Dressington Avenue 'Ghost Playground': What's the Story?

Last week I went on a walkabout around Foxborough Gardens, Dressington Avenue and Rushey Mead with a representative from Regenter B3. The walkabouts are organised quarterly and and I find it's useful to pick up on issues that we've previously raised via e-mail but which haven't yet been resolved: sometimes a site visit helps.

I had a whole list of things I wanted to check up on from previous casework, but what was really interesting for me was finally to get into the derelict playground which is locked away in the middle of Dressington Avenue, in between the back gardens of some of the houses. I'd seen it before from the entrance near Ladywell Lodge, but had no idea how far it went back, or how big it was. It looks like as well as a playground area, there was also some kind of sports court. There are also various alleyways that run between the backs of the houses but are now sealed off.

I would love to know the story behind this; why was it locked up and abandoned years ago? I suspect it is a story of a poorly-designed 1970s estate and that the area, sheltered between back fences attracted anti-social behaviour and residents got fed up with the noise etc, but I could be wrong. It seems a shame just to leave it, but maybe that is what residents wanted? From a biodiversity point of view, the area is probably quite good for wildlife now, but in terms of local amenity, clearly it's wasted space.

Next time we're out door-knocking and speaking to residents in Dressington Avenue I will ask people, and I'll see if there is anyone in the Council's Housing team who knows the history. In the meantime, if there's anyone reading this blog whose memory stretches back to a time when this playground was open, I would be interested to hear from you. And if there are any current residents of Dressington Avenue reading this post, what do you think should happen to the space?

Brockley Housing PFI - Plenty of Room For improvement

Both Brockley and Ladywell councillors have had a fair amount of casework recently from Council tenants and leaseholders affected by the Brockley housing PFI.

Leaseholders have been concerned about the estimates they have been receiving for repair works and have formed a leaseholders association to work together and ensure their rights are respected. Brockley councillor Darren Johnson and I recently met with members of the association and Darren is hopefully arranging a meeting with the Mayor to enable leaseholders to discuss their concerns with him directly and agree a way forward.

Meanwhile a number of tenants feel that their views are being ignored or ridden roughshod over. We have had several reports of bullying behaviour from Higgins contractors, which we are following up on and hope will be swiftly stopped.

A further concern is the way in which in certain instances the wishes of leaseholders and tenants are being played off against each other. There was a vociferous campaign led by leaseholders and Ladywell Society and supported by local councillors, against plans to rip out the original features of Victorian properties in Ladywell and install UPVC windows. After lengthy discussions, we secured a small victory in that 38 Victorian properties in Algiers Road, Veda Road, Vicar's Hill and Ermine Road are now being treated as if they are in the conservation area.

However, the contractors, Higgins, are now telling tenants in some of the effected properties that they won't get double glazing 'because someone from Ladywell Society objected'. They are being told that their wooden sash windows will just be repaired (not even any draught-proofing), and if the window needs replacing it will only be replaced with single glazing. The tenants, who like the rest of us face rising fuel bills are understandably p*ssed off.

The Council's housing team are telling me that this isn't the case and that these properties will get double glazing, as will the conservation area proprties, but I'm still waiting for a definitive answer, with details of exactly what work is being done to improve the thermal efficiency of these Council homes. Clearly, in an age of rising energy prices and fuel poverty, to be missing this opportunity to insulate homes and reduce fuel bills would be scandalous.

It is also a big mistake to play off the wishes of those wanting to preserve the character of the area against the entirely understandable wishes of tenants to have warmer homes. Whoever is spreading the rumour that Ladywell Society are the villains of the piece for daring to oppose all the applications for UPVC windows in Victorian properties in Ladywell is wrong - they were entirely right to question the wisdom of ripping out original Victorian features from properties that are likely to be included in a future conservation area and replace them with UPVC windows (which have inferior thermal qualities to wooden-framed double glazing and are an environmental time-bomb). No one was ever suggesting these properties shouldn't have double-glazing, just querying the wisdom of UPVC.

It would seem that when drawing up the 20-year PFI contract, in all the 1,500 pages of legalese, the Council's Housing team didn't get round to specifying exactly what thermal improvements to homes would be made. Unbelievable, but, this, it would seem, is what often happens when the legal teams of private consortiums run rings around the Council's lawyers.

