|
The Community Group
HOUNSLOW
ELECTS FIRST EVER ICG MAYOR!
COUNCILLOR
Dr. Genevieve Hibbs was unanimously elected as the new Mayor of Hounslow by Borough Council on May 20th.
Genevieve,
who represents Isleworth ward, is the first ICG member and indeed the first independent ever to become Mayor of the London
Borough of Hounslow. Her election was supported by all Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat, West Area Independent, Hounslow
Independent Alliance and Chiswick Independent councillors, as well as of course by fellow members of the Community Group.
Her Deputy will be Councillor Shirley Fisher, who replaces her ICG Syon ward colleague Councillor Caroline Andrews. Genevieve's
nomination was proposed by Councillor Phil Andrews, leader of the Community Group, and seconded by Councillor Peter
Thompson, the Leader of the Council, who gave an excellent and moving speech in her support.
In her address to Borough
Council, the new Mayor announced that "Communicating and Building Relationships" would be her theme for the coming year, an
initiative which will greatly help realise the ICG's core objective of creating a more engaged and united community.
Another
appointment of huge significance was that of Isleworth ward councillor Paul Fisher to the Council's ruling Executive.
Paul will take the leading role in driving the Empowerment agenda instigated by a successful motion which the Community
Group put to Borough Council in March.
All of these appointments demonstrate the importance of the role which
the ICG is playing in shaping the direction of the coalition administration. We would like to congratulate Genevieve,
Shirley and Paul on their appointments and to wish them every success for the coming year.
EMPOWERING OUR COMMUNITY!
£1.5m tenants' giveaway project launched
at Heathrow conference
Councillor Phil Andrews reports:
"A radical initiative to empower communities living on estates managed
by Hounslow Homes was formally launched at the Annual Conference
of the Hounslow Federation of Tenants' and Residents' Associations
(HFTRA) at Heathrow's Renaissance Hotel on May 10th.
"The
scheme will make up to £1.5m of capital money from the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) available to tenants' associations around
the borough to spend on estate improvement projects of their choosing, which they will then take ownership of. The project
is the first of what will be a series of bold initiatives to empower residents in the borough following the passing by Borough
Council of an enabling motion which committed the new administration to a new way of thinking in the way in which we engage
the communities we serve.
"Delegates were asked to choose a name for the project, with the winner walking away with
a £50 gift voucher. In the end we decided upon the Rainbow project, appropriate not only because of the colourful variety
of estate-based schemes which will benefit from this allocation, but also because the award represents a pot of gold which
awaits at the end of what has been something of a journey.
"At least 200 people attended the Conference, and in spite
of the rocky relationship which I 'enjoyed' with Hounslow Homes
and with some sections of HFTRA during my early tenure as Lead
Member for Housing & Community Safety, and particularly while the Hounslow
Homes Management Review was in progress, I have begun to pick up a real sense of warmth and of sincere affinity in my dealings
with these organisations and the people who work so hard for them as they have come to understand just what it is that I am
trying to achieve on behalf of our long-suffering tenants and leaseholders. Where there was once suspicion, if not in places
downright hostility, a real united sense of direction and commonality of purpose has emerged in its place.
"There are
clearly still issues to be resolved before we can turn a very good service into a truly exceptional one, but just the fact
that we know we are all striving for the same goal helps us to resolve difficulties as they arise. Exciting times."
|
