Stanley Cohen House - Update

[Laurence Jones]

Update on fallen tiles at Stanley Cohen House

[Maria Elizabeth Prior]

Laurence, a couple of days ago you posted a letter, dated 13 April, on this site, addressed to all residents, but, as far as I know, no one received it.  Now, another letter has been posted here, which we have received.   Was the first one withdrawn due to some inaccuracies?  I had expressed some concern here, about part of that letter.  

[David Graves (your Alderman)]

Tim,  I have replied to your e-mail to me from earlier today, but for the wider audience, the programme of works that is going to go forward over the next few years includes carrying out safety inspections and testing of the fabric of the buildings. This should get under way in July (this year) and work has already started on identifying a suitable contractor. 

On general repairs and maintenance as such, I advocated several years ago translating the service standards that apply on the Barbican Estate to the GLE. I have not compared the Barbican and GLE Service Level Agreements, but I would be interested in seeing the GLE Agreements so they can be compared with the Barbican to see whether the expected standard is the same. 

Assuming that it is the same, the next issue is how acceptable the performance of the standards is and how is the performance checked to ensure that the agreed standards are being delivered in practice and not just in theory. If the standards are different, I would want to understand why this is.

The problem may be the standards are not good enough, or are not delivered in practice, and are not enforced, but I would expect a process to exist (ie regular Estate inspections involving residents) to identify any failings so they can be rectified. If that system isn't working - which is what you suggest, then it needs to be fixed. What would really help is examples where the service standard has not been met, as the standards are there to be complied with, not ignored.

The above comments relate to routine repairs rather than major projects, now planned, to address items like windows and entry systems. 

[0hjujxwxju2n2]

I for one am really fed up with living on an estate covered in flimsy "pedestrian cordons" which appear to exist solely to make noise when it's windy, and break rendering them completely pointless. There has been tape around the tree adjacent to Great Arthur House for over a year, and recently more added in front of it though it's not at all clear why it is there. I've lived all over the country and abroad and never seen such slow and sad responses to what are really simple things to repair. My parents are visiting and I have to ashamedly explain that I neither know what half of these cordons are for, nor whether these areas are actually safe to live next to. I daren't tell them about this latest incident or they'll be losing sleep worrying about my safety. Is it the corporation's intention to allow the estate to get into a completely unsafe state so that it can be demolished? They certainly don't seem to care about maintaining this valuable and potentially beautiful part of its jurisdiction.

[David Graves (your Alderman)]

Just an update to say that Karen Tarbox (Assistant Director of Barbican and Property Services) has accepted an invitation to attend the GLERA meeting taking place on 21 April at The Sir Ralph Perring Centre, from 7.30 - 9pm, and specifically will be able to address questions regarding the Stanley Cohan House cladding incident. 

On Fiona Jean's comments, I had understood that on an approximately quarterly basis residents and Officers make a walking tour of the Estate to pick up for action precisely the sort of points she has made - so my question is whether such matters have already been identified as issues and has any explanation already been given for the "pedestrian cordons". 

I am very happy to take a look at the problem areas myself to better understand the issues that people have currently.

[David Kreikmeier-Watson]

Tim Chapple said:

I just wanted to add my voice to the concerns expressed over the Stanley Cohen tile-slide last Saturday night which we certainly heard here in Bayer House. Everyone I speak to is really fed-up with our beautiful Estate’s neglect. We hear much about the Corporation’s ‘passion’ for the Golden Lane, but little is done other then endless surveys which ask the same thing. We need action not form filling. We had friends staying with us from Sweden over Easter - they loved the Golden Lane but asked: ‘why has your local council allowed it to be so neglected?’ – I didn’t have an answer. As the Estate falls more into disrepair are we also liable for increasing costs because of the neglect? We lived in the Barbican for five years before moving here.  Speedy action on all repairs was impressive, so why doesn’t it happen here? Come on Corporation – GET IT DONE.

