What’s the opposite of proactive?
I ask rhetorically of course. In this day and age why are GreenSquareAccord always on the back foot, always reactively responding, becoming involved after the fact? Surely the cost implications for this mindset and approach negatively affect the bottom line of this not-for-profit? With increases to service charges would we, as residents, not benefit from a cultural shift towards a ‘proactive approach’ from GreenSquareAccord? Is it too much to ask?
Some examples
As always to emphasise the point I’ll provide you with some examples. Now, which one to start with?
Eenie Meenie Mynie Moe - Grounds, hedges, and surrounding gardens.
There is of course a page already published, you can read that here. After this page was published and the issue was reported to the Housing Ombudsmen we did have our hedges trimmed back and our paths made safe again. Of course we pay (as part of our service charge) to have these regularly maintained, and this is something GreenSquareAccord freely admit to. On the 18th June 2021 they confirmed that their Grounds Maintenance team work on a 14 working day rota (weather dependent), yet we’ve seen them once in a year, and you’ve guessed it the paths are unsafe and unsightly again, and we are paying for yet another service that we don’t receive.
When this lack of service provision was brought to the attention of GreenSquareAccord, residents were told that when the grounds become overgrown they can report the issue and GreenSquareAccord will arrange for the team to visit.
What’s wrong with this? Nothing in theory, although we’ve already established having been told (and presumably we can believe) that the crews work on a 14 day rota (weather permitting) and we are paying for this service. We also know how difficult, frustrating and time-consuming reporting anything to GreenSquareAccord can be (as reported here, here, and as acknowledged by GreenSquareAccord here).
What proactive action could GreenSquareAccord take?
CCTV
As we know GreenSquareAccord have remote access to the CCTV that monitors the building and grounds. This gives GreenSquareAccord the ability (presuming they’ve been truthful) to view the grounds and ascertain for themselves when they are in need of a trim and a tidy. Alternatively, any reasonably well informed garden maintenance team would be able to provide a fairly realistic estimate of timescale during the various seasons.
GreenSquareAccord onsite team
GreenSquareAccord have their own newly appointed warden who attends the building once a week and walks past said hedges, while avoiding the overgrown footpaths and steps that lead into the building. As does the GreenSquareAccord employee who cleans the communal areas on average twice a month. Surely one of these GreenSquareAccord paid employees could report back when the grounds team are needed?
Failing to be proactive will result in?
Personal injury - Something that should be a concern to GreenSquareAccord will be the risk of a trip or fall. If we remove all human emotion and the upset a long term injury would cause the injured party, there is still the cost to GreenSquareAccord as they would be liable for this injury and subject to possible ongoing costs.
Security risk - An issue that affected residents before is an electrical one. The light bollards that light our way (when not obscured by bushes) become wet when hidden in the undergrowth. This causes the electrics to trip and leaves all the security doors open. I suspect this caused last weeks lack of security.
This puts GreenSquareAccords residents at risk with a history of criminal activity when the building is left unsecured.
Eenie Meenie Mynie Moe - Gutters, external facia, etc.
If you were installing and paying for scaffolding to be erected to fix all the faulty windows and doors (more of that at a later date, it’s ongoing) wouldn’t it make sense to also fix the guttering? What about the blackened facia, we’ve ask and GreenSquareAccord have agreed that it needs doing, so would a proactive approach not make sense?
Guttering
Guttering - as per the section 20 letters about the window installation, we are aiming to do a clearance of the gutters at the same time. This is to help save cost on two separate scaffolding contracts.
Extract from GreenSquareAccord email
With all the accuracy of a first generation Stormtrooper, GreenSquareAccord aimed but missed the opportunity to save costs and instead will now have to spend the money twice on separate scaffolding contracts. The issues with the guttering will continue and cause further ongoing issues to the condition and look of the building, and further supports the notion that GreenSquareAccord are building slums rather than communities.
Mould on external walls
Black build up on external walls - external redecorations are due in 2026 and this will be sorted then.
Extract from GreenSquareAccord email
Another one that GreenSquareAccord have in their sights, which should be reassuring but of course isn’t. While scaffolding was up would it not have made good business sense to have at least considered cleaning the mould from the side of our homes, would this not be simply brilliant?
Just one more as none of us have the time to cover all the examples.
Eenie Meenie Mynie Moe - Using CCTV to establish who is fly-tipping!
