Memorandum by The Tenant Participation
Advisory Service (TPAS) (EMP 05)
1. TPAS is a membership organisation of
over 300 social landlords and 1,000 tenant groups that exists
to promote tenant empowerment. It is a market leader in Tenant
Participation providing training, information services, conferences
and consultancy work.
2. The following response has received scrutiny
from TPAS' National Consultative Forum, a body made up of tenants
and landlord officers nominated by TPAS' Regional Committees.
3. The response is subject to formal approval
by TPAS' Board of Management.
TPAS' POSITION ON
HOUSING MARKET
RENEWAL
4. TPAS and its members have long recognised
that low demand is a significant problem in many areas of the
North and that a radical restructuring of housing markets is required.
To that end the housing market renewal (HMR) pathfinders are a
much needed intervention.
5. In particular TPAS is supportive of the
mixed use, mixed tenure solutions proposed by the pathfinders
believing that socially balanced neighbourhoods are crucial to
successful regeneration.
6. TPAS recognises that radical restructuring
of markets requires a cross-authority approach and that success
is dependant on a clear vision being communicated from the top.
INVOLVEMENT DEFICIT
7. However, at best, there appears to be
a mismatch between the high-level vision and the processes for
negotiating the detail with those people affected.
8. Indeed, recent press reports about some
pathfinders (eg Oldham residents fight demolition proposals; Regeneration
and Renewal, 19 November p 2) suggest that at the very least
pathfinders need to improve their ability at communicating their
vision.
9. While it is perhaps inevitable that demolition
will be a vexed issue it seems that the concerns of local people
are being exacerbated by a feeling that the pathfinders are dislocated
from established channels for local people to exert influence.
10. TPAS has noted from initial Audit Commission
reports that strategies for community involvement are generally
in place, if varied in their depth. However, informal feedback
from our members tends to confirm our feeling that there are gaps
between the strategic vision and "on the ground" delivery.
11. Of course, it is entirely possible that
this is due to the fact that many programmes are only just beginning.
Indeed, a brief scan of some of pathfinder websites has confirmed
that community consultation and "visioning" events are
beginning to be delivered.
12. As the pathfinders gear up to delivery
TPAS hopes that teams committed to community involvement and dissemination
of resident focussed information will be established in all pathfinders.
13. TPAS has previously had positive discussions
with ODPM officials to discuss the possible avenues for development
of community engagement in pathfinders. However, TPAS has not
yet been approached by any of the pathfinders themselves and has
experienced some difficulty in finding the most efficient way
of gaining information on pathfinder development in order to disseminate
information to its members and the tenant movement.
14. Once again, as TPAS gears up to deliver
workshops and briefing papers on the pathfinder programme and
gains more organisational knowledge it is possible that these
issues will be resolved.
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