Face to face with…Natalie Hoy

The West Neighbourhood Partnerships are supported by the West Neighbourhood Team, Services for Communities, the City of Edinburgh Council. Natalie Hoy is team manager

Tell us a bit about yourself...

I am 32 and have worked with the Council for more than ten years.

I have been in my current role for in excess of 18 months.

I enjoy both living and working in the city and enjoy local facilities such as Ratho Adventure Centre and have recently completed my first free climb. I also really enjoy the art galleries and cultural attractions.

Tell us a bit about your job...

The neighbourhood manager role provides a unique opportunity to shape how services are delivered.

These include services that make a real difference to local people and include housing management, tackling antisocial behaviour and fear of crime, maintenance and improvement of local green spaces and road repairs. It also includes working with partners from a range of backgrounds including the Police, health, other Council departments and those representing local communities.

What’s your biggest challenge?

This is a large geographical area. As a result, we have many challenges in delivering high-quality services to meet customers needs.

We are committed to ensuring that residents can easily access services and understand the role and function of the teams who work in their area.

Key issues that we will continue tackle include maintaining and improving our roads and pavements, maintaining a high standard of street cleaning, reducing antisocial behaviour and ensuring residents feel safe where they live and work.

Any successes you are particularly proud of?

I’m particularly proud of my team in responding to all of the challenges and customer

enquiries in our first year. The neighbourhood office has only existed for a relatively short time and I see, on a daily basis, that my team work together across service and professional boundaries to deliver for our customers.

I also can see the efforts of all of our local community representatives and partners who work alongside my team to identify issues and work together to achieve common goals.

The best examples of this type of working are when collectively all these people pull together in one direction to solve the issues which affect people lives.