Advertiser letters: Care from landlords and walk bridges for charity
Residents feel unsafe following landlord's instruction to remove security gates. - Credit: Archant
Letters, contributions and comments sent in to the Advertiser this week.
A lack of care by landlords
Sven Parker, Barnardo Street, Shadwell, writes:
Following the tragic Grenfell Tower fire of 2017, housing associations and public sector landlords have brought in strict fire safety rules that include banning security gates on front doors.
Yet only two weeks after Tower Hamlets Community Housing enforced removal of security gates on their Barnardo Gardens estate, residents at Farrell House have experienced break-in attempts, with doors broken off hinges by door-kickers.
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Residents now complain of feeling insecure without enhanced security, while landlords feel obliged to closely follow the recommendations of independently contracted fire risk assessors.
Police on the other hand welcome resident efforts to improve home security; and London Fire Brigade does not actively recommend the removal of security gates, taking the view that it is for landlords to take decisions on the matter.
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A security risk assessment would identify significant threats in local areas. Enforced removal of security gates - still in place on Poplar Harca and Tower Hamlets Homes estates - shows a lack of care on the part of landlords, increasing as it does the threat to residents, their levels of insecurity and stress, and the risk of loss of property and injury to person.
Walk London's bridges
Andrea Bagantz-Pritchard, fundraising manager, Diabetes UK, writes:
Diabetes UK is urging people to go the extra mile by signing up for the London Bridges Challenge which will take place on September 29.
Starting out in the beautiful Battersea Park, you'll criss-cross 12 of London's most iconic bridges. Passing Big Ben and the London Eye, walkers will catch a glimpse of St Paul's as they cross Millennium Bridge, pass Shakespeare's Globe Theatre and finish the walk in Potter's Fields by Tower Bridge.
Diabetes UK supports people across London, who are living with diabetes - a serious condition which, left undiagnosed or not managed safely, can lead to devastating long term complications.
London Bridges is a family occasion and everyone is welcome.
Join us in a walk towards a future where diabetes can do no harm. Find out more at diabetes.org.uk/londonbridges.
