112501 GHC newspaper 25 (+East) - Gateshead Housing Company

Above, clockwise from top, the winning gardens of Sandra Burt, Evaline Dodds, Patrick Kelly and John Moody. 

Below, Karen Paterson's award-winning garden. 

Rest of Gateshead ‘green with 

envy’ over West winners 

Tenants from the West of Gateshead have 

walked away with a hatful of prizes in a 

recent top gardening competition. 

The hotly contested 2009 Summer Garden 

Competition saw five local residents pick up 

almost half of the housing company's prizes. 

The prizes went to: 

• Best large kept garden (open class) - Karen 

Paterson of Blaydon 

• Best large kept garden (open class) - Sandra 

Burt of Blaydon 

• Best kept older persons garden - John Moody 

of Winlaton 

• Best new entry - John Moody of Winlaton 

• Hanging baskets - Patrick Kelly of Ryton 

• Plant containers - Evaline Dodds of Winlaton 

• Window boxes - Evaline Dodds of Winlaton. 

The competition attracted entries from 

Gateshead residents, schools, commercial and 

industrial premises and religious grounds, with 

three area competitions covering the whole 

borough. 

Additional prizes in each relevant class were 

awarded to the best entry from a tenant of The 

Gateshead Housing Company. 

Well done to everyone who took part in the 

annual competition, which was organised and 

supported by In Bloom Committees, Gateshead 

Council, The Gateshead Housing Company and 

B&Q. 

See pages 26 and 27 for more news about 

winners across the whole borough. 

April 2009 to June 2009 

Making a difference in 

West Gateshead 

13

14 

Anti-social behaviour April 

2008 to March 2009 

Last year, The Gateshead Housing Company closed 1,664 anti-social 

behaviour cases across Gateshead after taking decisive action. 

In West Gateshead 283 were closed, with 95 per cent resolved without 

the need for legal action. 

What have we done in West Gateshead? 

We took 56 formal and legal actions. 

We took action at least every two working days. 

We sent 33 written warnings about bad behaviour. 

Several referrals were made to our Mental Health link worker. 

Got 4 suspended eviction orders – a final warning! 

5 young people worked with our Young Persons officer. 

The Mediation Team worked with 28 people. 

5 pupils were reported as being truant. 

And much, much more 

Evictions make headlines – but almost all anti-social behaviour cases are solved before that. 

If we do need to take action – we will. And that includes evicting people from their homes. 

If you want to report any type of anti-social behaviour contact your nearest housing office or call 

0191 433 5327, Monday to Friday until 7pm and on Saturdays until noon. 

You can also report it online at www.gatesheadhousing.co.uk/asb or e-mail to 

nrt@gatesheadhousing.co.uk 

If you want to know more about how we tackle anti-social behaviour then 

ask at your housing office or log onto 

www.gatesheadhousing.co.uk/performance

Who’s Who 

in West Gateshead 

Blaydon (including Highfield and Ryton) - 0191 433 6202 

Acting Housing Manager 

Karen Dowens 

Neighbourhood Relations Officer 

Nicola Cleugh 

Estate Officer 

Lisa Corrigan 

Tenant Liaison 

Manager 

Carole Nicholson 


Joan Moore 

Senior Tenant 

Liaison Officer 

John Monaghan 

Housing Manager 

Hazel Forster 

Neighbourhood Relations Officer 

Emma Snaith 


Jocelyn Snowball 

Decent Homes Team - 0191 433 5410 


Assistant 

Alison Bulman 


Veronica Taylor 


Assistant 

Jean Laskey 

Housing Manager 

Ken Forster 


Julie Anderson 


Victoria Walker 


Assistant 

Lisa Orton 

? 

Area Housing 

Manager 

Margaret Copeland 

Sheltered Housing 


Blaydon (incl. 

Highfield and Ryton) 

Joyce Scott 

Administrative 

Assistant 

Iain Crosbee 

15

16 

Easy ways 

to pay 

Did you know you can pay 

your rent at over 200 

PayPoint locations in 

Gateshead and Newcastle 

city centre, as well as at all 

Post Offices? 

