SIR: I was saddened to read recently in the BEN of the threat of closure of Blenheim Road Residents' Association. Like others in the Borough struggling to survive, they are being run by a very small group of highly-motivated and hard-working tenants.

Tenant involvement, either individually or via a residents' association, is vital to the efficient running of the housing department. While often operating as a pressure group, they have other equally important roles to fulfil. They act as a monitor of the services we provide. We need the comments, complaints and even compliments of tenants to assess whether we are "getting it right" in an area.

Representatives from residents associations sit on district housing working parties and, along with councillors and housing officers make recommendations to the housing committee regarding service plans, planned programmes of improvement and other important issues. Indeed, tenants, nominated by BATA, sit on the housing committee and its subs, and have a direct input into policy.

Residents associations should be the hub around which the community revolves. They know their estate and are able to bring valuable local knowledge to councillors and officers.

I have met many residents' representatives over the last three years, and at the risk of causing offence, would say that most of them are middle-aged. Many of our tenants on estates are young, but do not seem to want to be involved. If any of your readers know of effective ways to attracting young tenants into established groups (or even setting up their own) I would be delighted to hear from them.

I hope we have progressed beyond the days when tenants were told what we were going to do to them. In 1981, we were allowed for the first time, to choose the colour of our front door! We are now in the business of asking tenants what they want - I hope they will carry on coming to meetings to tell us.

Cllr M E Clare

Chair, Tenant Involvement Working Party, Chair Bolton South District Housing Working Party, Silchester Way, Breightmet,

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.