What's been going on in your area?

Published: 30/10/2024
Categories: News
We take pride in our neighbourhoods and want to help make sure that the community you live in is clean, safe and in good condition. Ultimately, we want you to feel proud of the place you call home.

To do this, we carry out monthly estate inspections of all the neighbourhoods we have homes and, in some areas where we have a concentration of properties, we have invited customers to join us on estate walkabouts. This is a chance for us to check on the condition of the area, pick up on any issues like fly tipping, abandoned vehicles and general tidiness, along with getting out in the community to chat with you.

How are we doing in your area? 

We’ll soon be able to share updates and information specific to your local neighbourhood. For now, here’s what we picked up during estate inspections and walkabouts in each of our regions during July to September. 


  

South 

South west  

South east  

Fly tipping  

310 

77 

54 

Communal repairs  

328 

137 

139 

Unauthorised items in community areas  

268 

79 

173 

Estate issues  

Nuisance vehicle  

9 

13 

6 

  

Overgrown garden  

19 

72 

29 

Nuisance parking  

2 

3 

3 

 

Fly tipping – fly tipping is when rubbish is left where it shouldn’t be, and is often bigger items that are hard to dispose of. Fly tipping not only makes an area look untidy, but can cause issues with pollution, pests, and poses a risk to wildlife. 

Depending on what’s been fly tipped and where, our Communal Services teams might be able to clear it, or we might need to get in touch with the local authority to ask them to dispose of it. Both of these options come with a cost, so it’s really important that if you have rubbish to get rid of, you double check how and where it should be disposed of. 

Unauthorised items in communal areas – this is the number of items we’ve spotted in communal areas that shouldn’t be there. This could be anything from bikes to pushchairs or just bags of rubbish and discarded furniture. 

Once the item has been identified, we’ll raise a TORT notice (a legal document which is attached to the item, letting the owner know that it needs to be removed immediately, or we will remove it). Items left in internal communal areas can also present a fire risk and obstruct exit routes. 

Communal repairs – this is the number of repairs that we’ve spotted are needed in communal areas. We’ll raise the job to our Repairs and Maintenance team who’ll arrange for it to be fixed in our usual timescales. 

 

Estate issues

Nuisance vehicle – an abandoned or unroadworthy vehicle. Once we have followed our process, we will ask the local authority to arrange removal. 

Overgrown garden – we’ll reach out to residents to agree an action plan to make improvements. 
 
Parking nuisance – if someone has parked inappropriately on Abri land or footpath. 

 

What else have we done to improve your neighbourhood? 

In the south west: 

  • We’ve removed dilapidated sheds at Givele Close, Yeovil and will be speaking with customers to decide how else we can use the space.

 

 

In the south: 

  • We’ve installed educational stickers at The Chapel, Southampton to help customers use the bin stores correctly  

  • Plans have been approved for a new pathway at Jenner Way in Alton to aid pushchairs and mobility scooters. Works are due to start in November  

  • Works to improve the bin areas at Merchistoun Road are due to start soon.  

 

In the south east: 

  • We’ve carried out line painting on the road to maximise parking spaces at Chaffinch Gardens, Bracknell

 

  • We’ve installed new bin covers at Sawyers Close, Windsor to prevent fly tipping 

  • Parking management scheme signs have been placed around Sorbus House, Wokingham. 

  

How do I get involved in a future estate walkabout? 

If you live in an area where we’ll be carrying out an estate walkabout, you’ll receive an invitation by letter. Whilst we’d love to have you all join us, we unfortunately can’t include everyone, so we send invitations to customers living in the most condensed area of the neighbourhood. 

There’s plenty of other ways you can get involved though. From Community Action Days to focus groups, we’re always open to involving customers in any way we can. If you'd like to hear more about these opportunities, you can get in touch by emailing Resident.Involvement@abri.co.uk. 


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