I hope to be proved wrong on this, but I am concerned about how things are currently progressing with the PFI. Balancing the rights of leaseholders and tenants is always going to be a tricky thing, but it seems that the contractors and Council between them are currently managing to annoy both. We urgently need clarity on what improvements to thermal efficiency those 38 properties, and those in the conservation area, are going to get, as well as dramatic improvements in communications to leaseholders.

Green councillors in Lewisham consistently opposed the Brockley PFI scheme from when it was first proposed to when it was signed, as did many residents, but New Labour ploughed on with it, and the deal was finally sealed, several years later than planned. Since then we have been working constructively with the Council's housing team, contractors and residents, to see that residents rights are respected and repairs and improvements are carried out to a high standard and we will continue to do so.

Ugly Plastic Very-ungreen and basically Cr*p Windows (aka UPVC)

A number of residents have been in touch recently concerned at Council plans to rip out their/their neighbours wooden sash windows and replace them with UPVC ones, as part of the decent homes programme. Those Council-owned or leased properties within the conservation area will get wooden sash windows on planning grounds, but the 40 or so Victorian properties that are within the Brockley PFI area but outside of the conservation area, get UPVC.

I'd like to make it clear that the Green group objected to this well before the Brockley PFI contract was signed, on environmental as well as aesthetic grounds, but the Council went for the UPVC ones on short-term cost grounds. As someone who's in the process of getting quotes for new double-glazed wooden sash windows to replace my rotting ones, I know just how expensive they can seem, compared to UPVC, but if properly maintained they can last over a hundred years, the thermal properties of wood are superior to plastic and you don't have the problem of disposing of hazardous materials when they reach the end of their useful life.

Some residents on Algiers Road are so annoyed that it has spurred them into setting up a residents' association and I've also been contacted by residents on Vicars Hill up in arms at the plans.

It's worth noting of course that many tenants and leaseholders are absolutely delighted that their rotten, draughty windows are finally being replaced and as I posted last month, leaseholders can opt to arrange to get their windows replaced themselves and have wooden instead of UPVC (provided they meet certain criteria), but tenants do not get that choice. In the current political environment when politicians in the main parties are falling over each other to offer 'choice' in healthcare, education etc (when people generally just want a good locally-provided service), it seems like Council tenants and leaseholders in Brockley and Ladywell are being given something of a Hobson's choice.

So to sum up, they look naff, they're not the green option, but the contract has been signed and unless valid planning grounds are found to object they are likely to be installed (I did ask the Mayor last night to ask if he fancied extending the Brockley Conservation Area to include Vicars Hill, but he was rather cautious, having been threatened with a judicial review after doing a similar thing in Sydenham when the Greyhound pub was threatened with demolition!). I hope that lessons will be learnt and wooden windows will be stipulated when drawing up future contracts.

For further info on the comparative benefits of UPVC versus wooden windows, please see the response to Cllr Romayne Phoenix's question to the cabinet member for customer services in May last year.

Decent Homes work starting soon in Ladywell

I've received an e-mail today to say that B3 will be starting refurbishment works on council homes in zone b of the Brockley PFI area in the next few weeks, which covers about a third of Ladywell ward, from Somerset Gardens, Elswick Road and Sunninghill Road, down to Malyons Road (so including Viney Road, Nuding Close, the blocks on Brookbank, Ermine and Embleton and any other council properties in that area). Zone A (the northern bit of Brockley along Shardeloes and Barriedale) is nearing completion, and the contractors appear to be running slightly ahead of schedule. Council tenants and leaseholders in zone b should all have received information about the refurbishment programme and will be getting an invitation in the next few days to see a 'show flat' in the area, which has been brought up to decent homes standard.

The properties in the conservation area are next up, in zone c, followed by the roads off Brockley Road from the cemeteries to St Andrews (zone d - Braxfield, Arabin etc) and lastly zone e, which comprises Foxborough Gardens, Dressington Avenue and all the Elsiemaud, Amyruth etc streets.

Just to reiterate, I'm no fan of PFI as a way of funding public services or council housing, but I'm glad that housing in the area is going to be improved.

