Tenant led housing panel

Members of the new Tenancy Panel for the City.

Tenant Scrutiny Panels are being set up across Northern Ireland giving Housing Executive tenants a voice to ensure that local offices are delivering the services required in their areas and to the level of quality expected by tenants.

In West, which encompasses Collon Terrace, Waterside, Waterloo and Strabane, 11 tenants from across the area will scrutinise services they feel are most important to tenants in the coming year.

In Derry Collon Terrace tenants will be represented by Rosie Doherty, Marie Gillespie and Louise McClenaghan; Waterloo Place representatives are William Temple, Jim Clifford, Alistair Simpson and Billy Toland and in Waterside representatives are Julie Kee and Linda Watson. They will join tenant volunteers Andy Gallagher and Sue McElwee, representing the Strabane area on the panel.

The group meets three times a year and members have said they are looking forward to the year ahead.

Chair of the Scrutiny Panel Linda Watson said: “I am delighted to be part of the new Tenant Scrutiny Panel representing the West area which will give us the opportunity to question and constructively challenge the organisation to ensure we achieve the best service possible for tenants in local neighbourhoods.”

Michael Dallat, Area Manager for the West region, said the new panels will ensure that the Housing Executive works in an active and meaningful partnership with communities.

“The creation of the Tenant Scrutiny Panels will give our tenants a real say in making their neighbourhoods better places in which to live.

“The panels will also ensure that we are accountable to our tenants for the delivery of our services and we will be in a position to continuously seek the views of our tenants and strive to improve the delivery of our services,” he added.

In addition to Tenant Scrutiny Panels, the Housing Executive has also formed resident and inter-agency partnerships in the West area. These partnerships will enable residents to make their estates and areas better places in which to live by taking part in ventures such as joint working groups, community partnerships and estate inspections.