ANGRY councillors are calling for urgent repair work to be carried out on council flats that are said to be unfit to live in.

Three blocks each containing 11 flats on Church Parade are at the centre of the councillors’ frustration, and they say they’ve received regular complaints from residents for several years.

John Anderson, independent councillor for Canvey Central, is leading calls for improvement work to be carried out.

He said: “They’re in a real mess and need some proper work.

“I’ve been on at the council for the last three years trying to get some work done on this. If they could start on the outside, it would be very much needed and a very good start. When you look there and see the balconies and the rotting fascia, it makes the blocks look like they’re in a slum.

“They can be really nice flats and it’s time they were brought up to standards of other council properties.

Neville Watson, Independent councillor for Canvey Winter Gardens, has questioned whether the homes are up to the required standard.

He said: “When you go down there and see the inside of some of them and listen to people, it’s shocking really.

“There are doors which haven’t been put in properly, and they haven’t been properly looked at. There might have been running repairs, but it needs drastic work.”

“In my view, there’s no way they’re up to Decent Homes Standard.”

Beverley Egan, Tory councillor responsible for homes and customer engagement, insists the homes remain on the radar for improvement work.

She said: “They are on our agenda, and they certainly have not been forgotten.

“All of the money we make from our council properties goes straight back into their improvement. There’s no surplus made from it. The council has a two year programme for improvements to be made as part of its fixed housing budget.

“Whenever we carry out work on council properties we try to amalgamate all the work, and complete it in one go. We also have to deal with unforeseen circumstances “We are moving forward and have made great progress in getting our properties up to the Government’s decent homes standards for all of our homes across the borough.”

Echo:

The poor state of the Church Parade flats

 

"IT'S AN EMBARRASSMENT"

A RESIDENT at the Church Parade flats says the state of them causes her embarrassment whenever her family visits.

Sandra Palmer, 62, has lived in her flat for 15 years and says there are safety concerns.

She said: “Whenever my grandchildren come to visit me it’s quite embarrassing really.

“I have to tell them to watch out for the maggots at the entrance of the block and make sure they don’t get trodden into the flat. It’s also dangerous for them in my kitchen as my units have sharp edges and there’s a worktop that hasn’t been attached to the wall.

She continued: “My toilet seat hasn’t been fitted properly and it wobbles around, “I just don’t really have any faith in the council doing the repairs, as I’ve been asking for a new kitchen for five years.

“I actually ended up getting one of my son’s friends to do some tiling in my bathroom.

Miss Palmer, who suffers from emphysema, believes the outside of the building could be repaired easily.

She said: “When you see some of the flooding coming into the stairwell from the outside, it gets upsetting and it’s time something got done – particularly as the weather gets worse.”