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Michael Eavis and his social housing project


glasto-worker
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Words from Glasto HQ.

Earlier today, Michael Eavis welcomed Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to Pilton to celebrate the beginning of the final stage of his landmark social housing project. “These are houses for village people to live in and they will never be sold,” says Michael Eavis. “My dream was to have 50 houses available for the Festival’s 50th anniversary in 2020. Today we are one step nearer to making that dream a reality.”

The first building project started in 1990 as 10 houses known as ‘Oathills’, the original name of the field. Then, ten years later came the completion of ‘John Burn’s Cottages’, 12 houses funded by Hastoe Housing. The land and the stone were provided free of charge from Worthy Farm, with contributions for dressing the stone from the Workers Beer Company, who provide bars at the Festival. HRH Prince Charles opened John Burn’s Cottages and met the tenants in 2010.

Now we have completed another 13 houses, working with the Guinness Partnership and builders EG Carter, known as ‘Maggie’s Farm’. These were visited by David Beckham this year, who planted a walnut tree.

Plans are now well ahead to complete the whole scheme with a further 15 houses to make a total of 50, which will coincide with the Festival’s 50th anniversary year, 2020.

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Most of the people in the top image is involved with the WBC and/or BWTUC { who formed the WBC over 30 years ago } and the guy on the right { with white beard and white hair } worked in the very first WBC bar at Glastonbury in 1986 and he is still going strong and he is older than me !!!

John Burns (20 October 1858 – 24 January 1943) was an English trade unionist and politician and Margaret Bondfield (first woman in the cabinet) and she was a labour MP.

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5 hours ago, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

How fab. I like the idea that the homes will never be sold and will provide social housing in to the future.

It is also re-assuring to see that Michael Eavis is still wearing shorts at this time of year.

yes it is good ' they are not built just to make a Profit '

I was at a WBC party on Saturday when I was told about it - although they left out how many were going down - that poor Couple must have been baffled as to who was who.

taking into account how many were there I suspect the WBC/BWTUC involvement was far more than stated on the official Glasto statement - I will find out { although it will take me time to do so }


the full MDC report can be seen at https://tinyurl.com/y9agmbdu

Its in the report ' that all exception sites approved under this policy will be made subject to a planning obligation to ensure that:
a) all initial and subsequent occupiers of the affordable dwellings will be eligible local people,in the first instance, and
affordable homes secured under the policy are retained in perpetuity for occupation by those in housing need.

The Council’s October 2012 ‘Rural Settlement and Role and Function Paper’ reported that there were 759 residents living in 311 households in Pilton. Whilst both Oathill Cottages and the adjacent John Burns Cottages are both affordable housing schemes it is considered that the further 13 affordable dwellings proposed here, in the context of a village of this overall size, would not result in an unbalanced community in terms of a mix of housing types.The Parish Council have queried how the local community will be involved in deciding who occupies the units. The units will however be allocated on the basis of housing need through District Council’s Housing Options team and the well-established Homefinder Somerset system taking account of their local connection. A legal agreement, which the applicant indicates they are willing to enter into, will be necessary to ensure that all initial and subsequent occupiers of the affordable dwellings will be eligible local people, in the first instance, and the affordable homes are retained in perpetuity for occupation by those in housing need.'

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if you dig down into the documents there is a condition 'The development hereby approved shall not be occupied until the swift nest boxes, sparrow terraces and habitat roosts as specified on drawing 13046/001 Rev. K (Notes)  have been installed in accordance with the approved details. The approved boxes, terraces and roosts shall thereafter be permanently retained as such. 

Edited by glasto-worker
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  • 3 weeks later...
On 27/10/2017 at 6:16 AM, glasto-worker said:

A legal agreement, which the applicant indicates they are willing to enter into, will be necessary to ensure that all initial and subsequent occupiers of the affordable dwellings will be eligible local people, in the first instance, and the affordable homes are retained in perpetuity for occupation by those in housing need.'

 

1 hour ago, Apone said:

In time they will be sold for profit, mark my words

 

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1 hour ago, Apone said:

In time they will be sold for profit, mark my words

Nobody can predict what will happen in the future, but it would be extraordinarily difficult to sell these properties if the correct legal framework has been put in place to prevent such a sale. And given the resources available and already existing contract skills of those involved it would, to me, seem that your prediction is much more unlikely than it is likely. Essentially they can covenant it to death, and secure it in perpetuity that way. 

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19 hours ago, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

Nobody can predict what will happen in the future, but it would be extraordinarily difficult to sell these properties if the correct legal framework has been put in place to prevent such a sale. And given the resources available and already existing contract skills of those involved it would, to me, seem that your prediction is much more unlikely than it is likely. Essentially they can covenant it to death, and secure it in perpetuity that way. 

