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Bassetlaw District Council e-Newsletter |
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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
 As this will be our last newsletter of 2024, we just wanted to take the opportunity to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
2024 has been a great year for tenants to have their say on matters that affect them and you have had an impact on how we have improved our Housing Services. The list of people wanting to get involved with engagement opportunities seems to keep growing, which demonstrates their willingness to give up their time to help make a real difference.
We are hopeful that 2025 will bring even more tenants to the table and have more opportunities to get involved. There’s no doubt there is plenty of work to do to in the new year, but we are confident we can tackle these challenges and overcome them together.
Anita Fairweather and Josh Booth,
The Tenant Engagement Team.
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 One of Bassetlaw’s Fire Safety partners Ventro Group, have been spreading some Christmas cheer this week and supporting the communities they have been working in.
This week, with the help of Malcolm Pike, one of Bassetlaw’s tenant representatives, staff at Ventro have been gifting festive hampers to people in Sandy Lane as a gesture of good will to residents who have supported the fire safety programme throughout this year.
This generous act also helps customers who may be experiencing a difficult time financially over the Christmas period.
Glyn, a resident of Sandy Lane said: “I can’t thank Ventro enough for the hamper. The food will definitely be enjoyed by the family this Christmas.”
The hampers contained different varieties of festive food and drink including Mince Pies, Frosted Fancies, a tub of celebrations and different flavoured teas.
Joseph Makururu, Director at Ventro said: “These gifts wouldn’t be possible without the long-term partnership between Bassetlaw District Council and Ventro.”
To find out more about Ventro, as well as learning more about some of the other charities and causes they support in the local area, please visit their website.
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 Earlier this month, Equans, one of our maintenance partners, organised a community clean-up day around The Mews area of Manton, Worksop.
This is the second clean-up they have organised following an event in Harworth and Bircotes, where some of their staff were joined by colleagues from the Housing Team at Bassetlaw District Council, as well as volunteers from the local community.
In total, they filled an 8-yard skip and collected some smaller bulky waste, as well as doing a bit of weeding of some of the raised flower beds.
Joshua Booth, Tenant Engagement Officer, said: “This event ties in fantastically with the work that we are already doing to improve this area for its residents and the work we have planned over the coming months. It all really pieces everything together.
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 A project to improve the way people are able to enjoy their homes, as well as tackling issues that will enhance the local community, is well-underway in Carlton-in-Lindrick.
Residents living on Litchfield Walk, part of the Carlton Wimpey Estate, are part of a new landscaping project to switch the locations of their gardens and driveways, which will give them an improved and more private outdoor space to enjoy, more functional entrances to their homes and be part of a solution that reduces anti-social behaviour.
The work began at the beginning of November, and more than half of the properties have already been completed.
More Information
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 A vibrant and inspiring community garden project, being developed in the Cheapside area of Worksop, is being supported by Bassetlaw District Council’s new Thriving Neighbourhoods Strategy.
The council is investing £50k of its Better Care Fund in an allotment scheme, which is aiming to boost community engagement and bring together a wide range of people.
The Cheapside Green Community Hub project will be managed by Groundwork Five Counties, in partnership with the council and the local community, with the ambition of developing horticultural skills and hosting education and family events.
More Information
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We are looking to attract tenants to a number of new volunteer roles that can be done outside of office hours, all of which have an opportunity to be flexible and provide reimbursements for any travel and childcare costs.
These roles include:
Tenant Representative for Repairs – You will be involved with the review and implementation of the new Repairs Policy and Strategy.
Scrutiny Panel Member – This panel identifies areas of the Council they believe would benefit from undergoing a level of scrutiny and conduct a review.
Tenant Voids Inspector – This role will conduct inspections of empty properties that have been prepared and assessed as ready to let.
Tenant Representative for Compliance – Representatives will be involved in areas of Compliance that impact tenant’s homes.
Neighbourhood Champion – help support your community by reporting issues such as overgrown hedges and grassed areas, fly-tipping, issues with anti-social behaviour and any other issues affecting the wider community.
Customer Experience Group – You will help review recently resolved complaints, with the aim to take learning from complaints, including issues raised by complaints and how they were handled.
Tenant Steering Group – You will work with the Tenant and Resident Engagement Team to review the Tenant Engagement Strategy and highlight aims have been achieved, whether they are ongoing and if further aims need to be added to the following year’s strategy.
Contract Inspector – In this role you will follow-up on work completed by contractors, take photos and confirm whether work has been completed to the correct standard.
Mystery shopper – You will provide feedback on the Council’s services and highlight positive working practices and where services need to be improved.
If you would like to find out more about these roles, please email us on joshua.booth@bassetlaw.gov.uk or call 01909 533 263.
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 On 24th January 2025 we will be holding our next tenant scrutiny review. This review will be looking at how we reward tenants who are involved and have invested time in helping to improve our services.
If you would like to be a part of this review, please express your interest by dropping us an email on joshua.booth@bassetlaw.gov.uk or give us a call on 01909 533 263.
The Family Hub drop-in sessions for all tenants with questions are continuing throughout the rest of the year and we would love to see you to chat about anything related to your tenancy or your community.
All the session details are listed below, and you will have the opportunity to have a one-to-one chat with a member of our Tenant Engagement Team about anything from issues with your rent, to reporting a repair.
Upcoming sessions:
Harworth & Bircotes Family Hub
- Town Hall, Scrooby Road, Harworth and Bircotes, DN11 8JP
- 9th January – 9:30am to 12noon
- 6th February – 9:30am to 12noon
Manton Family Hub
- Community Way (Off Shrewsbury Road), Manton, S80 2TU
- 15th January – 1pm to 4:30pm
- 12th February – 1pm to 4:30pm
Hallcroft Family Hub
- 2 Whitaker Close, Retford, DN22 7QH
- 6th January – 9:30am to 12noon
- 3rd February – 9:30am to 12noon
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 Bassetlaw District Council is hiring for the positions in its housing team and across the council. Here are just some of the positions available:
- Planning Contributions Officer
- Growth and Enterprise Officer
- Revenues and Benefits Assistant (Maternity Cover)
- Street Cleaning Operative (Toilet Attendant)
- Tenancy Sustainment Officer
- Repairs Admin Assistant (Maternity Cover)
- Planning Development Manager
- Voids Co-ordinator
- Senior Planning Enforcement Officer
Explore our job opportunities and apply for jobs online on our job vacancies website.
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