Welcome to the Spring edition of our ezine with news and updates from Cottsway’s Communities Team. Daffodils, hyacinths and crocuses are blooming and Easter is only a few weeks away!
Have your say - Oxfordshire There are several consultations running in Oxfordshire about matters that affect you and your household. From local wildlife and nature to road safety and special educational needs and disabilities, there are events and opportunities for you to have your say on the issues that matter to you. Have your say - Cheltenham, Gloucester and Tewkesbury Local councils are seeking feedback on various issues affecting local communities to help them develop a Strategic Local Plan (SLP) for your areas, including: - Housing questions for young people aged 13-25 - if you’re aged 13-25 and live in Cheltenham, Gloucester or Tewkesbury areas, the councils are keen to hear your views on housing and where new homes and jobs should go. See the Strategic Local Plan website
- Climate and nature recovery in Gloucestershire – help them to identify land that could be used for environmental purposes and food production. You can also submit your ideas about how the SLP can address climate change and nature recovery and read about the Renewable Energy Study on the Strategic Local Plan website
Join the next Housing Ombudsman Resident Panel There is an exciting opportunity for residents to be part of the Ombudsman’s vision to embed a positive complaint handling culture across the sector and make sure residents’ views are heard. Free support to stop smoking in Oxfordshire Oxfordshire’s stop smoking service is now able to offer free one-to-one support, including free vape starter kits to all adult smokers currently living or working in Oxfordshire who want to quit smoking. You can self-refer to the service either online or by phone or text. Libraries – they’re not just about books! There’s lots more that Oxfordshire’s libraries do. Join ‘Rhymetime’ or have a natter over knitting, or a chat with a cuppa, or join one of their games or book clubs you can. If learning’s your thing, visit the Language Café or Code Club. Wildflower planting day in Carterton Staff from Cottsway and our grounds maintenance contractor John O'Connor met at Queens Road in Carterton recently to give a boring patch of grass a wildflower makeover. John O'Connor prepared the area, sowed some wildflower seeds and planted bulbs, also placing some bird and bat boxes in the trees to encourage local wildlife.
The event was initiated by a resident of Queens Road who wanted to brighten up the area. Also in attendance were the Town Mayor Kathy Godwin and Deputy Mayor Liz Wood. Eight school children from a local primary school came to join in the fun, each planting a pot of anemone corms and a small pot of sunflower seeds to take back to school with them. It was a great morning, despite the cold and we are looking forward to seeing the results when the weather warms up!
Cottsway staff attend school careers events Cottsway staff have recently attended Human Library events at Chipping Norton, Burford and Henry Box secondary schools in West Oxfordshire. Our staff joined other business volunteers to take in props related to their respective job role and students from Year 9 worked their way around the room, guessing where they work and what they do.
We’re proud to support events like this to help students speak with a wide range of professionals, broadening their knowledge on the possibilities beyond school.
How are we performing? In our last newsletter we told you about the New Tenant Satisfaction Measures (TSMs) we are surveying customers about. The Regulator of Social Housing (RSH) will publish the 2023/24 results for all social housing landlords on their website later this year but you can read our latest results from Q3 2023-24 online. Join our Service Charge working group We are currently recruiting customers to a small working group to help look at how we can better communicate with you about service charges. The group will be online so if you are interested in finding out more about service charges and improving our approach please get in touch. Food bank referrals Since our last ezine in December, we have made over 70 referrals to local food banks.If you need a referral, please contact us and we will do our best to help. And finally, a few quick links if you’re interested:
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