[David Kreikmeier-Watson]

Tim Chapple said:

I just wanted to add my voice to the concerns expressed over the Stanley Cohen tile-slide last Saturday night which we certainly heard here in Bayer House. Everyone I speak to is really fed-up with our beautiful Estate’s neglect. We hear much about the Corporation’s ‘passion’ for the Golden Lane, but little is done other then endless surveys which ask the same thing. We need action not form filling. We had friends staying with us from Sweden over Easter - they loved the Golden Lane but asked: ‘why has your local council allowed it to be so neglected?’ – I didn’t have an answer. As the Estate falls more into disrepair are we also liable for increasing costs because of the neglect? We lived in the Barbican for five years before moving here.  Speedy action on all repairs was impressive, so why doesn’t it happen here? Come on Corporation – GET IT DONE.

[David Kreikmeier-Watson]

Tim Chapple said:

I just wanted to add my voice to the concerns expressed over the Stanley Cohen tile-slide last Saturday night which we certainly heard here in Bayer House. Everyone I speak to is really fed-up with our beautiful Estate’s neglect. We hear much about the Corporation’s ‘passion’ for the Golden Lane, but little is done other then endless surveys which ask the same thing. We need action not form filling. We had friends staying with us from Sweden over Easter - they loved the Golden Lane but asked: ‘why has your local council allowed it to be so neglected?’ – I didn’t have an answer. As the Estate falls more into disrepair are we also liable for increasing costs because of the neglect? We lived in the Barbican for five years before moving here.  Speedy action on all repairs was impressive, so why doesn’t it happen here? Come on Corporation – GET IT DONE.

Hi Tim - I'm sure virtually everyone who lives on Golden Lane is with you on this one! The Estate has definitely deteriorated in the last decade or so and now has the feel of a neglected sink Estate at times.

Just stand on the podium and LOOK AT IT!

Great Arthur House with the bodged replacement panels of 50 shades of yellow (where it's not peeling off of course!), the decayed concrete around the ground floor with the exposed rusting steel......... and that's just ONE building.

And yes, I know that we are about to get the replacement cladding - but we 've been waiting 20 years for it and the City just drags it on and on and on (I personally sat on a City/resident committee many years ago to look at Great Arthur cladding - most of the City representatives at those meetings have now retired!)

That's why some of us have felt for quite a while that the City's Housing Department seems barely up to the task of managing the Estate - GLERA even discussed the possibility of establishing a Tenant Management Organisation or Co-operative Management Board - maybe we need to re-visit that idea!

[David Kreikmeier-Watson]

To everyone on the site who is venting their frustration about the neglect of the Estate - I'm sure virtually everyone who lives on Golden Lane is with you on this one!

The Estate has definitely deteriorated in the last decade or so and now has the feel of a neglected sink Estate at times.

Just stand on the podium and LOOK AT IT!

Great Arthur House with the bodged replacement panels of 50 shades of yellow (where it's not peeling off of course!), the decayed concrete around the ground floor with the exposed rusting steel......... and that's just ONE building.

And yes, I know that we are about to get the replacement cladding - but we 've been waiting 20 years for it and the City just drags it on and on and on (I personally sat on a City/resident committee many years ago to look at Great Arthur cladding, help draw up a contract specification etc. - most of the City representatives at those meetings have now retired!)

That's why some of us have felt for quite a while that the City's Housing Department seems barely up to the task of managing the Estate - GLERA even discussed the possibility of establishing a Tenant Management Organisation or Co-operative Management Board - maybe we need to re-visit that idea.........

Whatever your view - please, please, make sure your voice is heard at the GLERA Meeting on Tuesday 21st April.

[Alan Line]

Hi David

You are right about the Estate being neglected and there being serious issues with the competence of the Housing Department......just look across the road at the Peabody Estate or the old Islington Estates off Old Street that are now TMOs and you can visibly see the investment they have had.

When the City did the stock option votes they fed us a load of bull**it about how they had the resources and (real big joke this one!) the EXPERTISE to run the Estate better than anyone.........of course the only money they had was OUR money from rents and service charges (sorry folks, all those City millions are for Boleat and Rattle's vanity project - a new home for the London Symphony Orchestra comes before decent homes for us!) and as for the expertise??????

Really? All those "end of their council career" old blokes they used to wheel out at meetings - who basically could never have got a job with any other social housing authority at the money we were forced to pay them out of our rent and service charges?

Of course THEY wanted us to stay with the City - we were their income for life!

We were really sold a pig-in-a-poke then - it's a shame its taken this long for people to wake up to it.