Westlea wins top award
for tenants' business plan

Pictured: Westlea board member and tenant Tom Pearce; a representative of the award sponsor; Westlea executive director (operations) Ann Cornelius; Westlea resident Alison Cross-Jones; TV personality Trisha Goddard; and Westlea's head of neighbourhood services Shirley Davies.

Wiltshire's Westlea Housing has scooped a prestigious national award for the way it is giving its residents a say in how the housing association is run.

Westlea won the Local Engagement and Involvement category at the National Housing Federation's Neighbourhood Awards ceremony, presented by daytime TV star Trisha Goddard in Birmingham on September 20th.

It clinched the award for its Tenants’ Business Plan scheme that allows residents to have a say in the housing association’s activities.

Already, thanks to the Tenants’ Business Plan, Westlea has introduced new employment and training schemes; installed extra shower units; and brought in extra help with gardening and repairs for vulnerable residents. All at the request of its tenants.

David Orr, chief executive of the National Housing Federation - which represents 1300 independent, not-for-profit housing associations in England - said: "Our congratulations go to Westlea Housing – a very worthy winner of this year’s Local Engagement and Involvement Award. The Neighbourhood Awards are all about demonstrating that housing associations are more than social landlords: they go the extra mile. In Westlea’s case this means bringing the people that matter the most – its tenants – into the very heart of decision making."

Alison Cross-Jones, chair of Westlea's resident District Forum, and part of the group that put the Tenants' Business Plan together, is delighted to have won: "I'm over the moon! It was great that we got shortlisted, but I couldn't believe it when they read out our name as the winner and I found myself up on stage collecting the award from Trisha!" she said.

"When I first heard about the tenants' business plan idea I just didn't know if it was for real. There are a lot of people in housing who think that senior staff don't listen to residents but this award is proof that they do!

"I am so proud of what's been achieved and the award is for all the residents who have worked to make the project the success it has been. We've had great support from Westlea officers and from the Tenant Participation Advisory Service too - so this win is for the whole team!"

Westlea originally launched the tenants’ business plan project in late 2005, to involve and engage as many residents as possible in the business and financial planning process. The first plan was published last spring and the project is now an integral part of Westlea’s annual business planning process.

"Our tenants wanted more say in how we were spending their rent. They wanted to know that they were getting value for money. And most of all, they wanted to know that we were listening," says Ann Cornelius, Westlea’s Executive Director (Operations).

"We were the first housing association to publish a tenants’ business plan. While staff gave tenants all the information they needed about the business, the Tenants’ Participation and Advisory Service (TPAS) helped facilitate the process to make sure that we got the real views of our tenants, without management influence.

"It represents meaningful involvement at the highest level, driving everything that we do.

"We now know that our corporate objectives meet tenants’ requirements, and we are accountable for delivery. It also gives us a way to show tenants the financial implications of improvement so that they can decide what is most important to them."