Whatever,the first one will be sold at Somerset prices within 10 years, guaranteed

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4 minutes ago, Apone said:

Whatever,the first one will be sold at Somerset prices within 10 years, guaranteed

You can't offer any guarantee more than I can. However, I re-iterate that if the appropriate legal framework has been put in place then unravelling the legal covenants would be mind bendingly expensive. I really don't think that an act of parliament would be that detailed enough to encompass this exceedingly small batch of houses. Any act would probably encompass local councils and perhaps historical blocks of previously government funded housing association houses. The devil is in the detail, and if Worthy Farm have an interest, and batch of covenants associated with that interests, if the Workers Beer Company have an interest and subsequent covenants, and Hastoe Housing have another interest and associated covenants, then believe me them properties aint going to be sold. You may have witnessed previously 'gifted' properties being sold before (Have you?) but they'll have had to go through legal hell to do so. That hell, will, most likely, have been confined to limited amount of covenants, that were 'financially' beneficial to try to negate / negate. As I say, if this batch of social housing is riddled with covenants, with various stakeholders represented by those covenants, then it will not be cost effective to try to overturn them. 

Then you can add on top that Worthy Farm for example simply have no financial need to do such a thing. If they were wholly in the market for earning money, then they wouldn't give millions to charity year on year.

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Back after self imposed exile. Already dealing badly with my first fallow :( 

If a little bit of my money allows things like this to happen I'll keep going back year after year. Even if the selling for profit in 10 years can't be helped at least some young people will be helped to live near to where they grew up. 

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14 hours ago, RossTC said:

I worked on the 2nd phase of these houses as a surveyor for the contractor, they were a very impressive standard of build for social housing. Fair play to all those involved for having such a positive impact on the community.

I'd say that any contractor not using his very best operatives on a prestige job like this, connected with Michael Eavis, would have to be suffering from the onset of dementia. I am assuming that this was the case, but am interested to know if the 'impressive standard' was mainly due to the original specification over execution of the works. Probably both were involved but just kind of wonder where any bias may lie.

PS - It goes without saying that quality control was well in place. :)

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3 hours ago, Ommadawn said:

I know someone who has moved into one of the houses. They earn over £30000 a year, have a nice pension scheme in place and last lived in Pilton as a child. I've no idea how they managed it but it seems very wrong to me.

Possibly wheels within wheels and not what you know but who you know etc, but without knowing the full facts of their circumstances it's hard to say. 

I used to work for an RSL (Registered Social Landlord) for 28 years. During that time I witnessed one house being let out to the next on the waiting list, then the family that moved in being burgled and terrorized by the family next door. Even when they were doing the place up the quite beefy contractors had to lock themselves in using SitexOrbis steel doors, to keep this 'mad' neighbouring family at bay. When it was fully security screened they even broke out the brickwork around the air bricks in the wall to get in and steal tools etc. 

Anyway, they kept on putting the next families on the waiting in list in to the property, as the rules dictated, and they kept on having to flee the property. Then one lady within our organisation of Caribbean extraction said to everybody involved ' Fuck the rules, fuck these c**ts next door, the next person going in to that house is somebody I know personally who wants a house'. We were all taken aback, but nobody was going to mess with her or grass her up for breaking the rules. So, in goes her chosen person with 'one of his girlfriends' and children who needed housing. Guess what? The thieving bastard family suddenly stopped their nefarious activities. And why did they stop. It was because this lady in our organization had just put in to the property, in her words, a very very naughty and huge ganster rasta. Result.

What's the point of me telling that story? It's because unless you are in full knowledge of the facts, then you can really only surmise and not properly conclude.  

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 16/11/2017 at 1:32 PM, windy_miller said:

Does he?

This is a great idea, but that is a terrible name!

 

On 16/11/2017 at 11:46 PM, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

I hadn't noticed that one. 

I wonder who John Burns is / was? I may have to see if I can find out. I also wonder if, secretly, he was indeed an arsonist, with a deep hatred of cottages?

John Elliot Burns (20 October 1858 – 24 January 1943) was an English trade unionist and politician.In 1892, he was elected as Member of Parliament for Battersea as the candidate of the Battersea Liberal Association

every year the Chairman of the WBC holds a # John Burns History walk # around Battersea and Wandsworth.

The WBC was set up by Battersea and Wandsworth Trades Union Council so he is held as a local hero by them.

I have been to the party after the walk which this year was 22 July 2017.

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48 minutes ago, glasto-worker said:

 

John Elliot Burns (20 October 1858 – 24 January 1943) was an English trade unionist and politician.In 1892, he was elected as Member of Parliament for Battersea as the candidate of the Battersea Liberal Association

every year the Chairman of the WBC holds a # John Burns History walk # around Battersea and Wandsworth.

