TROPHY WINNER HELEN HARDING, SANCTUARY HOUSING, EXETER, 04/04/14

Blog entered 4 April 2014

Trophy Winner for Friday 4th April 2014 goes to Helen Harding, Sanctuary Housing Operations Manager – South West, Exeter.

Helen is awarded the Trophy for supporting her corrupt boss Richard Keeley, Sanctuary Housing Head of Housing Operations – South West, when Keeley stated “Our Estate Services Team checks the bin store on a weekly basis”, unquote, on 21 February 2013. Helen supported this when she confirmed on 29 January 2014, that the Estate Services Team is responsible for checking the bin store every Tuesday.

Both Keeley, Harding, Sanctuary Directors and the CEO himself were then embarrased to learn that I had been reporting dumped household items, furniture, mattress etc., in the bin store to Simon Clark, Managing Director – Sanctuary Housing Services, every week in writing since October 2013, and that their Estates Services Team had missed some 15 opportunities/visits to remove the items. Items which are not permitted in the bin store according to Sanctuary’s own policies.

This proving both Keeley and Harding were lying and that those at Head Office, including the CEO, were happy to take weekly Service Charge payments for services they were not providing.

On 17 January 2014 the items were finally removed including an even greater number of dumped items from further up on the estate.

To save further embarrassment to the CEO and Sanctuary Housing, one would reasonably have thought checks to the bin store were then made every Tuesday thereafter ? far from it.

The picture was taken on Wednesday 2 April 2014. The vacuum cleaner in the back ground was dumped in the bin store soon after 17 January 2014. The papers and rubbish on a bin left of front have been there for months. The floor has never been swept and I noticed empty plastic Cider bottles, empty glass wine bottles, empty Special Brew cans and waste scattered all about. Some most probably from the alcoholics who congregate at a nearby flat day and night. Not that Sanctuary would know anything about that because it has not provided a Housing Officer or Service Delivery Officer to monitor things on behalf of tenants since last year.

Perhaps the most annoying thing is the day before was not only a Tuesday but also April Fools Day and instead of just sending down the usual gardener for a couple of hours or less (at £140.00 + to the tenants) Sanctuary sent 3 Estates Services Team workers altogether to do jobs around the estate. Although one had an open backed vehicle, usually used for removing rubbish, the dumped vacuum remains in the bin store and not one of them went near the bin store. It is no wonder a lot of tenants prefer not to go into the bin store so leave their bags of rubbish elsewhere.

When I named the bin store “Bennetts Rubbish Dump” earlier this year, after it’s CEO David Bennett, little could I have imagined that he would take such a personal interest and responsibility in how it has since been maintained.

This somewhat neglected, smelly, environmentally unhealthy shit-hole of a Trophy is therefore awarded to Helen Harding, Richard Keeley, Simon Clark, Directors and CEO David Bennett for proving there is a profit to be made from rubbish providing you leave it where it is and save on maintainance.