Last week PEACH members met with Newham Council officers, Darren Levy (Director of Housing), Jon Hillier (Head of Housing Property Services) and Donna Morelli (Assistant Director of Housing Services), in their final meeting of 2022. This meeting marked the one year anniversary since PEACH members won a commitment from Newham Council to bring houses out of severe disrepair and refurbish properties bringing them up to a Decent Homes Plus standard, and the promise that PEACH members would not face another winter in this state of disrepair. One year on, it was time for PEACH members to review their progress against their commitments:
1. Fix urgent repairs and fast track emergency refurbishments
2. A refurbishment programme across blocks
There have been some huge improvements to the area, as a result of the petition hand in winning these commitments. By July 2022, the majority of homes across a number of blocks had their mould-ridden, single-glazed windows replaced by new double-glazing windows and over 75 urgent repairs had been taken on by the repairs task force. For a year, PEACH reps from each block have met with the council on a fortnightly basis to ensure repairs are being delivered according to the timelines and commitments to their neighbours. This has not been without its challenges with numerous cases taking months to resolve. However, this level of scrutiny has allowed PEACH members to pick up challenges as they arise and remind the council that botch jobs and health and safety breaches are not acceptable.
The initial success we had fast tracking urgent repairs and refurbishments have become increasingly delayed due to the Council introducing a new tendering process to secure cheaper contractors to carry out the individual refurbishments, which they did not officially communicate to anyone. This meant that the usual turnaround of 2 weeks for property refurbishment stretched out over 2 months, if not longer.
The Council has also been removing asbestos from homes, before they are ready to start their refurbishment programme. This was done with good intentions, but with very bad consequences: Many homes across the area have been left without floors, ceilings and insulation for months on end. The dust in homes as result of false ceilings with gaps in, has exacerbated existing breathing conditions, which many members have due to living in damp ridden homes. These half finished jobs mean that homes are in an even worse state and will further exacerbate members’ vulnerability to the cost of living crisis this winter.
To make matters worse, Custom House residents have faced severe mice infestations for years and it’s getting worse. This is particularly impacting members living in properties where asbestos has been removed and have not been refloored and there are gaps in the false ceilings.
The Council has communicated opaquely and inaccurately about the timeline for the completion of this work. When individual extreme cases have been raised, some officers have repeatedly ignored emails and calls from residents and PEACH staff. When asked why the refurbishment programme is so delayed Council Officers stated that ‘whereas previously we were planning on going block by block we have ended up responding to where we think the most immediate needs are. It hasn’t gone in the way that we first intended.’ Instead of running the programme block by block, they have fast tracked elements, for example the windows, the roofs on some homes, and the empty properties. Although we can understand this, it is clear that a lot of these issues could be solved with a well planned programme, which appears to be lacking.
Based on these core issues, PEACH members identified four key demands to raise in the last meeting with the London Borough of Newham’s Director of Housing before 2023.
1. MICE INFESTATION: PEACH members demand an immediate block-wide mice extermination.
At the beginning of the meeting the council officers claimed that the pest control teams were under the jurisdiction of a different department in the council and it was not an area on which they could apply pressure. However, the discussion continued…
Residents shared their experiences: Crisp packets bitten through. Mice spotted running around homes, and even over people’s feet. Children are afraid of returning home from school or using the bathroom for fear of the mice. Children are unable to play freely in their own homes. Droppings have been repeatedly found in baby’s cots, beds and on kitchen surfaces. An A-level student shared her experience of being unable to revise or sleep due to the incessant sound of mice in the walls. Teresa delivered a powerful speech about the dangers mice infestations pose to the physical and mental health of residents, and the lack of response from the council.
This resulted in Donna Morelli committing to immediately escalate the issue to pest control and make arrangements for a multi-agency inspection for block-wide mice extermination, which would take a holistic approach; meaning they would address the poor waste management in the area too and proof the area against future infestation. This will take place on Friday 18th November. However they did not commit to the demand to have completed the block-wide extermination by the 23rd of November as demanded, stating that without inspection and talking to the relevant departments they could not make this commitment. They agreed the extermination would follow rigorous health and safety protocols and would not pose a risk to any households, especially children and pets. While this is a strong commitment from the Council, PEACH members must continue to keep the pressure on so the council takes action and remains accountable for addressing this deeply entrenched issue.
2. ASBESTOS: PEACH Members demanded the council put back insulation where it’s been removed, seal the boards correctly and do not remove anymore asbestos unless the full job can be completed immediately. Don’t leave homes even more susceptible to energy loss in a Cost of Living Emergency!
Aisha gave a speech on the impacts of the unfinished asbestos removal process, with over 6 month delays in some cases, leaving homes colder due to gaps in the ceilings, and the residual dust posing a health risk and requiring constant cleaning. To which Darren Levy committed to pausing and halting asbestos removal in new properties, fast tracking the refurbishment works on homes that had had their ceilings and floors removed, and fixing insulation and gaps in the meantime. They agreed to send us an update of the works by the 11th of November. However, they didn’t agree to a set number of weeks between removal and re-flooring/replacing ceilings.
3. REFURBISHMENT PROGRAMME: PEACH Members demanded that the council provide an updated and realistic timeline for completion of the refurbishment & repairs programme, currently 6 months behind schedule. Whilst some emergency properties have been identified and works have been completed, these have been piecemeal across the blocks and many properties have been left with incomplete works or works completed to poor standards. Residents’ homes have been damaged in the process or kitchens and bathrooms have been improperly fitted.
The initial gateway plan, which covers only a small proportion of streets, is now set to be completed in April 2023, which is inadequate, after last year’s promise of not facing another winter in disrepair. We have no information on when the remaining streets will be completed.
The officers agreed to provide us with a more detailed breakdown of the plan of work for the gateway phase, and to provide clearer details for further phases of the programme. After over 3 more months of waiting and chasing for an updated version 3 of the timeline, we received a meagre list of addresses and the dates hours before this meeting on the 9th November. Carlene’s negotiating secured the commitment from Council Officers to provide PEACH members with a more detailed refurbishment plan by the 21st of November.
4. OPEN THE CUNDY CENTRE TO BE RUN BY PEACH: Let us open and manage our local community centre to keep warm, stay safe and connect with our community!
There are very few community spaces accessible in Custom House and the most well-equipped space has been inaccessible to the community for years and is now closed entirely. Ruksana gave an important speech on the need for a warm, community-run space for children’s activities, elderly socialising and those suffering from domestic violence. “When we are isolated, everything is harder,” says Ruksana, and now the community is facing the harsh realities of the Cost of Living emergency without the means to support each other.
Darren Levy agreed it is important that the community has access to a community centre and committed to review the state of the Cundy Centre and the viability for re-opening it to be run by PEACH members by the 30th of November.
Our takeaways…
PEACH negotiators secured commitments from the council across ALL four demands. We expect to receive clear action plans and timelines by the 21st November and to see evidence of delivery on all of these commitments by the end of November.
Whilst this is progress, actions speak louder than words. The council has failed to deliver on their promises before. PEACH members are tired of waiting. If the council does not deliver their commitments by the deadlines agreed we will be taking ACTION.
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