Issue 38 - Summer 2012 - Wigan Council

BOROUGH CELEBRATES 10 YEARS OF WIGAN AND LEIGH HOUSINGWHERE were you in 2002?Brazil lifted the World Cup,NASA began to map thesurface of Mars and tremorsfrom an earthquake that hitthe West Midlands were feltthroughout the country.And in 2002, Wigan Boroughhad its own seismic event withthe birth of a new organisationdedicated to managing andimproving the council’s stockof social housing.Wigan and Leigh Housing(WALH) was formed an ‘arm’slength managementorganisation’ to look afterboth the day-to-day runningand the long-term future ofthe borough’s 22,600 councilhouses and flats.The move brought about a‘quiet revolution’ in themanagement of social housingwhich put the tenants in thedriving seat when it came tomaking the big decisions.Working alongside localcouncillors and independentWALH board members, it’s thetenants who have been thedriving force behind a wholehost of improvements over thelast decade.A major council houseimprovement and renovationprocess has resulted inpositive moves such as we havenow replaced 12,000 newboilers, improved insulationand the installation of 1,200solar panels. Energy savingmeasures such as these havesaved £1M a year which hasbeen re-invested in furtherimprovements.Majorie Marsden, a tenantfrom Shakerley, has beeninvolved in the running ofWigan and Leigh Housingfrom the start.She says: “As tenants wehave a big influence in theimportant decisions includingthe setting of rents and thenhow our rents should be spent.“Our homes, estates andhousing services have beentransformed and we now haveone of the best housingservices in the country.“The legacy we want toleave to the Borough is ahousing stock whichuses as littleenergy asCHANGING LIVES:Vice Chair of Wigan andLeigh Housing Board, MarjorieMarsden with tenants at the latestbatch of new homes on ChathamSt in Leigh. This was part of thefirst new build programme inWigan Borough in thelast 25 years.possible and, where we can,we generate renewable heatand energy locally.”Whilst chair of the Wiganand Leigh Housing Board,former Wigan MP Neil Turner,adds: “It was a bold move bythe council to create Wiganand Leigh Housing.“The first ten years havebeen a success. What aboutthe next 10 years?“We have alreadyestablished ourselves as aquality house-builder but wewant to build many morehomes for local people.“Energy improvements willcontinue and we are nowlooking at furtherimprovement works. Thiswill help the localeconomy and createtraining and jobs forlocal people.”Leader of WiganCouncil, LordPeter Smith, says:“It was a bigdecision to handthe council’s stockof housing over to amanagement companyand create Wigan andLeigh Housing but one thatwe are really glad to havetaken.“The initial move came witha massive injection ofinvestment money from thegovernment which has servedus well but Wigan and LeighHousing’s success goes farbeyond this and continues tothis day.“In every measure takenthe satisfaction of WALHtenants just keeps going upand the real beauty of theproject is that it has managedto include the tenants in thedecision-making processabout their lives every step ofthe way. We’re now lookingforward to the next 10 years!”28 BOROUGH LIFE Summer 2012