This isn’t really being ‘proactive’ as the event has already happened but stick with me.
Had GreenSquareAccord correctly installed suitable bin stores this would have been ‘proactive’. Had they replaced the broken doors with the better doors, this could have been seen as being a bit proactive. Had they correctly measured the entrance to the stores, they would have installed doors that fitted. Had they been the correct size, they wouldn’t have needed to fit a fence to the gate to stop people climbing over or putting the hands through the gaps. Had this fence been tested first, they wouldn’t have needed to add a metal plate to the back of the lock. Had the lock been fit for purpose, it would lock when being closed! - Phew, it really would have paid to have been competent and proactive here. You can read the full list of embarrassing mishaps here and here.
Several missed opportunities to apply reason, logic and to adopt a proactive approach.
GreenSquareAccord June newsletter.
An opportunity to be proactive?
In March 2022 residents were told that GreenSquareAccord had only fitted these as a temporary solution whilst they looked into a permanent fix.
Well I think we would look back on this and say, yeah we probably should’ve in the first instance put metal doors on, yes we probably should have done that, but we do kind of expect people to use the bin doors in a reasonable way which is not causing damage, you know I think that’s a reasonable expectation.
Claire Cook the Leasehold and Service Charge Manager for GreenSquareAccord
GreenSquareAccord admitting they’d put the wrong doors on whilst blaming residents for the damage caused. Somehow their failure to be competent housing providers is now being blamed upon residents for not using the doors in a reasonable way. However we can rest assured as GreenSquareAccord are trying (still trying four months later):
Well we are going to do our best to rectify the situation to make the lock on the door as such so that only the people who have the right to access it can access it and it can be easily locked. And that’s what we are aiming to try and do, that’s what we are trying to achieve, so we’ll carry on trying to achieve that.
Claire Cook the Leasehold and Service Charge Manager for GreenSquareAccord
Reassuring indeed. In the meantime fly-tipping has occurred and residents have been sternly written to and warned they can expect to be charged if this continues.
Here is a chance for GreenSquareAccord to be proactive, albeit after the fact. They can use their newly installed CCTV system to track down who is mis-using the doors and fly-tipping. This will be really easy as residents are able to providing a timeframe for when this happened via email.
No, that's not something we are going to be doing, we are not going to be reviewing the CCTV to see who’s leaving rubbish.
We don’t think that’s appropriate use of our time and we think CCTV is there for important issues like anti-social behaviour and for ensuring the safety of residents and it’s not something we are going to engage in.
I think that unfortunately every resident that lives in this block is responsible for the way they dispose of rubbish in the bin store…
Claire Cook the Leasehold and Service Charge Manager for GreenSquareAccord
When Claire Cook was asked why she wouldn’t be using the CCTV system for what it was installed for (the recording and reporting of crimes which fly-tipping is) her response was:
I’m sorry but it’s not, it’s not appropriate for us to be reviewing CCTV to be looking at bin stores, I’m sorry it’s just not something we are going to be doing.
We accept there’s an issue that we need to resolve with the locks and that’s what we are going to attempt to do.
I think you get the gist of what I’m saying we are going to do everything we can to resolve this issue with the locks but we are not going to be able to commit to using CCTV to view the bin stores.
Claire Cook the Leasehold and Service Charge Manager for GreenSquareAccord
They failed with the doors, the gates, the fence, the metal plate, and the locks. And by not being proactive they continue to fail and further widen the rift between landlord and residents. By failing to take a ‘proactive approach’ instead opting to ‘do their best’ as they ‘attempt’ to resolve the issue.
Is this what Ruth Cooke means by being ‘brilliant together’? Maybe Claire Cook didn't get the memo.
The new corporate goal after residents waited three years for ‘Simply Brilliant Landlord’ initiative that failed to materialise.
What could GreenSquareAccord lean from a ‘Proactive Landlord’?
Now I’m not saying that I know PA Housing are beyond reproach, and I’ve no doubt they have their detractors out there, however just look at their proactive approach to communities and their homes.
While GreenSquareAccord tell their residents they’re ‘doing their best’ PA Housing are out in the community, they’re being proactive, supportive - they are an integral part of their communities.
Let’s hope one day GreenSquareAccord can watch, learn and match the standards set out by just one of the proactive housing associations out there!