The WBC was set up by Battersea and Wandsworth Trades Union Council so he is held as a local hero by them.

I have been to the party after the walk which this year was 22 July 2017.

Hello glasto-worker,

As ever, you are the font of all knowledge. Thank you for providing that information. :)

 

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6 hours ago, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

Hello glasto-worker,

As ever, you are the font of all knowledge. Thank you for providing that information. :)

 

rto be honest I had not a clue who John Burns was either - But at the back of the Bread and Roses Pub in Clapham { its owned by BWTUC/WBC } they have a huge painting reflecting the TUC over the years and part of it includes John Burns - which is ironic seeing he was against  smoking and drinking - and even more ironic that painting can be clearly seen from # the smoking area # - you will see lots of the same people in this image and the first image at the start - WBC Chairman is at the back with his glasses on his forehead - I first met him 28 years ago - had not a clue who he was - without him the WBC would have sunk years ago.

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  • 1 month later...
On 18/11/2017 at 7:05 PM, Yoghurt on a Stick said:

Possibly wheels within wheels and not what you know but who you know etc, but without knowing the full facts of their circumstances it's hard to say. I used to work for an RSL (Registered Social Landlord) for 28 years.

What's the point of me telling that story? It's because unless you are in full knowledge of the facts, then you can really only surmise and not properly conclude.  

it should make sense at the end . 

now I have only rented in the private sector but you may be interested in this.

I was renting from a private Landlord for 14 years - there was no issue over the rent but '  right out the blue ' I was hit with a Section 21 Notice - now I am not going though all the  court cases but ' I fought back ' and it delayed things for 18 months - now at one time the Landlord produced a ' second lease ' to the Court

At this point ' I cant say why they claimed there was a second lease ' because I knew this was a forgery as I had not signed it - I could prove where I was on the date it was supposed to be signed by me ' and sure as shit I was not in London on that date ' and I had over 200 people willing to back up my claim that I was at Glastonbury .

Now its a big puzzle why they even bothered - as it did not give them any advantage  and in fact ' this delayed things for them ' 

The Court tossed the case out due to the second lease as they had to admit ' there had been a administration error and perhaps the second lease was never offered to me '

I thought I had won but they issued a new Section 21 Notice and it all started again.

By sods law this all mixed in with my Operations and just to really nail me to the wall the landlord got a eviction date ' while I was in Hospital '

but I then had a lucky break as my Consultant contacted the Social work department
within the Hospital and they contacted the homeless unit within Enfield Council.

I was declared ' unintentionally homeless ' - I was moved to a temporary studio flat but I then was allowed to bid using ' Home Connections ' and amazingly I won a bid and was offered a Assured Shorthold Tenancy for 6 years { recurring } with Metropolitan Housing Trust 

its a cracking 1 bedroom flat - red dot is my flat - yes I know it looks Rubbish from the Outside but the inside is far better than the Outside + its connected to a large shopping mall with more shops than you can shake a stick at.

On NYE I had a problem with the Hot water { I pay a separate fee for heating which includes Hot water } - called up their emergency line and they sent a Plumber out just before Midnight and he sorted the Problem out.

If they had been a Private Landlord I would be still waiting for it to be fixed.

So I am in full support of Registered Social Landlords and with any luck I will never have to go back to renting from a Private Landlord.

I will be the first to admit that I was incredible lucky to be offered that flat

If I had been classed as ' intentionally homeless ' I would have been stuffed

even although it was a big hassle fighting the Section 21 Notice I made sure ' the rent was paid up to date ' as that played a big factor as to if the Council was willing to help me.

I am glad I don't have a Private Landlord any longer and while they may think they have won seeing they always wanted the rent to be paid in cash - a clear sign they have not told HMRC they are renting - I will be sending proof { as I have all the court documents to prove that I paid them rent for 14+ years } to HMRC and they can jump all over them - No doubt they will claim it was a administration error - HMRC will hit them with penalties { I used to work for the Inland Revenue { now called HMRC } so I know  what will happen to them }

The more Registered Social Landlords the better and I do hope Michael Eavis and his social housing project gets expanded. 

if anyone is having problems with a Section 21 Notice please send me a PM as I may be able to give you some tips but for God sake keep paying the rent - Get down to Citizens Advice and they will give you a list of lawyers who deal with Housing matters - these Court cases are a legal minefield.

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Glad to hear it all ended well for you gw, though all too often it's not the case nowadays.

Affordable social housing has always been the key solution, unfortunately Thatcher fucked it all up leaving us with greedy bastard landlords.

 

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