Neighbourhood Rep information

The Neighbourhood Rep is a voluntary role which has been designed to give you the opportunity to have your say.

Neighbourhood Reps provide a voice for all residents and are the important link between residents and Mount Green.

We recognise that this is a voluntary role and therefore the time you can give to this role may be limited. We will support you to be able to fulfil the following responsibilities:

Representing residents

• Represent all residents by speaking with your neighbours and feeding back their opinions to Mount Green as well as your own

Reporting repairs

• Report any communal repairs directly to our contact centre

Monitoring contractors

• Help monitor our cleaning and gardening contractors and provide feedback about their work

Providing feedback

• Regularly feed back to the Neighbourhood Officer about things that are concerning you or communal issues affecting your neighbourhood

Attending meetings

• Attend at least one in person estate inspection, drop-in, or meeting with your Neighbourhood Officer a year and where possible to be contactable for phone calls

Collaboration

• Work together with other Neighbourhood Reps (at larger schemes or estates where there is more than one rep)

Optional responsibilities:

Resident liaison

• Be the resident liaison and main resident point of contact for Mount Green and the contractor carrying out planned work projects in your neighbourhood
• Where possible, attend quarterly estate inspections of the communal areas with your Neighbourhood Officer to capture any issues regarding gardening, grounds maintenance, cleaning, repairs, and health & safety
• Attend meetings to get to know other Neighbourhood Reps and share positive experiences and any learnings. Neighbourhood Reps will need to send apologies if you are unable to attend a relevant meeting

Identifying improvements

• Identify any improvements that would benefit the local community

Community involvement

• Encourage other residents to become more involved in the running of your estate or scheme
• Work with Mount Green to organise residents’ meetings to bring together the community to discuss improvements to your community
• Apply to Mount Green for funding towards neighbourhood meetings and small inclusive engagements events in your community

Staff recruitment

• Get involved where appropriate with the recruitment of frontline team members and contractors

• The Neighbourhood Reps role duration is for a two-year term
• Neighbourhood Reps can apply for further terms and there is no maximum number of terms
• Neighbourhood Reps cannot have any conflicts of interest. This means you cannot work for Mount Green or any of our contractors
• Neighbourhood Reps shall at all times conduct themselves in a reasonable manner and in accordance with the Code of Conduct when attending meetings or any other appointments in respect of their role as an Neighbourhood Reps.

This is not a paid role, but all expenses incurred by reps, with prior agreement, can be reimbursed by Mount Green upon presentation of relevant receipts.

A Neighbourhood Rep is not:

• An employee of Mount Green
• Responsible for communal repairs. You are not the only resident who can report communal repairs
• Responsible for our contractors performance
• Responsible for reporting your neighbours repairs
• Responsible for the smooth running of your estate or scheme

Neighbourhood Reps must:

• Be a tenant or full-time occupant of a property in the neighbourhood they represent
• Not be in breach of their tenancy agreement
• Work together without conflict. You should respect the views of others, seek consensus and accept compromise where appropriate
• Be willing to be known to their neighbours and contactable by your neighbours
• Conduct themselves in a reasonable manner at all times when at meetings and engaging with Mount Green
• Respect others at all times, acting in a way that is non-judgemental, non-aggressive and non-confrontational
• Provide positive and constructive feedback to Mount Green, without hostility or aggression
• Respect all individual residents’ confidentiality, whether they are present or not
• Not contact or give any statement about Mount Green to the press or any other external body without express permission from Mount Green
• Never use their position to seek preferential treatment for themselves, their families or relatives
• Use the agreed normal procedure for reporting individual repairs or making other enquiries about their property or tenancy.

A Neighbourhood Rep may be suspended or expelled if they breach the Code of Conduct or for any other conduct not in line with the aims of the job role. If a Neighbourhood Rep is not carrying out the main duties of the role they may be asked to resign from their position. Behaviour that is deemed unreasonable, will be dealt with in line with our Unacceptable Behaviour Policy.

In this role you will gain insight into our services and build strong relationships with Mount Green team members and your neighbours, influencing positive change.

We will support you to gain new skills which could help you find other voluntary work or act as a springboard for career development, providing references where needed.

We will:

• Notify you of the estate inspection schedule and encouraging you to attend them alongside your Neighbourhood Officer. If you are unable to attend, you will be sent notes of the inspection
• Host meetings twice a year where Neighbourhood Reps can meet as a collective to share ideas as well as taking part in Q&A’s with team members from across departments at Mount Green
• Offer funding towards neighbourhood meetings and small inclusive engagements events in your community
• Liaise and include you in the planning of any community events happening in your neighbourhood
• Engage with you to help plan and design different aspects of our services including planned work projects
• Support active Neighbourhood Reps with references where requested
• Support Neighbourhood Reps as you learn your role and ensure you understand the part you play in Mount Green throughout your time as a Neighbourhood Rep
• Not treat you more or less favourably when requesting services from us or other organisations