Conference 2006 - Conference report
CCH - 13th Annual Conference
Friday 12th to Sunday 14th of May 2006
National Tenants Resource Centre
Trafford Hall, near Chester
See also:
Where is co-operative housing at now?
This was a conference that nearly didn't happen and which was brought back by popular demand! For those that attended it was something of a special weekend, and delegates will probably treasure the memory of it! 62 co-operative housing delegates assembled at the National Communities Resource Centre at Trafford Hall, near Chester, for the 13th Annual Conference of the Confederation of Co-operative Housing over the weekend of 12th to 14th May 2006.
A smaller conference than the joint conference held with the National Federation of TMOs in 2005, the conference was primarily aimed at the ownership co-op sector, and proved to be a much cosier and intimate event than previous CCH conferences. Feedback forms referred to a "relaxed and friendly atmosphere", an "excellent weekend", "one of the best for years", and one specifically requested the CCH to continue holding separate conferences - which gives us a bit of a headache to think through because it had been intended to hold a joint one with the NFTMOs again next year. Oh well - it's nice to know that both approaches work.
Whilst all the feedback forms listed people as either satisfied or very satisfied with the conference and everyone happy with the organisation of the conference, there were some organisational blips (particularly including not sorting out appropriate accommodation for one of the disabled delegates). We apologise for those and we need to get those things right for next time.
The conference was opened by Nic Bliss, the CCH chair, highlighting how co-operative and community controlled housing is the only alternative to the incoherent owner occupation and social housing strategies in the UK. The conference then heard from the various areas of co-operative housing, including:
- an excellent analysis of the formation of the ownership housing co-op sector from Helen Russell from Two Piers Housing Co-op in Brighton (and one of the CCH founder members);
- a comprehensive summary of tenant management and an account of the work of the National Federation of TMOs from its vice-chair Roy Read;
- and a stirring presentation from Christine Winstanley and Diane Bellinger from the recently formed Preston Community Gateway.
Other highlights of the formal programme included...
- a rousing presentation from Charlie Baker of Urbed on the future of social housing (to the half of the conference who weren't watching the FA Cup final);
- a lightning analysis of climate change and how housing co-ops could contribute to tackling it from Phil Beardmore of the Birmingham Sustainable Energy Partnership;
- a somewhat lively Annual General Meeting (for the Sunday morning);
- and a good mix of workshops that looked at neighbourhood approaches, governance issues (including a workshop on what happens if its all going wrong), community lettings, equal opportunities and diversity, tackling anti-social behaviour, Community Gateway and co-operative housing finance.
So much for the formal conference agenda! What really marked this conference off from previous ones was the interaction between delegates, particularly between the older forms of co-operative housing and newer Community Gateway delegates. The following feedback summed it up:
- "the opportunity to meet like-minded people has been invaluable"
- "the whole weekend has been one huge shot in the arm"
- "really good feel to the weekend and heard lots of people saying the same"
The weekend's interaction amongst delegates started following the introductory session when the Friday night quiz was won by a team consisting of delegates from Grand Union, Balsall Heath, Dennis and 20/20 Housing Co-ops. The interaction developed through the mixed bag of Liverpool supporters from around the country watching the FA Cup final (apologies to the one and a half delegates supporting West Ham), and then on into the highly popular skittles tournament with most of the conference participating (won by none other than the CCH's Chair but that seemed immaterial); and then on into the after hours bonfire in the garden (for those that made it out there). Even the rain didn't dampen the enthusiasm (many thanks to Dave for the umbrellas!)
Where is Co-operative Housing at now? The conference saw the launch of the draft of the joint CCH, NFTMO and Co-operative Housing Group strategy for co-operative and community controlled housing. This weekend demonstrated that for all the problems facing our sector, it is still there, still thriving, still welcoming in new participants whilst continuing to treasure its longer standing members, and still much better than the alternative options for housing the UK population.
