Ken Smith

We were all really sad to hear about the recent death of Ken Smith.

Ken was probably the most influential tenant activist in Calderdale over the past decade. Although he held various offices in the Tenants' Federation, he refused to stand for the position of Chair because he was a leaseholder, and was content to do a lot of work 'behind the scenes'.
He was involved in politics, being a Labour Councillor on Shipley Urban District Council before moving to Brighouse to take up a post as a full-time agent. In Ken's own words, it was when he retired that his work really started.

Ken Smith -
Tenants' Champion He was one of the founder members of Whinney Hill Park Tenants' Association in the early nineties and scored some notable successes for the area. He persuaded Calderdale Council not to invest in streetlighting for a poorly-used car park in the centre of Halifax and instead to spend the money on lighting in Whinney Hill where there were serious concerns about personal safety. He had a clear understanding of the need for fairness and people's concerns about being left out, getting the Housing Department to abandon plans to put double glazing in all the windows of a few properties on WHP in favour of replacing everyone's lounge window - so everyone got something of what they wanted.
He was before his time in pressing for a stronger line on ASB, recognising the impact it had on residents, well before it became a Government concern. He was for many years a member of Pennine's Anti-Social Behaviour Working Group.
Ken was still active up to his death, despite a long battle with cancer.

Want to use the Federation Office?

The Federation office is available for use by any Tenants Association for meetings or producing newsletters or minutes.
All you have to do is contact Mary Battye who is acting as our Booking Secretary and she will arrange for someone to be available to open up. Mary's number is 01422 205665

More sad news......

Jane Toye

We have just heard the sad news that, after a short illness, Jane Toye has died.
Jane has been the Pennine Housing Upper Valley Tenant Board Member since September 2005. Prior to this Jane was the Secretary of Twin Towers Tenants Association, Sowerby Bridge for a number of years and had also been on the Federation's Management Committee.
She was actively involved in Pennine's disability forum and worked hard to ensure that Pennine always considered the needs of minority groups.
Jane will be greatly missed by all her friends in the Fed'.