All you need to do is take your payment card 

and money to anywhere you see the PayPoint 

sign including newsagents, supermarkets, 

convenience stores and garages. 

PayPoint locations 

in and around Blaydon 

• Alldays - The Garth, Front Street, 

Blaydon-on-Tyne 

• Digpal News - 2 Cromwell Avenue, 


• Londis Supermarket - 72 Clavering Road, 

Winlaton 

• Malthurst Ltd - Derwenthaugh Road, 


• McCutcheon News - 27 The Precinct, 

Wesley Court, Blaydon-on-Tyne 

• McCutcheon News - 28 The Garth, 

Front Street, Blaydon-on-Tyne 

• Winlaton News & Wines - 1-3 Tyne Street, 

Winlaton. 


in and around Highfield 

• Rai Mini Market - 19 The Leazes, Burnopfield 

• Sunlea General Dealer - Hookergate Lane, 

High Spen, Rowlands Gill. 


in and around Ryton 

• Co-op North East - Main Street, Crawcrook 

• JG Mathews - 11 Broomey Hill Road, Throckley 

• Ridden News Limited - Senate House, Hexham 

Road, Throckley 

• Somerfield - Parsons Drive, Ryton 

• Spar - Lead Road, Greenside, Ryton. 

Post Office branches 

• Blackhall Mill - 14 River View, Blackhall Mill 

• Blaydon - Co-op Store, Unit 20, The Precinct, 

Blaydon 

• Burnopfield - Spar Store, Front Street, 

Burnopfield 

• Chopwell - 32-34 Derwent Street, Chopwell 

• Crawcrook - Spring Cottage, Main Street, Ryton 

• Crookhill - 16 Crookhill Terrace 

• Greenside - Lorraine House, Lead Road, Ryton 

• Highfield - Old Co-op Buildings, Smailes Lane, 

Highfield 

• Leazes - Syke Road, Burnopfield 

• Ryton - 5 Dean Terrace, Ryton 

• Winlaton - 13 Front Street, Winlaton 

• Winlaton Mill - 5a Noel Avenue, Winlaton Mill. 

New play area for Pipebridge 

Board member and local councillor John W Hamilton, sees the play area plans with John Monaghan 

of The Gateshead Housing Company's Decent Homes Team. 

Children in the west of Gateshead are set to 

have a new play area, thanks to The 

Gateshead Housing Company. 

A new £200,000 play area will be built on the 

Pipebridge estate on unused land. 

Board member, John W Hamilton, said: "The 

housing company has made improvements to 

thousands of homes across Gateshead, but it is also 

firmly committed to improving estates. 

"This new play park will provide an area for children 

to play safely and increase the local community's 

sense of pride in their neighbourhood." 

Funding for the play park was provided by the 

housing company's sustainability budget 

following recent Decent Homes work on the 

estate. 

Your estate, your views 

The Gateshead Housing Company wants your views on how we could make your estate even better. 

One way to do this is to come on an Estate Tour - see page 20 for details of your next tour. 

But, if you can't make a tour, you can still give us your views and we will make sure your housing office, 

our Neighbourhood Relations Team or other services get to hear about it. 

Simply fill in the form below and return it to us - no stamp is needed. 

Important: You don't have to give us your name and address - but it will help us to give you feedback if 

you do. You must tell us the estate you live on though, to help us look at the issue. 

Your name: 

Address: 

Tel: E-mail: 

Or 

The estate I live on is: 

I think my estate is: 

What is the most important issue you think the company should tackle on your estate? 

(Please just tick one - the one you think is most important) 

Untidy gardens Youth disorder Cleaning/grounds maintenance 

Better lighting Community facilities Other (please specify) 

Please give this to any of our employees, drop into your housing office or post to us (no stamp is needed) at 

Freepost Plus RRZG-CLYL-XKRU, The Gateshead Housing Company, Keelman House, 

Fifth Avenue Business Park, Fifth Avenue, Team Valley Trading Estate, Gateshead, NE11 0XA.

