Why estate is waging a cold war over heating switch-off

• WELL done, residents of Spa Green estate for getting Islington Council to review its communal heating policy (Tenants turn up the heat on homes agency, January 1).
Residents on the Redbrick estate in Finsbury have challenged the council’s 18-hour heating policy by petition, letters and emails since heating was turned off at 11.30pm three years ago. This was done without consultation or warning, without consideration of the needs of young families and without concern for the sick or elderly.
We had no reduction in our heating charge. Only a grudging, long-fought acknowledgement, received just before Christmas, that if we could demonstrate sufficient support for 24-hour heating then Homes for Islington (HfI) would arrange consultation with tenants. HfI made it clear it would inform tenants that a vote to reinstate 24-hour heating could be done only by increasing charges.
In effect, HfI was prepared to bully us into backing down in the face of the threat of increased costs whereas we could argue we are entitled to a rebate. Although we are receiving six hours less heating each day, we are paying the same as those tenants who receive 24-hour heating. How can this be fair?
Residents, backed by the Tenant Management Organisation (TMO), have written to our MP and councillors. We were surprised to find they were unaware that the 18-hour heating policy was being implemented without formal consultation between HfI and councillors. Judging by an email we have received, this puts the council in an embarrassing position as it takes the blame for the high-handed way HfI has dealt with this issue. Not only has HfI failed to consult tenants, but has also failed to consult councillors.
In our correspondence with HfI, the response has been largely dismissive: “We are aware some residents will want to supplement the heating through the night. However, most residents will be in bed during those hours and having heating on during this time can be uncomfortable and contribute to health problems.” Also, “Those residents who are chronically ill or disabled should be in receipt of extra benefits due to their ill health. These types of benefits are meant to be used for such things as additional heating if needed.” Unbelievable, but we have it in writing.
In contrast to the total disregard of our needs by HfI, we welcome the intervention by council leader Terry Stacy, who was quoted in the Tribune as “demanding a thorough review of the heating policy in the new year”. We trust this will mean full reinstatement of the heating without extra cost on the Redbrick estate.
This issue could be a vote winner in the elections. The council and HfI need to develop caring policies in tune with residents’ needs for heating and not just meeting and delivering government-led targets. Most people agree with the need to reduce carbon emissions, save energy and reduce costs but HfI must open up a consultation process so tenants are kept fully informed and treated fairly.
Sheila Best
Vice-chair, Tenant Management Organisation
Shirley Pollaya
Secretary, Tenant Management Organisation

• YOU quote resident Ray Whatley as stating that in more than 50 years of living on Spa Green estate there had been no problems with heating. Although he went on to detail his specific issue with the new heating system it was not clear that he meant there were no problems with the old heating system when it actually worked.
Believe me, Spa Green has suffered for many years. One example: in the heating season 2005-06 there were 44 total outages (no heating or hot water anywhere on the estate) and on one occasion contractors did not turn up for three days, including the official coldest day of that year.
During this time, I also brought to light what officers knew behind the scenes: that essential maintenance was not being carried out. For example, according to the manufacturer de-scaling the heat transfer unit should be carried out at least once a year and twice a year in hard water areas. Upon investigation, I discovered that this essential procedure had not been carried out since the unit had been installed three years earlier. This is why even when the burners on all three boilers were going full blast, the heat generated could not be transferred to the radiators and hot water cylinders even when the control panel and the pumps and gas boosters were in theory working. And they claim to care about energy conservation.
They have spent £1.5million on new plant and equipment, and on Christmas Eve radiators in the homes of the most vulnerable residents were lukewarm as they were (like so many) predictably full of silt and corrosion. If regular preventative maintenance was carried out these residents would not be left in these potentially fatal situations.
As ever, it seems that “the powers that be” spend a load of public money, without adequate thought or planning, boast about it in glossy brochures and leave it to rot while they find something else to spend our money on and tell us what good value we’re getting. Extensive squandering and no accountability.
It is an insult to the intelligence of residents (and staff for that matter) of Spa Green estate to suggest that HfI and the council have any genuine commitment to energy conservation when the recent round of major works (£6.2million) was designed to maximise water and energy consumption. To tackle problems of extensive condensation, residents are advised to open windows. A policy of not installing showers forces families to resort to energy-wasteful baths.
Residents are left to freeze in poorly insulated and inadequately draft-proofed buildings with no energy-efficient or cost-effective alternative heating options. When a building has been exposed to the elements in the coldest conditions it requires even more energy to return it to temperature than it would have been to keep it at temperature for six measly hours in the first place. If you ask the council, it will tell you it pays an arms’-length management organisation (HfI) to deal with this. If you ask HfI, it will tell you the council requires it to do it.
On Wednesday, the council and HfI will be in the same room at the town hall from 7pm. Who could resist a spectacle of such municipal magnitude? For the meeting, organised by Islington Leaseholders Association, council chief executive John Foster, HfI chief executive Eamon McGoldrick and council leader Terry Stacy have confirmed their attendance. It is open to council tenants and leaseholders. I will be keenly interested in both the questions put by the public and what the “big guys” say for themselves.
There is an online discussion forum where residents are making their views clear on this matter at www.islingtonresidents.org.uk/forum/topic/put-heat-on-our-council-now-be...
Thomas Cooper
Estate manager, Spa Green estate
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