An afternoon reception was held at Layer Marney Tower to mark 10 years of RCCE’s Rural Housing Enabler service. Four guests at the reception were members of the original Advisory Group which met on 1 October 2003 including the first chairman of the group, Chris Moor, and the first Rural Housing Enabler, Nichola Plumb. One of the four, John Swords, sits on the current group but due to a change of job did have some time off inbetween.
It provided RCCE with a chance to say thank you to all the partners whose support has meant that the work has taken place over the last decade but also can continue into the future.
Ralph Bray, current Chairman of the Advisory Group had read the first meeting minutes and said in his speech
“At the time of that meeting no housing associations had been selected, and the minutes note
‘Interested RSLs should clearly demonstrate their rural credentials’
Well, with 129 units built, 20 currently on site and another 34 scheduled to start by the end of the financial year, I think our partner housing associations have met that criteria. “
