Newbury and Reading

You said:

Families need more support to sustain tenancies and reduce the risk of homelessness.

We did:

We have jointly funded a Family Support Worker post with West Berkshire Council, as part of our Supporting Families programme.

You said:

There were drug‑related ASB issues in your block in Newbury.

We did:

We worked with customers and the Police to gather evidence. This led to a Partial Closure Order, then a Full Closure Order after further breaches. We were then able to end the tenancy. Since then, customers say they feel safer, and there have been no further ASB issues.

You said:

Parking at Carnarvon Place in Newbury (a scheme for older residents) wasn’t working for customers who needed disabled or ambulance bays.

We did:

After consulting customers, we created several dedicated disabled parking spaces and added an extra ambulance bay. These changes have made access easier for customers and for emergency services.

You said:

Parking spaces at your development in Hungerford were being misused.

We did:

We visited with customers to understand the problem and successfully applied for estate improvement funding. We renumbered and relined all the spaces. Customers say the changes have stopped parking disputes.

You said:

You needed help disposing of unwanted items at York House, an older people’s scheme in Calcot.

We did:

We arranged a ‘de‑clutter day’ with a doorstep recycling service. Over 110 items were collected. Customers were delighted to have an easy way to recycle as many don’t drive or can’t carry heavy items.

You said:

Fly‑tipping in the bin store at Appleton House in Reading was getting worse and making the area unsafe.

We did:

After CCTV didn’t solve the issue of non-residents dumping rubbish, we installed a secure gate with key‑code access so that only customers can now access the bin store. Fly‑tipping has stopped, and customers say they feel safer with the improved security.

Focus on The Nightingales in Newbury

• You said there was unease in the Nightingales Estate community about drug-related youth crime  - we secured £229,000 Home Office funding from Safer Streets for the estate. The funding will be used to provide new CCTV cameras, Neighbourhood Guardians, weekly outreach youth work and community clean up days.​
• You said there was a need for waste removal of bigger items and to tackle fly-tipping – we’ve run community clear up days: delivering flatbed vans to collect items on two occasions and free skips for the estate as part of another session.
• You said you’d like more SNG presence in the blocks - we complete weekly walkabouts and trialled drop-in services and surveys to get regular feedback on what’s happening.
• You said people were mixing waste in bins, preventing collections - we worked with West Berkshire Council and arranged for more larger mixed-waste bins.
• You said school attendance was poor, resulting in more anti-social behaviour (ASB) - we worked with the community centre to support with funding for a breakfast club, enabling children to get good food on their way to school.
• You said ASB was happening by the steps and the wall was unsafe – we’ve closed off the steps while we complete repairs, preventing ASB and keeping people safe.
• You said criminal activity has increased locally - we completed a ‘Have your say’ door knock with police to help find out more.
• You said the wall by the park was unsafe - we contacted Newbury Town Council who made it safe.
• You said CCTV would improve the estate and give residents extra security - we worked with West Berkshire Council and Thames Valley Police to get funding and chose locations for the CCTV, which is now in place.
• You said you wanted more local activities for older people – we’ve funded activities in the community centre.
• You said grounds maintenance wasn't good enough on the blocks – we’ve increased this to a three-weekly maintenance cycle.

After reports of rough sleeping in one block, we acted quickly - we held an urgent meeting with the Police and West Berkshire homelessness team. The Police carried out daily checks and moved anyone found sleeping inside, while the homelessness team offered support to those involved. We also increased cleaning in the block with extra weekly deep cleans and arranged 24/7 on‑site security for two weeks. 

Once we received the names of the individuals involved, we went to court and obtained injunctions to stop them from entering. These included powers of arrest, and we displayed notices on all communal doors. When the individuals moved to another block, we immediately returned to court to extend the injunction. 

Throughout this work, we kept customers regularly updated and they told us: 

“Thank you ever so much for all your support. Your communication is fantastic.”
“It’s looking so much better, and the cleaning has been better. That’s thanks to you listening to us.”