The Launch of Brockley Housing PFI

For all council tenants and leaseholders in the properties transferring to B3 (most council properties in Brockley and Ladywell wards and a couple of streets in Crofton Park). Hopefully you have already received an invitation through your door, but just in case:

Regenter B3 invites you to the launch of Brockley Housing PFI

Thursday August 16
2.30pm – 7.30pm
Drop in any time between times shown

St Andrew’s Community Centre
Brockley Road
Brockley
SE4 2SA

Find out who Regenter B3 are and how the PFI affects you, including;
· Meet the team
· Meet your housing manager
· See an example kitchen and bathroom
· Meet the refurbishment team
· Ask questions
· Get involved with a Tenants Association
· Tell us what you think
· See the refurbishment program
· Ask about local community initiatives

B3 Housing Open Day: 19th July

B3, the consortium that will be managing council housing in the Brockley and Ladywell area for the next 20-odd years, are holding a project launch/open day for all council tenants and leaseholders in the area on Thursday 19th July, from 2pm until 7pm in St Andrews Community Hall (corner of Brockley Rd with Wickham Rd).

This is an open day to introduce the new management team to residents, explain the refurbishment programme, choices for kitchens, bathrooms etc.

Higgins (the contractor carrying out the refurbishments to bring all properties up to decent home standards) will also have their Community Action team there who will be talking to anyone interested in employment opportunities.

Previous post on Brockley PFI.

Brockley PFI signed

One of the many things I meant to post on before I went on holiday:

The Brockley PFI housing contract was finally signed on 4th June. This is a contract to transfer the management of 1,800 council homes in the Brockley and Ladywell areas over to a private consortium, B3.

B3 will be responsible for the day-to-day management of council houses in the Brockley and Ladywell area over the next 20 years, as well as for carrying out work to bring the homes up to the government’s Decent Homes standard by 2012.

The agreement was due to be signed in January, but was pushed back 6 months due to protracted legal negotiations between the council’s legal team and B3.

I am relieved that after lengthy delays much-needed investment will finally go ahead in Brockley and Ladywell, but I am not convinced PFI offers value for money. What residents need is direct government investment in council housing, rather than private companies profiting at taxpayers’ expense.

Nevertheless, I hope to work constructively with B3 to ensure council tenants and leaseholders in Brockley and Ladywell get the best possible deal and that their views are heard. Residents have waited years for improvements to their homes and Green councillors will be keeping a close eye to ensure tenants are not ripped off by this PFI as they have been elsewhere.

While there will be some improvements in home energy efficiency, the Brockley PFI doesn’t go far enough and represents a missed opportunity to reduce carbon emissions. Double glazing will make homes warmer, which is great, but the decision to use UPVC, rather than wooden frames, is a false economy and bad news for the planet.

The latest council newsletter on the Brockley PFI, which should be being delivered to residents very soon, can also be read here.

Further details:
1. The Brockley PFI scheme will include 1,852 dwellings in the contract area (which covers most of council housing in Brockley and Ladywell wards), of which 1,366 are tenanted and are 486 leaseholders. The proposed duration of the contract was originally 25 years, but this was reduced to 20 years.
2. The B3 consortium consists of Higgins, who will be carrying out the initial improvement works, Equipe, who will be responsible for ongoing repairs over the lifetime of the contract and Pinnacle, who will be responsible for the housing management.
3. Following the signing of the contract, there will be a 3-month transition period before B3 takes over the day-to-day management of council houses in the Brockley and Ladywell area. They will also be responsible for carrying out improvements to bring the homes up to the government’s decent homes standard by 2012. Depending on the condition of properties, the work to bring the council’s housing stock up to the government established decent homes standard may include new windows, kitchens, bathrooms, boilers and rewiring.
4. The total legal costs for the council for the Brockley PFI scheme came to over £2 millions pounds.
5. Green opposition to PFI in a nutshell: the government claims that PFI improves the public finances, but often it costs more. It is claimed that it can get investment for projects which would otherwise not be funded, but the lack of funding for public projects is merely due to Treasury rules. PFI is often portrayed as a way of getting private funding into the public sector, but private companies don't become involved for altruistic reasons, only to make a profit. The reason the government has been able to gain acceptance for so many PFI schemes is that they are often portrayed as the 'only game in town'. Defend Council Housing also has a good summary of arguments against PFI.
6. Home energy consumption currently accounts for around 37% of carbon emissions in London, but the Decent Homes standards for England are weaker on sustainability than those in Scotland and Wales.
7. UPVC windows vs wooden windows: Wooden frames last much longer than UPVC if properly maintained, and cost much less to dispose of at the end of their lifetime, as they don’t contain the toxic materials that UPVC windows do.