Crackdown on private 

landlords 

Gateshead Council's Cabinet has been asked 

to back plans to force landlords in 

Chopwell to obtain a license before they 

can accept tenants. 

The move has been backed by local 

residents, many of whom have 

previously raised concerns about 

the management of privatelyrented 

homes in Chopwell's 

river streets. 

Plans for a licensing 

scheme similar to one in 

operation in Sunderland 

Road in the centre of 

Gateshead will force private 

landlords to prove they are fit 

and proper people and also 

meet minimum housing quality standards. 

A person can be fined up to £20,000 if he or she 

has control of a house in a selective licensing 

area without a license. 

They can also fined up to a £5,000 fee for failing 

to comply with any license condition. 

Residents at a West 

Gateshead estate are 

set to benefit from just 

over £1.2m of home 

improvements this year. 

Over 135 homes across 

High Spen and Barlow are 

currently being improved 

as part of the housing 

company's Decent Homes 

programme. 

Depending on each 

property's individual 

survey, work could include 

new kitchens, bathrooms, 

loft insulation, rewiring, 

heating systems, windows 

and doors. 

The housing company's 

Chief Executive, Bill Fullen, 

said: "We have already 

changed housing in 

Gateshead forever by making improvements to 

thousands of homes, with less than one in eight 

homes now needing work done." 

Work started in September on the estate and 

should be completed by early next year. 

Selective licensing to the river streets area 

will, when combined with other measures, 

hopefully lead to an improvement in the 

area, says Gateshead Council. 

A decent £1.2m housing 

boost 

Left to right, Councillor Andrew Graham, Alison Bulman of the housing 

company, Councillor Brenda Osborne, tenants Alan and Pat Lockey, 

contractors Richard Linton and Jade Jolly and Estate Officer Lisa Corrigan 

launch the £1.2m home improvement programme. 

Any customers with queries about the 

improvement work can contact the 

company's Decent Homes West Team by 

calling 0191 433 5292 or e-mailing 

fhm@gatesheadhousing.co.uk 

Making a difference 

in West Gateshead 

The housing company has been doing a lot to 

improve the West of Gateshead with the help of 

customers – here are just a few recent examples: 

Help reduce crime in your 

area 

If you are concerned about crime why not go to 

your next local police surgery: 

• Chopwell Community Office - Saturday, 

7November from 4pm to 6pm 

• Blackhall Mill Post Office - Sunday, 8 November 

from 3pm to 5pm 

• Emmaville Hall, Crawcrook - Tuesday, 17 

November from 2.30pm to 4pm 

• Ryton (outside Somerfield) - Wednesday, 18 

November from 2.30pm to 4pm 

• Gateshead Council @ Blaydon (in library) - 

Friday, 23 October from 4pm to 5pm 

• Winlaton library - Monday, 9 November from 

5.30pm to 6.30pm 

• Rowlands Gill library - Tuesday, 10 November 

from 7pm to 9pm. 

Eastlands - Winlaton 

Work has been completed to improve a wellused 

footpath on the estate. 

The Estate Officer ensured the neglected path 

received new fencing through the Designing out 

Crime budget to improve the estate. 

Lime Grove - Ryton 

Work will be carried out to remove two walls on 

Lime Grove that created a confined area, which 

had previously attracted anti-social behaviour. 

The area will become more open plan and 

should prevent the area being used as a 

gathering place. 

Ash and Lime Street - 

Blaydon 

The housing company has secured funding of 

almost £60,000 to provide a landscaped parking 

area on the end of Ash and Lime Street to 

improve estate parking. 

Greenfields - Ryton 

A shortcut to services will be created leading 

from Greenfields to Ryton main road. The path 

will help residents and in particular elderly 

resident's access services close to their homes. 

Bleach Green - Blaydon 

New gates were recently fitted to the entrance of 

Green Gates Park. 

The gates were built higher to help tackle antisocial 

behaviour in the area, as there were 

problems with people climbing into the park at 

night and causing a nuisance. 

