St Martins TRA

The following people were elected to the committee at our AGM.

Bernie Ahern
Statement coming soon

Malcolm Allworthy
I am kind to animals and children! I do a wonderful impersonation of Hee-Haw! I am not power mad, I am not a computer geek. As I have retired I have lots of time to listen and personally follow up your complaint or problem. I pay rent to Metropolitan and I have experience of Lambeth Housing. I wish to get Metropolitan advisors back on our estate! I do not want to see massive rent rises.

Chris Blake
I helped set up the new TRA in May, along with Dayo, and have chaired every meeting of the TRA since. Whenever I’m chairing a meeting I always try to ensure there’s plenty of time for discussion and nobody dominates, but also that we end up with a definite set of action points. People who’ve been to the meetings so far can judge for themselves how effective I’ve been.

I’m also involved in a group Lambeth Housing Activists, so have a network of contacts with other people involved in campaigns. It was through this network I got the idea to properly monitor reported repairs via a spreadsheet so they’re easier to chase.

The work I’ve done so far seems to be focussed with the mechanics of setting up the TRA (meetings, members, websites, mailing lists etc.) but I hope over the coming year to do more campaigning. We did well door knocking asking people to come to our AGM. Soon I hope we can door knocking to ask people to complain about repairs not being done.

Terry Curtis
I have been active on various local bodies over the last few years, including the community centre and High Trees Community Development Trust.

I have attended most meetings of the TRA to date and hope I have made a useful contribution.

I have lived on the estate for a lot of years as a tenant and was involved in the meetings when the estate was being regenerated by the housing associations. A lot was achieved but the momentum of resident involvement was squandered.

The new TRA is an exciting enterprise which promises to revive resident involvement in how the estate functions

Stephen Eusell
Statement coming soon

Tony Fitzgerald
Statement coming soon

Terry and Gaynor Fleming
As most of you know we have been attending the TRA since May, along with other committed residents.

We have lived on St. Martin’s for 30 years

We also both work on the estate for Pinnacle. For those who don’t know who we are, Pinnacle are the cleaning company and the guys who cut the grass and pick up the discarded items.

We have both attended most evening meetings set up by Metropolitan and voiced our opinions

We both feel that we and Metropolitan should do a bit more for the smaller children on this estate as we see children roaming our streets late in the evening

We feel we would be an asset to the TRA and would be willing to help as committee members in any way we can

As we have worked on St. Martin’s for 11 years I know the estate very well. This will be very helpful to you all. At some point we look forward to the summer events that will help bring our community together

Dennis Jones

I have lived on St Martin’s since 1974 during which I have seen a few ups and downs on the estate. This year I experienced a big down with my personal rented property. So I started to attend

resident meetings discussing maintenance as well as the general issues people were experiencing  within the estate.

I found that there was a lot of assistance available from different groups, including High Trees Community Development Trust whilst going through this process. This made me want to assist people on St Martin’s to go through friendly channels of assistance so that they can access the support that they need.

I also think that it is vitally important that young people are listened to and not seen as the problem but the future of the area.

Stephen Kearney
I have lived on St. Martin’s Estate since 1980. In that time I have seen many changes, some good some bad, but, on average, it is a better estate than it used to be – at least there is now some sense of community whereas before there was none. The High Trees Community Development Trust, for which I worked for 12 years, made a big difference in this improvement. I believe, however, that to maintain the improvements that have been made over the years, it is necessary to develop a residents’ organisation to encourage contact and to develop a proper working relationship with the landlords.

I have an interest in repairs because, as you must be aware, some jobs, especially regarding public lighting, are left unattended for years. I am currently in the process of developing a spreadsheet system to record faulty lights on the estate, starting with the High Trees area. You might be interested to know that at the last count at the end of August there were no fewer than 113 lights out in the High Trees part of the estate alone – up from 91 in July.

Another interest is local history, a truly fascinating subject. Did you know that once upon a time Tulse Hill was the ‘stockbroker belt’ of London: how things have changed!

Tracey Williams
My name is Tracey Williams I have lived at Roycroft Close on the St Martins Estate since 1991 and have seen our estate and homes change from being run by Lambeth without Central Heating or Double Glazing…to Metropolitan Housing Association.

There have been many TA’s in the past and I have always stayed away thinking what difference do they make therefore letting others work on our behalf. I saw the posters for this new group and decided that now’s the time to change. I have found that since the first meeting you can make a difference by having a group of people that have the same goals, determination and passion that is the welfare of all who live on St Martins Estate.

Brendan Zecevic
Hello, my name is Brendan. Originally from Northern Ireland, I have lived in Brixton for the past six years. I love the area and am proud to call it home.

When I was initially asked to volunteer with the TRA, I was reluctant to do so. Though I have come to enjoy the work, the community spirit and getting to know the people on the estate.