Five years since signing up to the Government's Respect Agenda, Coastline continues to seek residents' views on their neighbourhood as part of its quarterly walkabouts.
Launched in 2006, the Respect Agenda is an initiative designed to challenge the causes of anti-social behaviour. It seeks to support families, improve school attendance, strengthen communities and take effective action against offenders.
Every three months, a team of Coastline staff, accompanied by community police officers, visit specific areas, asking local people for their views, concerns and areas for improvement in their neighbourhood.
"The Respect walkabouts are a fantastic way of identifying certain issues on specific estates. This allows us to focus on and resource those areas of the community that would most benefit from improvement," said Coastline's Tenancy Manager, Jane Pulley.
Housing officers work very closely with the community. When landlords get it right, they can make a positive difference to the quality of life of residents and others in the community.
Last month, representatives from the Fire Service, Anti Social Behaviour Team, the Police, and Penwith Housing Association together with staff from various departments across Coastline took part in the latest Respect walkabout in Grenville Gardens, Troon. This involved calling door to door and asking customers and private residents how they felt about living in the area.
Nearly 80% of people questioned felt their neighbourhood was very or fairly clean and safe. Residents were very complimentary about their neighbours and believe it is a good, safe area for children to live. Residents welcome the Respect walkabouts and would like to see more taking place.
Coastline's performance in challenging anti-social behaviour has already been recognised at a national level. Measured against other social housing providers during 2010/11 for the way in which it dealt with anti social behaviour cases, Coastline ranked an incredible second place in a cross-sector benchmark, with a score of 94.6% nationwide, coming only second to Stockport with 96.93%.
"This is an excellent result for Coastline," said Jane Pulley, "and it shows the customer focused approach that the team follows at all times when dealing with contentious issues."