PEACH Housing Club have received a detailed response to the PEACH Regeneration Manifesto 2018 from Sir Robin Wales, who is currently up for selection as the Labour Mayoral Candidate in Newham. We are pleased to say that this means that PEACH have now received a response from both mayoral candidates.
We are in the process of circulating this response to our members- check back here to find out members’ reactions!
In terms of concrete responses to each of the manifesto asks, we can summarise the following:
1) Recognise the great work PEACH Housing Club have done, and commit to meeting with us personally twice a year, including once in the first 3 months in office. In addition, directing your team to meet with us as appropriate.
Robin says: “Absolutely!” and that he will “guarantee that the meetings between Council officers and PEACH continue and I would welcome the opportunity to meet with you twice a year”. This will be the first time that PEACH has sat down formally with Robin Wales, so we are pleased with this commitment.
2) Commit to sharing decision making power with the community in the design, delivery and future management of Custom House regeneration.
Robin asserts that: “We are committed to fully involving existing residents in this important process which will shape the design, delivery and future management of the area”, though stops short of mentioning decision making directly.
3) Protect public assets by finding a way to use public money to finance the regeneration as a first option.
Robin says: Yes!“I completely agree”, saying that he will be exploring approaches which “protect future generations” and “this will include the investment of public money as a first option.”
4) Pledge to write a Charter with PEACH’s Mears Cats, to ensure that Tando/Mears residents have rights under regeneration.
Robin maintains that he is “committed to improving the situation for Tando/Mears residents”, pointing to his support for setting up the task force to review the Tando/Mears contract. He says he wants to wait for the results and will then “review the rights of residents, and commit to assisting those residents as much as we can into alternative housing.”
5) Increase the target of genuinely affordable housing from 17.5% to the maximum possible by exploring new, creative options available.
Robin is non-committal and says: Whilst Robin says that the current targets “will not stop us delivering more genuinely affordable homes”, he points to the current 17.5% social housing target and the promise of no net-loss of social housing in the regeneration area. He says progress with Canning Town regeneration means “3,500 homes are either completed or under construction…and of those on Council land 258 were social rent.” Readers should note that is 7.4% of properties at social rent rather than 17.5%.
6) Guarantee that the final regeneration plans are put before residents in a binding ballot.
Robin sends mixed messages: On the one hand Robin “recognises the need to ballot tenants of estates designated for regeneration”, and on the other he goes on to outline the previous consultations with residents of Custom House and Canning Town that took place in 2003/4 and in 2007/8, saying “as such, local people were involved in the development of the regeneration proposals and the Canning Town and Custom House redevelopment sites have been designated for a number of years”. Therefore, although Robin acknowledges the need for balloting residents in general, it is unclear whether he would extend this to the specific instance of Custom House.
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