Friends of Mill Rise / Meeting Dates

Notes from the Friends of Mill Rise Meeting held on 31.03.09

Mike opened the meeting by welcoming Diana Wilson the Scheme Manager and Julia Downs, Regeneration Officer, who is taking over from Julia Downs because Suzie is having a baby and will be leaving Aspire in May.

An update was distributed to the group from Mike Reynolds (copy enclosed).

Maggie Klarzynska of Aspire Housing attended the meeting.  Maggie is overseeing the allocation of the 40 rental units at Aspire in line with the current allocation policy. Maggie gave a brief overview of the allocation policy.  Applicants must meet the criteria, and have will be objectively assessed on housing need. We want to make the best use of Extra Care and create an equal mix of high, medium and low care needs across the scheme where possible.   Meals and Telecare requirements are also taken into consideration. Aspire has a joint allocation policy with Newcastle Borough Council. Each application is approved by a joint allocation panel with representatives from Aspire, Newcastle Borough Council and Social Services. We are currently going through all applications and carrying out various checks, assessing medical forms, chasing up references etc. Provisional offer letters should be going out within the next couple of weeks.  This will include rent and service charge details. There will be a tear off slip to complete and return if you are still interested.  Successful applicants will be able to view the apartment that they have been allocated on the 18th May. It is anticipated that tenancies will commence on the 1st June, with people moving in over a 3 week period.

Meals Menu Consultation – Sample menus were shown to the group for their comments (copy enclosed).  In addition there will be Chef’s Specials and Catch of the Day which include, lobby, steak and kidney pie. chicken casserole, hot pot, beef, lamb, pork or turkey roast – all specials and catch of the day are priced at £3.50.  Comments from the group included:

Why is the restaurant not open on a Saturday?
Is a take away service available?
If you have any comments or questions please contact Julia Downs on 635200 and Suzie will feed the information back to Accord.  It was generally felt that there was a good range of meals priced affordably.

Mood Boards were shown to the group. They show a selection of the finishes for furniture, floor coverings and curtains that will be used in the communal areas of Mill Rise.

Project House Art Project – Project House have expressed an interest in doing a tile mosaic project with Mill Rise.  They work with young people across Cross Heath and Knutton and would like to do an intergenerational project with residents to integrate Mill Rise into the community and will be invited to a future meeting.

Scheme Information – A-Z
The group were asked for ideas of what sort of information they would like when they move into Mill Rise – e.g. Aids and adaptations, assisted bathing, bus stops etc.  The information will be presented in an A-Z format.   If you have any suggestions please let us know.

Aids and Adaptations – We are aware that some residents will need aids and adapts, some will have them at their current home and some of these will be ok to take to Mill Rise whilst some may not be.  When offers of an apartment have been accepted we will then be able to discuss adaptations with people on an individual basis.

Carpets – Aspire’s procurement team are looking into providing 2 or 3 companies details for carpeting for people to use if they want to but people are reminded that they are free to use any supplier they choose.

Beth Johnson Handyperson service – a representative will attend the next meeting.

THE NEXT MEETING SCHEDULED FOR THE 14TH APRIL HAS BEEN CANCELLED.

The meeting will be rearranged and will take place in May – you will be advised of the date and time as soon as possible.