Angus Ferguson (Mill Road)
James O’Driscoll (Mill Rd)
John Stewart (Mill Rd)
Margaret Stevenson (Melfort Ave)
Jimmy Dyet (Melfort Ave)
Mary Paton ( Willox Park)
Linda Ryan (Sheltered Housing Supervisor)
Jane Mack (Snr Housing Development Officer -Tenant Participation)
Apologies received from Cathy Duncan (Manse Gardens), Catherine Gair (Second Avenue), Etta King (Gray Street), Margaret Whitten (Hogan Court), Janet Robertson (Manse Gardens), and Lee Bell (HSCP).
Jane welcomed everyone to the meeting and good news was shared.
Still some tree/s at back of Manse Gardens to be done but delayed due to other storm priorities. To be actioned by Jane/Lee
Old damaged streetlight still not been removed from outside 17 Millbrae Crescent -order was passed 13/9 and Jane has sent photos to Building Services Officer to chase up it’s removal. To be actioned by Jane
Care Inspectorate report been put up on complex noticeboards – is also on website.
Level access to Manse still being pursued and Lee been in discussion with Housing – Jane will request an update. To be actioned by Lee/Housing
Grass cutting at Mill Road – Greenspace confirmed that grass cutting season ends sept/October and should be cut every 4 weeks so about 7 cuts a year.
Housing Officer aware of concerns about people cutting down side of 17 Millbrae Crescent but will discuss again once scaffolding is down. Rotten tree at Mill Road still to be removed but also been delayed due to other storm priorities. To be actioned by Jane/HO
Jane been in touch with repairs to remind them of commitment to improve the sound proofing when flats were empty as work is very disruption. Jane to chase up an update. To be actioned by Jane
Jane has had it confirmed that once Mill Road external cladding is completed, an additional number plaque will be put up at 205 Mill Road.
Quite a few suggestions came from tenants which have been taken on board. There will now be a bit more information added on how to use services online, and a change to the order of the handbook itself.
As the Tenancy Agreement is quite complex the handbook is to supplement this making it a bit easier to read and to also help tenants find things, making it more user friendly. Existing tenants will get a copy of the handbook too once it’s printed.
The Care at Home team is still under extreme pressure and still unable to take on any more clients. If being discharged from hospital will still get home-care but no new referrals. Anyone getting home care will still get their care provided and Lee will update when situation improve.
Rent setting – at Council meeting 5 March, rent increase was agreed – 8% - will all get a letter giving the statutory 28 days’ notice. 1669 tenants voted for their preferred options in the rent setting consultation and the 8% option got 80% of the votes. Anyone struggling with their rent or want advice about housing benefit should speak to their Housing Officer.
New Repairs policy – following a review and consultation last year, there is a new repairs policy being implemented from 1 April 2025. Emergency repairs will still be done within 24 hours, routine repairs in 20 days - main change is that urgent repairs will be done in 5 days instead of 10. From the consultation too tenants wanted better communication so for all internal repairs you will be given an appointment and get reminders about it so make sure they have your contact details.
Spring edition of Housing News is being put together and will be delivered around 28/3. Front page will be on the rent increase, there’s a feature on tenant responsibility as well as new Repairs policy, new build updates and the Scrutiny panel’s recommendations for improving the repair reporting process for tenants.
Trishaws in Levengrove Park – been up and running for a while but took a break over Christmas and will probably get back to being regularly there on Wednesdays once worse of the winter weather is over. They are doing an event at the park on Sunday 9/3 between 11 and 3. They will also be contacting wardens directly to arrange opportunities for sheltered tenants to have a ride.
This project started on site Monday 25th November and we are on schedule. The timber kits will be arriving within the next few weeks, as to date all the work has been ground works and foundations.
Also working on phase 2 feasibility proposal, which would see 20 x 1 bedroom terraced cottages being built.
The 22 new flats plus staff, laundry and common room will replace the Sheltered Housing Complex at Gray Street.
Have full planning permission and the contract has been awarded to JR Group. Hopeful of a site start date of June 2025.
This project is on the site of the old Clydebank Health Centre. Have now appointed a design team for this project, headed by Collective Architecture who have a vast experience of designing social housing throughout Scotland.
The project will include up to 27 units of either sheltered housing or housing for the elderly and 15 units of family housing.
We anticipate that the design and planning process will take one year to complete with a further year for construction, which will take us to early summer 2027. The demolition of the former health centre was completed in December 2024.
We have had further consultation with Housing and HSCP about our proposals.
Although not Sheltered housing, may be of interested ,19 units of housing for over 60s being developed in Old Kilpatrick. A mix of tenemental and cottage flats and terraced cottages, one and two bedrooms, centred around a community garden, will complete at the end of April, located in the centre of the village on the site of the former care home. Any queries can be sent to morehomes@west-dunbarton.gov.uk or via Jane.
· Questions were asked about the situation with the Fire Extinguishers and whether there was any information/training for tenants on how to use them and if the tab on them was easy to remove for use. It was explained that Sheltered Housing has a stay put policy for tenants, and that regular safety checks are in place to ensure no combustibles are left in any areas to help minimise any risks. Supervisors also regularly check all areas to ensure that this is the case.
· Questions were asked regarding the situation with the concessionary TV Licence for tenants. Linda explained that applications for these were about to be sent away along with the required site plans for the complexes. We are currently waiting to hear back from TV Licencing and hopefully they should be in place soon.
· James asked whether Mill Rd would be getting new doors as they had received a form to pick one and have heard nothing since. To be actioned by Jane
· Margaret mentioned that she had previously pressed her pendant 6 times with no answer. She also has had a smoke alarm going off twice a few weeks ago and again no answer to this either. Linda will feed this back to Community Alarms. To be actioned by Lee/Linda
· Margaret mentioned cars speeding up and down Melfort Ave regardless of the speed bumps in place. Jane advised Margaret to contact Police with this concern.
· Mary Paton asked about a letter to Willox Park tenants regarding the speed of the cars coming in and out of the complex. It was suggested that a notice on the newsletter would be a good option. To be actioned by Lee
Thursday 19 June 2025, 2pm at Melfort Avenue common room, Clydebank- Jane will arrange transport.