Park Hill Residents' Association

Park Hill Residents' Association (PHRA) is the latest in a line of resident groups that started back in the early 1960's when the estates first tenant, Joan Demers, helped with the formation of community associations. PHRA is a constituted group - i.e. it has a constitution - with its own bank account.

The current structure takes its inspiration from the working group model adopted by our counterparts at the Kelham Island and Neepsend Community Alliance (Kinca). While the committee provides the governance for the residents' association, the working groups are a self organising selection of residents with a focus on specific causes such as the estate service fee or environmental issues.

Residents are encouraged to contact the working groups to offer support or to approach the committee regarding any groups they wish to establish themselves.

Committee

The committee consists of a Chair, Treasurer and Secretary. The term of each Committee is typically 12 months and positions fall vacant at the Annual General Meeting. Selection of a new Committee is done at the AGM by expression of interest, or election by show of hands if necessary.

Chair

The Chair is the main representative of PHRA and will typically be asked to engage with various stakeholders, in addition to chairing PHRA General and Committee meetings. The Chair also can delegate responsibilities as necessary to other Committee members, working group participants or other residents.

Treasurer

The Treasurer handles all financial matters and maintains all financial records of PHRA. They present financial reports at General, Committee and other meetings.

Secretary

The Secretary is responsible for the recording of Minutes and other notes at General, Committee and some other meetings. They will typically look after day-to-day correspondence for PHRA, responding to email enquiries and putting residents in touch with resources appropriate to their needs.

Working Groups

Current groups

Active working groups are listed below. See the Contacts for how to get in touch with them.

Phase 1 Service Fee

The group has been working for since 2019 to understand the procedures and accounting of the Management Company. The group’s goals are to ensure that the Management Company delivers appropriate management of the estate; sufficient and timely maintenance of the building and its landscapes; and value for money in services to residents.

Phase 2 Working Group

Established in October 2022 to tackle the issues specific to Phase 2. These focus on six themes - Safety & Security, Communication, Phase 2 Living, Townhouses, Unfinished Areas and Wider Issues - each of which has a sub-group.

Green

The Green Group aims to improve Park Hill’s environmental performance and features. Current campaigns (as at August 2020) include:

• Improving and maintaining the Estate's gardens and landscaping.
• Increasing recycling facilities increased to meet resident demand.
• Sourcing common-area electricity from a 100% renewable energy supplier.
• Installing visitor bicycle parking facilities near entrances.
• Installing electric vehicle charging points in each car parking area.
• Establishing a car-share scheme in the area.

Communications

This Communications Group has established the wiki you are now reading. Its aim is to provide relevant factual information to residents about living at Park Hill, to document technical aspects of the flats and to record useful information about the Estate stakeholders and service providers. Much of this information is known to longer-term residents, or picked up over time by new residents through osmosis and experience. We hope to improve on these methods by providing an open, transparent and accessible source of information about Park Hill. We encourage all residents to contribute to and improve these pages.

The group also developed and maintain the Estate web site as a portal for wider information about Park Hill, not only for residents but also for visitors and businesses.

We also run the various PHRA social media accounts, publish the quarterly newsletter and manage the dedicated PHRA noticeboards in the lobbies.

Twitter

Instagram

Facebook

If you have skills in website development and graphic design/art, and are interested in volunteering, we would particularly like to hear from you as we would like to further improve the website and have the capacity to produce more engaging visuals.

Set up requirements

Working Groups will be required to:

• Have a written statement of purpose which can be shared with the residents, and which will be held by the Residents’ Association.
• Set up a group consisting of at least three active members so that voting can be decisive. All members of the group must agree to the direction and activities of the Working Group.
• Set up an email address which will be published on the Estate noticeboards and wiki and respond to residents’ emails. For consistency with existing email addresses these should be in the format working-group-name@parkhillpeople.org. (Email addresses will be distributed to working groups as they are set up.)
• Manage and supply their own funding needs. Funds should not be expected from PHRA.
• Report to the Residents’ Association and be prepared to make presentations at Residents’ Meetings.

Operating rules

To protect the integrity of the design and the interests of residents who have chosen to live at Park Hill, it should be noted that the working group model is not intended to vary the provisions of the Estate for the sole benefit of a vocal minority. Therefore, there are certain rules which must be observed. If any proposed works will:

• Change the outlook or appearance of the Estate, or its immediate surrounding landscapes;
• Deviate from the original design of the Estate;
• Increase the costs to residents of managing the Estate

then the express approval of a majority of residents must be obtained before any work or expenditure is carried out. Residents must opt in to change, not be required to opt out of it.

If a working group is applying for funding to carry out works or provide services, then PHRA must be informed before any application is submitted. Such applications will nominally be made by PHRA on behalf of the relevant working group. This is to ensure that Working Groups do not inadvertently compete with one another for the same funding streams.

Formal communication with stakeholder groups shall be coordinated by the PHRA Committee. This is to ensure consistency of messaging across different working groups and to safeguard existing stakeholder relationships. Key stakeholders include Plumlife, Great Places, UrbanSplash and Sheffield City Council.

Residents are encouraged to contact any working group if you want to get involved, or just need further information. If you would like to start a new Working Group, then please contact the PHRA Chair to discuss your proposal.