Another Successful Conference For Highland Council Tenants
The Highland Council hosted its third annual tenant conference, themed ‘Your home, Your community, Your conference’ on Saturday 29 October. Tenant activists identified a need for a Highland conference back in 2008, and since then a number of them have been involved in planning the conference with staff from the Council’s Housing and Property Service.
The work and achievements of tenant groups from different areas of Highland is a firm favourite at the conference. This year was no exception with inspiring presentations from Ormlie’s Young Mums project, Thurso; Firhill’s environmental improvements project in Alness, and the evolving Work Club in Alness, supported by West End Community Centre.
During the morning session writer and performer Naomi Breeze gave a powerful performance of her play ‘H’ is for Homelessness. There was also a session on the Government’s proposed welfare reforms, which tenants heard may result in increased levels of homelessness nationally.
The conference also included workshop sessions on council house rents and the council house building programme, tenant involvement in service reviews, and on improvements the Council is making to it’s repairs and maintenance service.
Jennifer MacLeod, Alness, from the conference planning group, said: “The conference is designed to bring tenants from across Highland together to network, share ideas and experiences as well promote tenant involvement as an interesting and fun way to take part in community life. We are delighted that tenants from all corners of Highland have come along to support this concept and thank council staff for helping us make this happen – it’s been a fun and informative day.”
Councillor Margaret Davidson, Chairman of The Highland Council’s Housing and Social Work Committee, welcomed delegates. She said: “It’s very encouraging that so many tenants want to get involved and work closely with the Council to have a say in the management of their own homes.”
She also congratulated Jennifer MacLeod for her recent success in being named by Tenant Participation Scotland as ‘National Tenant of the Year’.