Residents give views at housing conference

New homes spend

Dozens of Monklands tenants had their say at North Lanarkshire’s annual Housing Matters event.

They gathered at Gartlea community centre to discuss issues including this year’s sheltered housing review, the council’s new-build programme, repairs, environmental services and resident participation.

Council officials said: “Initial feedback told us that building new homes was the top priority for additional rent spend.”

Residents also highlighted Networking NL, and heard from new North Lanarkshire chief executive Des Murray about the local authority’s “vision for communities” and from tenant participation manager Tracy Lennon about opportunities to get involved with the service.

The event was opened by housing convener Councillor Allan Graham, who said: “It’s always great to speak directly with tenants and residents using our services.

“Gauging first- hand the positives and negatives gives us valuable feedback that allows us to further develop services or shape them differently to improve these.

“I was really excited by the new format, hopefully increasing the opportunity available for tenants to get involved; I look forward to the detailed evaluation and being part of future participation events.”

He added: “I’d urge tenants to find out more about getting involved in housing services.”

More than 110 people in total attended the Gartlea event and a similar session in Motherwell – which also included presentations of prize hampers to garden award winners, provided by sponsors Saltire and Mears.

Tracy Lennon said: “There are exciting times ahead for North Lanarkshire’s tenants; involving them is key to everything we do, through tenant-led walkabouts, surveys and social media.”

Housing matters Councillor Allan Graham was the opening speaker at the tenant consultation in Gartlea