17

18 

Local information 

Housing offices 

Your housing office can offer you a range of 

services, including advice on rent or to make 

payments, neighbourhood nuisance issues 

and benefits advice. 

In the West of Gateshead the housing 

company has offices at: 

Gateshead Council @ Blaydon 

(including Highfield and Ryton) 

5 Wesley Court, Blaydon, Gateshead, NE21 5BT 

• Monday - 9am to 5pm 

• Tuesday - 9am to 5pm 

• Wednesday - 9am to 3.45pm 

• Thursday - 9am to 5pm 

• Friday - 9am to 4.30pm 

Tel: 0191 433 6202 

E-mail: 

blaydonoffice@gatesheadhousing.co.uk 

Decent Homes Team 

This team covers the West of Gateshead and 

works with with Frank Haslam Milan Limited for 

the improvements. 

Tel: 0191 433 5410 

E-mail: fhm@gatesheadhousing.co.uk 

Tenant and resident associations 

Tenant and resident associations are made up of 

volunteers from the local community. 

Associations encourage residents to get involved 

with local issues, with meetings open to 

everyone. 

Tenant and resident associations in your area are at: 

Blaydon West Residents' Group 

Jennifer Bullock 56 Theresa Street, Blaydon-on- 

Tyne, Gateshead, NE21 4QE 

Tel: 0191 440 1484 

E-mail: daveandjenbullock@hotmail.com 

Bleach Green Residents' Association 

Brenda Miller 12 Brantwood Court, Bleach 

Green, Gateshead, NE21 5HT 

Tel: 0191 414 1694 

Joanne Dunworth 17 Jobling Avenue, 

Winlaton, Gateshead, NE21 4RR 

Tel: 0191 421 3418 

Chopwell Residents' Association 

George Gill 13 Adair Terrace, Mill Road, 

Chopwell, Gateshead, NE17 7HA 

Tel: 01207 561 231 

Crawcrook - DSD Community 

Tenants' and Residents' Association 

Nora Taylor 35 Dale View Gardens, Crawcrook, 

Gateshead, NE40 4ED 

Tel: 0191 413 3766 

Croft Resident Group RSL 

Anne Watson 33 Cushycow Lane, Ryton, 

Gateshead, NE40 3NJ 

Tel: 0191 413 6642 

Chopwell £4m makeover 

complete 

Residents at a West 

Gateshead estate with £4m 

of new home improvements 

are set to see even more in 

the future. 

In addition to the Decent 

Homes work at Chopwell, the 

estate is also part of a 

'masterplan' put in place by 

Gateshead Council. 

The plan aims to develop 

Chopwell into an attractive 

place to live by further 

investment in the community, 

housing and the environment. 

Residents will also benefit from 

further estate improvements from the housing 

company's sustainability budget. 

Carole Nicholson, Tenant Liaison Manager, said: 

"The Decent Homes improvements to Chopwell 

have made a massive difference and we 

encourage residents to give their views on the 

upcoming estate improvements." 

A massive week-long event to give 

everyone in the West of Gateshead the 

opportunity to 'get involved' is being held 

this month. 

The housing company's 'Opportunity knocks' 

week, from Monday, 19 to Friday, 23 October, 

will employees getting 'out there' to talk to 

customers across the borough. 

It is hoped to raise the profile of the many ways 

Alison Bulman, Tenant Liaison Officer and Veronica Taylor, Estate 

Officer look over the improvement plans with local residents. 

Any customers with views about the sustainability 

work can contact the company's Decent Homes 

West Team by calling 0191 433 5413 or e-mailing 

fhm@gatesheadhousing.co.uk. 

For more information of the Chopwell 

masterplan contact Gemma Pattinson, 

Gateshead Council's Planning Officer on 

0191 433 3214. 

'Week' can take part says 

West of Gateshead 

Helen Watson (left) and Louise Taylor of the housing company's 

Involvement Team promote the week-long event. 

customers can get involved in making their 

estates, homes and housing services even better. 

Just some of the events being held in your area 

include: 

• An Estate clean up day at Parkhead, Winlaton 

• Estate Tours 

• An involvement roadshow 

• Drop-ins at sheltered accommodation. 

