IT SEEMS that the Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust doesn’t understand the meaning of consultation, at least with respect to the transfer of its Heat to the Home Agreement with residents of phase one of Derwenthorpe.

In August last year, residents received a letter stating that the trust had signed a 25-year lease agreement with Dalkia Utilities Services Plc and that Dalkia would be taking over the operation of the district heating network at Derwenthorpe.

The letter stated that Dalkia would be responsible for installing new boilers and pipework for future homes and providing heat and associated metering and billing services for all residents at Derwenthorpe. It even included a summary of price changes that would take place once Dalkia were operational on site.

It invited residents to attend one of a series of consultation events. In effect, they were not about consulting with residents, as the transfer was a fait accompli. They were about informing residents, a very different matter.

Trust staff agreed this is not consultation yet continued to describe these invitations as consultation and not information. The latest was received earlier this month. Let’s be clear, the transfer will take place on September 1, irrespective of residents’ views.

Ginnie Shaw, Derwent Mews, Osbaldwick, York.