to the bottom of the pile and starts again with another.
I had a psycho instructor during Para training who seemed determined to fail all of us who joined for the (then) All Arms 6 week course, we would never be “proper cherry berets”. He spent so much effort telling me right in my ear, that I would not make it. That worked in reverse: I never have agreed with anyone telling me I won’t do stuff. Bloody nearly killed me, but I did it. Maybe that was his motivating skills? I watched some of the Paras training on BBC, could have walked all over most of them in my day. Has HMF gone soft?
Ryan, hope you and Alice are both better now. Know what you mean about birthdays, funnily enough I organise all the family birthday “Do’s” but cba to go out for mine. Trying to think of a way out and it’s just a month away.
Nolan, I can’t handle audio books either, but after finding out about them I passed the idea to my dyslexic son & gson. They love them. I can appreciate what audio books do for those who struggle with reading: Steve gets a lot out of them, I know. I like to listen to Moody Blues at low volume while reading, especially SF: suits the theme.
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I'm out.Probably the BT engineer fiddling with the Green Box — whenever we see the Openreach van nearby we never bother to start any major downloads or panic over Wifi drop out!
You are probably right Ed. Think I recorded the problems all the village had with BT and OR and the new cabinet last year. They totally underestimated fibre capacity. Result: whole system shut down, phones and internet collapsed, lots of very angry residents. Some lost phone as well as BB, most of us were reduced to ADSL and dial up speeds when BT decided to cut the cable completely. We lost count of the number of OR engineers who came and fiddled with the old and new cabinets, trying to rectify what should have been better researched. Naturally, these engineers at the sharp end caught all the flak their bosses should have taken. The new cabinet is just around the corner from me* and in the village centre, opposite the shop, adjoining the A157.
*Hence my great download speeds, which are still great today and possibly ?? tomorrow. I think the wind is in the right direction atm, and there is a lot of it!
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I'm out.Thanks JCD, checking that out later.
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I'm out.Thanks Ed, I won’t be playing this myself, but sent it to my No.2 gson, who has Steam on his PC.
As an Aircraft Technician (not Plane Mechanic) I worked on several fixed and rotary winged aircraft, patched quite a few holes in the Aden and Borneo conflicts. I had the eye and the steady hand for it then. In those days the AAC had only two trades: Airframes and Engines (my trade, known as ‘Blackies’ with no racial connotations) and Electronics and Instruments. (‘Greenies’, no one seemed to know where that came from.)
Nowadays those trades are subdivided – the former E&I is now Avionics, which is further subdivided. I have two fairly local mates, both ex – Greenies. One had a business selling beds from an ex-RAF building, a former barrack block, in what was once RAF Manby. The other owns a farm and Farm Shop a few miles from Skegness. I became a Motor Engineer and workshop foreman: we all seem to have diversified in our careers. From contacts with other ex-service pals I know, only one worked with aircraft before retirement, maintaining helicopters for Philips Conoco, the Oil people. Those fly over us from time to time towards the North Sea rigs and not one has fallen out of the sky yet, so he must have left a good working legacy!
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