Hand delivered to residents on Friday 24 January:
Date: 21/01/2025 Email: peta.caine@cityoflondon.gov.uk
Dear Neighbour,
Golden Lane Estate Windows Refurbishment Project
Firstly, the City Corporation would like to wish all the residents of Golden Lane Estate a very Happy New Year and we hope that you all had a good festive break. We thought it appropriate to start the year with an introductory letter and to apologise for the lack of formal communication in the run up to Christmas.
I am now eight months into my role as Assistant Director of Housing, and it was good meeting some of you in person at the November GLERA meeting. I want to thank GLERA’s Chair, Sue Pearson for the invitation and I look forward to attending future meetings.
During my introduction I hope that I was able to convey the importance of Golden Lane Estate in our future planning for major works delivery. This programme will signify long-term investment by the Corporation, with the aim of significantly improving the quality of people’s homes and lives. We also understand the critical importance of bringing residents with us on this journey, with a need for collaborative working and transparency in our communication. This is part of the reason we have now brought a communications team on board called Comm Comm UK, to help us to deliver our key messaging.
The GLERA meeting was an excellent opportunity to introduce you to the two newest members of my management team, Bev Andrews, Head of Repairs and Maintenance and Greg Wade, Head of Major Works; all three of us appreciated the chance to not only talk to you about our long-term goals but also the day- to-day challenges and a few inherited issues that are coming to light.
Bev Andrews, Head of Repairs and Maintenance
During her introductory talk, Bev was able to share some of her previous experience in introducing new contracts and explain her intended focus on managing Repairs and Maintenance over the next 12 months. Bev shared some particularly useful information on what the ‘mobilisation’ period for the new contract means.Furthermore, Bev encouraged residents to report repairs in the usual way, particularly anything historic that may not have been addressed. Naturally, residents can help us to develop a fuller picture of our current housing stock, in order to resource and manage our landlord commitments more effectively.
Greg Wade, Head of Major Works
Greg introduced himself as a new member of the organisation, having joined in mid-October. Greg touched on his early more resident-facing career and then explained his subsequent moves into surveying and then project management, in both the private and public sector. Greg explained that he was already very aware of how disruptive the planned works will be and stressed the importance of keeping residents informed throughout the process, particularly at an early stage. Greg added that he is currently reviewing the available resources within the team and intends to streamline the structure. He also pledged to provide an indicative 5-year plan in the new year, to then be updated and shared with residents on a quarterly basis.Golden Lane Estate Investment Programme – Next Steps
We appreciate that some time has passed since we’ve been able to provide a full update on the projects for Crescent House and the wider Golden Lane Estate. Recent developments have caused us to review our approach for both phases and we are keen to share the current position with residents, once we have completed our internal governance.We are currently arranging Resident Liaison Group Meetings for Crescent House in late January and for the wider estate in mid-February. Following these meetings, we will send out letters to all residents again with an update on the project and we will be looking to arrange a community meeting where we can meet you all to discuss things further.
We fully appreciate residents’ frustrations at having to wait a bit longer for detailed information and your continued patience is greatly appreciated.
If you have any queries in the meantime, please contact us via our communications consultants on info@goldenlaneprojects.co.uk or 0800 772 0475.
Yours sincerely
Peta Caine
Assistant Director, Housing
