Bridgwater Central
Shaping Your Community 2020-2025 Co-created with you
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Introduction
Homes in Sedgemoor manages more than 800 homes in Bridgwater Central.
The Bridgwater and Taunton canal flows through the West Street area to the docks providing beautiful views and access to the adjoining neighbourhoods.
You will often see Somerset & Dorset Fire & Rescue Service training at Homes In Sedgemoor’s very own 10 storey high rise Westfield House.
Homes in Sedgemoor is an Arms Length Management Organisation (ALMO). This means we look after homes on behalf of Sedgemoor District Council, who own the properties. We manage nearly 4,200 homes, including sheltered accommodation for residents over the age of 50 or anyone in need of extra support.
This document has been produced with you. We were so thankful for all of your views, ideas and comments made at our event on June 6, 2019, and have made sure that all of them are taken into account in this Shaping Your Community plan for the next 5 years.
Moving forward, we will continue to work with you to identify opportunities to help shape your community. Our commitments to you
Homes in Sedgemoor is committed to working with you to improve the services you want and need from us.
Through our work with you, we have agreed these standards of service:
Repairs - When you report a repair to us we will agree with you if we can do it on the same day through our Same Day Repairs Service. If we can't fix the repair on the same day, we will will make sure we agree with you a date and time when this will be done.
Communication - We will work with you to deliver at least 4 newsletters each year which include information about Bridgwater Central and what we are doing about the commitments made in this Shaping Your Community document.
Antisocial behaviour - We will work with you when you tell us about any incidents of antisocial behaviour, to make sure you can enjoy living comfortably in your home.
Help you manage your tenancy - We will support you in any way we can if you tell us you are having any problems with your tenancy. For example, we can offer advice and support around paying your rent, managing your universal credit and maximizing your income.
Fairness and respect - We will always treat you with respect; treat you and your neighbours fairly and do what we say we will.
Complaints - If you are not happy with anything that we do, we will listen to you, and respond quickly and fairly to resolve any complaint you have. Bridgwater Central Shaping Your Community 2020-2025 Five year planned programme for Bridgwater Central
We have already undertaken a huge amount of work to your homes and communal areas. But, there is always more to do! These are the planned maintenance works that will be done to a number of your homes in Bridgwater Central, over the next five years.
What are we Investment breakdown Overall doing? 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 2024/25 investment
Roofs £221,845 £56,745 £45,560 £40,100 £65,715 £429,965
Windows £11,000 £67,350 £14,000 £0 £36,400 £128,750
Doors £2,640 £15,212 £0 £0 £0 £17,852
Porch refurbs £1,350 £66,680 £30,170 £880 £0 £99,080
Kitchens £17,410 £177,582 £34,820 £10,446 £0 £240,258
Bathrooms £63,690 £59,080 £1,100 £20,290 £8,460 £152,620
Wiring £2,887 £97,579 £26,230 £2,887 £12,208 £141,791
Boilers £156,420 £141,310 £42,060 £60,660 £13,140 £413,590
Electric heating £8,000 £0 £4,000 £0 £4,000 £16,000
Total investment in your area £1,639,906
Communal firedoors refurbishment if required Communal fire alarms replacement if required
Many of these improvements are things you told us you felt would improve your homes and neighbourhood. We cannot do everything straight away, so have tried to make sure the things that will make the biggest difference are done first. We will also continue to fix any repairs reported to us through our Same Day Repairs Service. Already done!
In June 2019, when we held the event with you to find out your views, you told us lots of things you wanted. Some of them we have been able to do during 2019/20, and these are outlined here:
"More trees should be planted in the area." We have pledged to plant a tree for every one we cut down due to planned works.
"Roofs and windows need improving." We have been busy over the last year carrying out works on your new roofs and windows, and we have more planned. We hope you love them!
"Security at Walter Barnett House could be improved." We have already improved security at Walter Barnett House by installing a security gate and feather-edge fencing. Bridgwater Central Shaping Your Community 2020-2025
Based on the feedback we received from you our immediate focus will be:
Communal green spaces and fly-tipping Working with you to develop new ways to prevent fly-tipping. We will continue to hold our Skip Days and explore further ways to keep your community clean and tidy, including recycling campaigns. We will also support you to improve your communal green spaces to enhance your well- being and quality of life.
Community activity and engagement Working with you to create more community activities, and listen to your ideas about your local area. Together we will develop ways to keep you informed and help you access information about up-and-coming events and opportunities.
Contracted services Consulting with you about the contracts we buy-in for services delivered in your area. If this is something we would need to charge for, we will work with you to make sure we deliver what you want and need. In response to your feedback, we will explore window cleaning options in blocks of flats.
Improved communication Reviewing the different ways we communicate with you to better suit your needs, particularly around planned maintenance works. We will continue to look at ways you can have your say and provide opportunities for you to be part of this process. You also told us ...
At the Shaping Your Community events, you told us lots of things we either can’t directly do anything about, or can’t do anything without your help. These were:
You said you wanted Victoria Park to be refurbished and improved. Unfortunately, we are not in control of these services, but we will continue to work closely with Sedgemoor District Council to ensure your thoughts are heard.
You asked for more plastic recycling and bins in public areas to reduce the amount of litter. Unfortunately, we do not have control of these services either, but we will work with Sedgemoor District Council so your thoughts are heard.
You said that there is traffic and parking issues in the area. Much of this area is owned by Somerset County Council and managed by the Highways department. Although we cannot change the way this is managed we can help raise your concerns and influence some of the decisions they make. Our Neighbourhood Teams can also work with you to seek opportunities to improve traffic calming. Bridgwater Central Shaping Your Community 2020-2025
How you can help
We want to deliver the best service to you, when you want and need it. This is what we ask you to do to make sure we can do that:
Keep talking to us, and telling us about anything you feel we can do together to keep improving your homes and neighbourhood.
Get involved with us to help deliver better services. You can do this by joining our customer involvement groups, getting involved in focus groups or feeding back through surveys.
Tell us if you want us to contact you in a different way – for example, email or text.
Use our online services where you can – it's free and easy to use at anytime of the day or night.
Let us know if you experience any antisocial behaviour.
Let us know if the cleaning or caretaking is not up to scratch and in line with the standards we publish in your notice boards.
As we do the improvements outlined in this document, please help us to look after them for yourself and your community.
@HomesSedgemoor homesinsedgemoor.org 0800 585 360 / 01278 552400 Facebook.com/HomesinSedgemoor