Pipes ruin a fine estate

Published: 15 April, 2011

AS chair of Popham 1 Tenants’ and Residents’ Association, I am proud to live on an estate where we consider ourselves to be not just neighbours but friends and a trusted community. It is just sad when the likes of National Grid and Homes for Islington (HfI) try to ruin the happy community spirit we have.

For the last two years, ours has been an estate of woe for many, with the continued problems with the Decent Homes work.

 Now, National Grid is ruining what is described by all as our unique estate with external gas and electric laterals running across walls and ceilings, all placed without any thought whatsoever for the aesthetics or safety of residents.

National Grid tells us that all laterals have to be replaced after 50 years – our estate is 37 years old. It can provide no reports or evidence that the current laterals have been tested and deemed necessary for replacement, so why is this work going ahead?

I invite everyone from every estate in Islington to come to Popham 1 and see how their estate could look. Trust me, there are not enough swear words to describe the horror.

HfI has sanctioned the plans. Islington Council, which owns the infrastructure, is totally ignoring all requests to look at the work being carried out on the bricks and mortar it owns – in fact, Councillor James Murray’s promised inspection of the work with me has not materialised on two occasions.

Is he not worried about the safety of gas pipes being so close to electric cables – a slow leak, a quick spark and, hey presto, more land for the council to sell off?

We are a proud estate with a zero crime rate. Everyone who lives here loves the estate, but what does this count for when 201 of the 203 properties are aghast at this destruction being carried out.

Perhaps National Grid, the council and HfI need to realise we live in the 21st century, not the 18th, and that there is a large array of designer architects out there who can perform a unique job on a unique estate.

That is, of course, if the work was ever needed in the first place, which has yet to be proved.

For the record, would the council and HfI please note that, where these gas and electric laterals cover the walls and ceilings, plus the security gate trunking all over the walls, we still have a few inches of brickwork left that you have forgotten to use with more horrendous work.

MARTIN RUTHERFORD
Chair, Popham 1 Estate Tenants’ and Residents’ Association