Minister To Experience Erimus Residents' Resources

A SPECIAL visitor will be taking a trip around Middlesbrough tomorrow to look at what the town’s new housing organisation has to offer its tenants.

The Rt Hon Keith Hill MP will take a tour of Erimus Housing’s Residents’ Resource Centre in Thorntree, where he will get the chance to see the facilities at the complex.

The centre, which opened in November last year, plays home to a meeting room with laptop computer and projector, a computer suite with Internet connection and access to a phone, fax and photocopier.

Erimus chairman Bob Brady and director of regeneration Christine Smith will also show the Minister of State how residents can brush up their skills on training courses including first aid and computer training and can use the venue for meetings.

The MP will then make a stop at Grove Hill Resource Centre, where he will discuss the potential to regenerate the area, which is currently being studied by Erimus Housing and Middlesbrough Council.

Erimus owns more than 50pc of the homes in Grove Hill, but in some streets 30pc stand empty.

Now the organisation and local authority are studying what can be done to give the area a boost, including looking at crime, anti-social behaviour and disused shops.

A public consultation will eventually be held in a bid to produce a strategy to regenerate Grove Hill.

Christine Smith, director of regeneration for Erimus Housing, said: "We are really looking forward to showing the Minister how we want to be a key player in the regeneration of Middlesbrough.

"We want to work closely with the residents and the council to show the benefits of the stock transfer."