Grilling for politicians over delay

STRANDED tenants on a crumbling Swiss Cottage council estate say they are ready to turn their repairs nightmare into a general election issue.
The angry residents on the Chalcot estate – five tower blocks in Adelaide Road – will have their first chance to turn up the heat on ballot box hopefuls at a public meeting on Tuesday night.
Labour MPs Frank Dobson and Glenda Jackson have been invited to a meeting organised by Camden Federation of Tenants and Residents Associations.
Open to all, it begins in the Town Hall’s main chamber at 6.30pm. Tory opponents Margot James and Piers Wauchope have been invited, as have Lib Dem candidates Jill Fraser and Ed Fordham.
The session is designed to focus on council housing policy, a major concern for tenants in Camden who have been told by housing ministers that extensive repair programmes will not be funded.
Projects across the borough have been frozen since tenants and leaseholders threw out government plans to transfer control of homes to housing associations or a new board known as an Arms-Length Management Organisation (Almo) at the start of last year.
Fresh focus on the simmering battle between Camden and Whitehall has been spotlighted by the dramatic collapse of a £117 million Private Finance Initiative (PFI) project to improve the 700-flat Chalcot estate, which is in dire need of new cladding, glazing, lifts and a host of other improvements.
Although backed by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott’s office, the scheme was thrown out by the Treasury as costs spiralled. Housing Minister Keith Hill has refused to make up the massive shortfall with direct investment.
Hilary Barnes, from the Camden Federation, told a meeting of Swiss Cottage Neighbourhood Forum last Wednesday: “If the money is there, why can’t they just invest it anyway? The tenants want direct investment with no strings attached.”
She told exasperated residents living in the Chalcot tower blocks: “I fear they will try some form of stock transfer. I would say that we should make ourselves heard now and get as much publicity as possible.”
Residents are being asked to draw up a wish-list of priority repairs as council chiefs try to map out a rescue package with the dwindling funds available.
The council’s Labour housing supremo, Councillor Raj Chada, also due to speak at Tuesday’s meeting, said: “We are happy to listen to residents’ concerns.”