Month: December 2016

Update on Gas works 9 12 16

/ bevincourttenantsandresidents / Leave a comment

 

Last night I emailed John Pettigrew, the Chief Executive of National Grid, to ask why residents are being kept in the dark (or should it be the cold?) about the progress of repairs on the gas supply in the east wing here. I also asked for affected residents’ compensation to be paid immediately and as a cash payment rather than a credit to their gas accounts. I made it clear that the extra costs of coping without gas, especially for electricity are a burden that residents shouldn’t have to bear. Mr Pettigrew earns £1.4 million a year so I hope on that wage he has amazing skills to resolve our problems!
At about 8am this morning National Grid called and have promised to improve their communications with residents from today. They are also looking into compensation.

Here’s what they say about the likely timetable for completion:

“From the Area Manager  for high rise replacement/repair projects:
We will deal with the communication issues today and over the weekend with particular focus on any vulnerability.

The existing pipework has been reused in part, being tested successfully yesterday and will be commissioned today. From that pipework we need to install new entries to each property for the supplies to be restored, which will begin today. Customers will begin to have supplies from today. Dependent upon access we envisage restoring supplies to all properties by the middle of next week.

We have also had an enquiry from a local councillor who has also been informed of our progress and anticipated completion date.”

They promise to get back in touch about the compensation situation, so I will update you when they do.

Tories’ “Pay to Stay” policy abandoned

/ J H Barclay / Leave a comment

cover

As you may recall, all Islington Council tenants received a letter from the Council in June 2016 detailing the effects of the The Housing and Planning Act 2016 after it passed into law on 12 May 2016.

The Act included many onerous proposals regarding Council Housing as part of the Conservative Government’s plan to destroy social/Council housing in the UK.  Among other things, the Act included

  • the “Pay to Stay” provision where Council tenants earning £40,000 or more in London (£30,000 or more outside London) would be forced to pay market or near market rents,
  • the forced sale of “high value” properties by local authorities as they become vacant (Islington estimated they would be forced to sell 85% of their housing stock),
  • the extension of Right to Buy to Housing association tenants as well as Council housed tenants – paid for by the forced sale of high value Council homes,
  • phasing out of secure tenancies in favour of fixed, short-term tenancies and
  • many other policies antagonistic to Council Housing and Council tenants.

Axe The Housing Act has been working very hard to defeat this Act and there have been successes recently:

– On Monday 21 Nov, the government dropped the Pay to Stay tenant tax.  See Islington’s Press Release here

– On Thursday 24 Nov, the government delayed the Right to Buy extension to Housing Associations until at least 2018.  See Inside Housing coverage here

Axe the Housing Act continues to work to defeat this Act.  I urge you to follow them either on
facebook_logo-2Facebook

twitter_bird_logo_2012_svgTwitter
@KillHousingBill

wordpresslogo_2WordPress

email  You can also email them at killthehousingbill@gmail.com and ask to be added to their mailing list.

Read The Guardian’s round-up of The Housing & Planning Act 2016 here:

With Shelter’s latest analysis showing that 1 in 51 Londoners are now homeless, genuinely affordable housing like Council Housing is more crucial than ever.  Read the BBC’s coverage Shelter’s latest about homelessness in the UK here

Forthcoming film shoot 7 12 16

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12 1946 70 Arriflex 35

12 1946 70 Arriflex 35

Stone City Films Ltd 37 John’s Mews

London WC1N 2NS

Stone City Films – THE EGG AND THE THIEVING PIE

Dear Bevin Court Residents,

I am writing to let you know about our intended plans to film in

Bevin Court, Cruikshank Street, Kings Cross, London WC1X 9HB

on

7th December 2016 between 1000 and 1500

We will be filming on the staircase inside Bevin Court. The filming will not involve any shouting or loud noises, so noise will be kept at a bare minimum. The scene’s we intend to film are of our protagonist moving up and down the staircase.

The short film, THE EGG AND THE THIEVING PIE, is written and directed by BAFTA Scotland new talent nominated LOLA BLANCHE HIGGINS. It is a surreal and gently humorous film exploring the idea of animal traits in human form. The film is backed by Stone City Films, a BAFTA winning film production company with 20 years of experience in the film industry.

We have informed the police and the local council of our plans. This proposal has also been reviewed by Bevin Courts residents association, and as a good will gesture we have donated £150. If you have any concerns about the proposed filming that you would like to bring to the attention of the Islington film office, please contact the filming officer on 0207 620 0391.

If you have any queries or issues on the day, please call me on my mobile 07521 209 191, or alternatively email me on iidsl87@gmail.com.

Yours sincerely Line Producer Iñes Lourenco

iidsl87@gmail.com

Stone City London, Telephone: (44) 020 7405 9111 37 John’s Mews Email: info@stonecity.co.uk London

WC1N 2NS