MAIDEN LANE ESTATE

SAVE ALL OUR HOMES CAMPAIGN:

NEW CAMDEN ADMINISTRATION SAYS NO TO DEMOLITION!

Councillor Braithwaite - sometimes known as "Mr Demolition" is now an isolated figure.

Unlike his fellow ward councillors in Cantelowes, Paul Braithwaite is a Lib Dem. The new ward councillors are:

Angela Mason and

Phil Jones.

Angela and Phil are both Labour. Angela is also the deputy leader of the Council. Both Phil and Angela opposed demolition.
__________________

STOP PRESS:

17th August: meeting with Cllr Fulbrook
Save All Our Homes was invited to a second meeting with Cllr Fulbrook, the housing supremo, to discuss the future of the estate. Also at the meeting were several members of the EMB, two members of the Regeneration Team, one ward councillor and David Worrall, the estate coordinator. The meeting was a preliminary discussion about various alternative plans. These alternative plans will be circulated to the residents of the estate shortly and will be discussed at a public meeting to be held following their publication. Cllr Fulbrook stresses that no decisions will be made without full consultation with the residents. This website will keep residents informed as soon as more details become available.

Save All Our Homes was relieved to see that Open Communities were not invited to either meeting. We have had enough of their 'dodgy' surveys! At the meeting, Cllr Fulbrook also announced that he had set aside money for the redecoration of the outside walls of the estate buildings.

____________________

Cllr Fulbrook said that demolishing people's homes is not something that the new Labour administration would do.

____________________

Demolition: a legal challenge.
Save All Our Homes has announced that a legal challenge to the demolition plan was initiated a few months ago. (See summary here. See also article in Camden New Journal here.)

Let's hope this is farewell to the plan so beloved of the Regeneration Team - and the late Lib Dem/Conservative administration!
____________________

What next for Save All Our Homes?
The threat of demolition affecting up to 215 decent families has receded but there remains a great deal more to do. This campaign intends to monitor the plans that the Regeneration Team comes up with - to make sure there's no backsliding by Council officers. But we hope to do more than just that.

We are aware that the estate is in a sorry condition. We also know that many residents are suffering because their homes have been neglected for so long by Council officials. We plan to keep the pressure on these officials by preparing a Neglect Dossier.

This dossier will be an illustrated record of all the neglect that Council officials have allowed to happen - both on the outside of our homes and in the interiors. For this purpose we will change the name of our campaign. It will now be known as All Our Homes to emphasise this new purpose.

____________________

New campaign: All Our Homes

The Neglect Dossier.
Below you can see a fill-in form. The new anti-neglect campaign invites you to use it to tell us about any neglect that you have suffered at the hands of Council officials. We will then compile a dossier on it all and we will pursue the Council officers responsible.

If you are suffering from anti-social behaviour from your neighbour, if your flat is overcrowded, if your roof leaks or if your drains are blocked - we want to hear from you.

Use the form below to tell us what you want to feature in the Neglect Dossier:

____________________

Neglect
The first few pictures in our Neglect Dossier are published below. They speak for themselves. The Council must act and ACT NOW! More pictures will be published shortly. Keep watching this website. If you have a problem in your home that the Council is neglecting or if you have any photos you would like to appear on the website get in contact.

Subsidence

Mildew stains

Cracks indicating subsidence have appeared on the main Maiden Lane block. The mildewed and stained walls of the block near York Way are a disgrace - they have been like this for years.

Peeling paint

Rust stains

The paint is peeling off this walkway. In winter the residue makes it mildewed and slimy underfoot. Rust stains make this play area unsightly. They have been like this for years.

Job abandoned

Never cleaned

The painting job which followed a car's engine fire was abandoned half way. The wall near Allensbury Place has never been cleaned in spite of the fact that the EMB bought a high-pressure cleaner to do jobs like this.

Matters Raised by All Our Homes

All Our Homes has begun to help residents of the estate who write in to this webpage with their problems. Among the problems raised on behalf of residents so far have been:

1. Anti-social behaviour in Elm Friars Walk.

2. The Council allocations policy as it affects relatives of residents already living on the estate.

_________________________

LEAVE YOUR OWN VIEWS ON OUR BLOG BELOW:

"Absolutely great! Maiden Lane Estate needs an honest voice."

- Jacqui Crimmins, former EMB Chairwoman.

__________________

"It's about time we fought back. UNITE AND FIGHT!"

- Hugh McDade, former EMB Chairman.

_________________

"Keep up the good work! What an outrage! [by the Lib Dem/Tory Camden administration] £14 million underspend, a wilful refusal last year to put up the Council tax in line with general inflation, massive cuts in the voluntary sector ... and then this 'sale of the family silver' approach to housing management."

- Cllr Julian Fulbrook, Chair of Housing.

__________________

"Even the previous Labour Council balked at the idea of demolition as an option to regenerate our estate during the last round of PFI privatisation proposals. This new Con-Dem administration seems to care little for our needs and rights, rather prefering to sell-off, slash & burn public assets and services. SAY NO, NOW!!!"

Rob McWilliam, former EMB Chairman.