Louise Taylor, Involvement 

Officer for the company, said: 

"We have literally thousands 

of customers getting involved 

each year in making the 

services everyone receives 

better. 

"But we want to work with 

even more people to make a 

difference and give them the 

satisfaction that what they are 

doing is improving thousands 

of others' home lives." 

For information about over 

70 events being held during 

the week see pages 21 to 

25 or log onto 

www.gatesheadhousing 

.co.uk/opportunityknocks

You can’t run from rent arrears 

For free and confidential 

rent advice call 0191 433 6235

West 

• Blaydon 

• Highfield 

• Ryton 

We will tour all estates 

including sheltered housing 

and blocks of flats on at least 

a bi-monthly basis. 

Residents will be offered the 

opportunity to accompany 

the Estate Officer during 

these tours. 

We will identify and take 

appropriate action with regard 

to any issues detracting from 

the appearance of an estate. 

Feedback from the Estate 

Tours will be provided to 

residents. 

We will publicise the dates 

of all Estate Tours. 

We will monitor our 

performance and publish 

the results. 

Tours can take up to two 

hours depending on the 

size of the estate, you can 

join in at any part if you 

do not want to take part 

in the whole tour. 

Oct-Jan Tours 

Blaydon, Highfield and Ryton For more information contact: 0191 433 6202 

Bleach Green 

Wednesday 11 November – 10am 

Wednesday 9 December – 10am 

Acquired Properties 

Tuesday 10 November – 10am 

Tuesday 5 January – 10am 

Shibdon Bank 

Tuesday 20 October – 10am 

Tuesday 15 December – 10am 

Parkhead 

Thursday 12 November – 10am 

Thursday 7 January – 10am 

Hole in the Wall 



Bagnall Grange 



Snookhill/St Pauls 

Thursday 3 December – 10am 

Lakes Estate 

Thursday 22 October – 10am 


Hallgarth 



High Spen 


Wednesday 20 January – 10am 

Winlaton Mill 



Barlow 



Blackhall Mill 


Monday 21 December – 10am 

Lower Chopwell 


Thursday 28 January – 2pm 

Upper Chopwell 

Thursday 29 October – 10am 


Highfield 

Wednesday 28 October – 10am 


Pipebridge 

Friday 30 October – 10am 


South Sherburn 

Monday 16 November – 10am 

Monday 11 January – 10am 

Lower Rowlands Gill 



Upper Rowlands Gill 



East Lea 

Monday 9 November – 11.30am 

Monday 11 January – 11.30am 

South Lea 

Friday 13 November – 11.30am 

Friday 15 January – 11.30am 

West Acres 

Tuesday 10 November – 11.30am 

Tuesday 12 January – 11.30am 

William Morris Avenue 

Friday 16 October – 2.30pm 

Burnside Road 

Monday 7 December – 2.30pm 

South Sherburn 

Thursday 17 December – 2.30pm 

Southwood Crescent 

Friday 13 November – 2.30pm 

Friday 15 January – 2.30pm 

Boltons Bungalows 



Denton View 



Crocus Close 



Daffodil Close 



Mosspool 



Rydal Crescent 

Wednesday18 November – 2.30pm 

Wednesday 20 January – 2.30pm 

Conifer Close 



Whinney Close 

Monday 23 November – 2.30pm 

Monday 18 January – 2.30pm 

Crookhill 


Hexham Old Road 



Runhead 


Ryton Central 



Parkfield/Tower Gardens 



Low Crawcrook 



High Crawcrook 



Low Greenside 

Wednesday 25 November – 10am 


High Greenside 



The Lonnen 

Wednesday 2 December –2.30pm 

Greenfields 

Monday 19 October – 11am 

Monday 21 December – 11am 

Emmaville 

Wednesday 28 October – 2.30pm 

Monday 4 January – 2.30pm 

To find out more about Estate Tours in your 

area contact your housing office or visit www.gatesheadhousing.co.uk/estatetours

112501 GHC newspaper 25 (+East) - Gateshead Housing Company

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