"They can find the money to offer to residents to move out because they want to bring in the demolition teams. That won't be cheap - and then they'll get the developers to come in to make a start. Don't think they will stop at just one or two blocks. This land is worth a cool mint, all they are thinking of is how much money they can make by doing this to us - that way they will wash their hands of the able-bodied and the few disabled people that live here. Remember, the council sold off the section of our housing that had been reserved for sick and disabled people. Now they only have a few adapted flats left. They have the proceeds sitting in the bank earning them even more money. Why can't they use it to fix our homes and our surroundings? Instead, they want to use it to bribe residents to leave their homes. Remember what happened to the disabled woman (in the CNJ. See above). The council got her out of her adapted flat saying it badly needed repairs. She hoped to move back within six months, but instead, when she opened her newspaper, she discovered the council had sold her home at auction for £715.000. She was then placed in a rathole by council officials and is still waiting for rehousing. Open your eyes, people, we have rights! Don't believe anything they tell you, work it out for yourselves. The private developers will pay over the top for this piece of real estate. It's worth a fortune. Allowing them to bring the bulldozers onto our estate will mean they have won. They themselves wouldn't want to live on a building site but that's what they are banking on us doing. They are hoping that we'll get fed up once the bulldozers start and concede to their terms. A great big NO to demolition of our estate!"

- Diana McCleary, former EMB Treasurer.

"You should not trust any elected or paid council official. All are proven liars. Trust in yourselves alone. Do not fall for the consultation process, Camden Council will use it to lie to the outside world. Consultations are usually ignored by elected or unelected officials. Remember, if voting changed anything it would have been abolished a long time ago. My understanding is you have already had two large and expensive consultations where you voted against PFI - and an ALMO. How many more times do the Camden Council liars have to be told?"

- Anonymous blog entry.

"Well done for exposing the truth about how deviously Camden Council operates. "Consultations" are merely tick-box exercises with little meaning behind them. Be wary of some rotten tenants who parade themselves as 'representatives' - as they are equally devious and underhanded. Visit the "Corrupt Camden Council Website" to find out more."

- A Camden Resident

_____________________

"I was very interested to see your site. My Society (The Twentieth Century Society) has forwarded phase I of the Maiden Lane Estate to English Heritage for official Listing - but at the time did not consider your phase II worthy.

However, we still see Maiden Lane Estate phase II as a fundamentally successful piece of design - designed whilst the Council were still world class in their handling of public housing provision (seems a long time ago now).

We believe no planning decisions should be made until the Listing has been decided on and the Society oppose the demolition of phase II.

Please keep the Society informed as the campaign continues."

- Jon Wright, The Twentieth Century Society.

____________________

"All Camden tenents should get together on an arranged day of protest and march to the Town Hall (ie. civil disobedience) .We should also bombard housing officers' and councillors' email addresses!"

- C. French
____________________

"Good luck with your campaign!"

- Mandy Grey
____________________

"Well done for exposing Pat Hayden! . . . . . . My own story is on the 'Pat Hayden Files' website. [See above.] Good luck to all of you!"

- John McKenna
____________________

"I don't actually live in Maiden Lane Estate but live nearby and was very concerned when I heard about the threat to the estate. Is there any news regarding the threat? Is there anything local people can do to fight this or raise awareness etc?"

- B. Bennett.
___________________

It is with some concern (and completely by accident) that I came across your website tonight featuring the threat to the Maiden Lane Estate. I wish this were the only example. In Greenwich and Kidbrooke the Ferrier Estate is being badly redeveloped at the cost of formerly secure housing and in Hammersmith and Fulham several estates are under threat from the policies of the Tory leader Stephen Greenhalgh. I link these issues simply to draw your attention to them knowing there is strength in numbers and in the hope that a cross London common association can be formed to fight such schemes in future.

- Paul Bird

___________________

"Camden council is an appallingly bad landlord. Housing management is a law
unto itself and gets away with the most appalling abuses against residents
- this is not right and it is not acceptable to the many decent tenants we
have in Camden. Tenant participation is a bad joke with no signs of improving.
Our landlord wastes £2-3 MILLION pounds a year on this bad joke. The
council says it wants more tenants to 'participate' but this is a lie - they don't
because they are afraid that new tenants will come with new ideas and
challenge the rotten status quo. Crooked tenant 'reps' who have their greedy
snouts in the publicly-funded trough do not help matters."

- Tracy Morgan

___________________

"I fear for the residents of Maiden Lane - you have appointed Solon
as your independent advisors - take a leaf out of our book - appoint TPAS
as soon as you can - they really stick up for tenants' rights!"

- Leroy Francis

__________________

"Great site! It's comforting to know that some tenants are taking active
measures to fight against the rotten behaviour of Camden Council officers
and our so-called 'democratically elected representatives' - and their dodgy
deals. You are not alone! Come visit my site:
Camden Council Rotten Landlord."

- 'Ms Understood'
__________________



	"To us who have been around on this estate for the past 18+ years the THEFT and fraudulent actions by Camden Council employees and Labour politicians has resulted in what we have today. People new to this place blame the new Lib Dems who now have political control but the real power in Camden is in the hands of non-elected council officers who have been there for years and who have robbed the working class of Camden of decent housing whilst looking after themselves and their cronies. How many of these live on estates like ours?" - Frank Thomas ___________________

Disclaimer: The campaign itself and the editor of this website are not responsible for the views expressed by correspondents to this blog nor for views expressed on linked websites.

Design by PP Web Design. July 17, 2009.