Following my complaint about estate maintenance, which the Ombudsman decided in my favour, Tower Hamlets Homes launched an appeal , which has now been dismissed by the Ombudsman, upholding the complaint.
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Up-date on parking / pedestrian safety
In addition to social media posts about the subject of newly created parking spaces and yesterday’s post. In case you did not read the comments to yesterday’s post. Pavement parking has been prohibited in London since 1974. The government now also wants to widen this prohibition to the whole of the UK.
Therefore the newly created parking space near the playground behind Mark House has been put there illegally.
Parkview Neighbourhood Watch has submitted an urgent official complaint with Tower Hamlets Council about this yesterday and this also includes the erection of car gates on all entrances to the estate and better pedestrian safety around the estate.
Second class safety for pedestrians and children
Whilst we are in lock-down, the increasing demand for parking on the estate during day-time has been adressed by painting extra parking spaces onto the internal roads of Parkview Estate.
The entrance to the playground behind Mark House is obstructed by vehicles parking directly in front of it. This makes it difficult for people with pushchairs or wheelchairs to enter the park.
This parking space is even allocated a space number and it is very concerning that this probably means a permanent installation of extra parking spaces on the estate.
There is a similar but even more dangerous problem behind Gatehouse schools between Rosebery and Sankey House.
A loop road feeds the area behind Gatehouse school, which is very busy during school drop off times and after school. There is no pedestrian walkway at all.
The council was happy to allocate parking spaces but no pedestrian walkway at all. They did put in bicycle barriers but do not protect pedestrians on the road.
Adults, children have to share this loop-road with cars, bike, vans, waste collection lorries, whilst commuting to and from school.
As can be seen, the are has no pedestrian walkway whatsoever but a bicycle barrier to stop cyclists racing through the estate but nothing to stop people and cars colliding.
There is a call for a car gate at the entrance to St. James’ Avenue but I think this doesn’t go far enough. There needs to be a dedicated pedestrian walkway.
It all looks quiet without traffic but it can be very busy.
Healthy streets
The website healthy Streets index, shows a colour-coded map, which indicates the health of an area. Luckily for us, our whole estate, including the roads, are thought healthy, as we are in green colour.
Estate safety for pedestrians
and better air quality are thoughts behind an attempt to get the car gate installed between Sankey and Rosebery House at the St. James’ Avenue entrance. A car gate was installed recently at the entrance to the estate between the church and Sidney House.
The entrance near Sankey House leads to a looped roundabout between Rosebery and Sankey House. Whilst this road is busy with cars, cycles, waste service lorries, delivery vans, walkers, there is no dedicated footpath for people to use.
The area is full of residential parking spaces and the road, leading in and out of the cul-de-sac.
Especially during the morning rush-hour, from 8:15 – 9:00 many families use the area to bring children to school. Some walk through the area to reach other nearby schools and others come to bring kids to Gatehouse school. A car gate would limit the amount of cars coming in to drop off children from Gatehouse school but it would not stop delivery vehicles, rubbish and recycling lorries or residential drivers.
A dedicated and clearly marked footpath would be highly desirable. Most in danger are those people with smaller children who are having to use the road, which is used by cars, vans and lorries.
In the evenings, there are also anti-social behaviour issues from cars coming into the estate and people make noise using the car park at the church wall.
Parkview Neighbourhood Watch, has in conjunction with the Residents Association contacted various service providers, including like Tower Hamlets Homes to achieve a better and safer area improvement.
Design and win a tree house
In partnership with Universal’s The Croods 2: A New Age and Co-op InsuranceNeighbourhood Watch Network are super excited to launch a competition to design a CROODS 2 INSPIRED TREEEHOUSE and WIN IT for your LOCAL COMMUNITY.
We want children up to the age of 16 to design their very own #Croods2Treehouse for their local community. What’s more, the winning entry will be brought to life and built within a nearby Wildlife Trust location to be enjoyed by the public for years to come.
Visit co-opinsurance.co.uk/croods2 for details on how to enter! Visit ourwatch.org.uk/croods2 for more information on the partnership and how to share this campaign within your area
Basketball hoop
because the Covid-restrictions at the moment, do not allow any sport, with the exception of elite sports, we’ve had to remove the basket ball hoop in the football pitch, near Rosebery House.
You can click through to the page of Basketball England here.
All people using the hoop can be assured that the basketball hoop will return, once the restrictions have been eased.
Covid-19 scam warning
Today, we have been alerted to a highly believable scam which starts with a text and advises the user that they are eligible to apply for the vaccine and to click on the link in the text message. The user is then led to a webpage, which looks very convincing and asks them to complete some details, in order for them to be able to apply for the vaccine.
The details asked for:
- Name
- Address
- Date of birth
- Proof of address
- Card payment details
With the recent approval of multiple vaccines in the UK, these types of scam attempts are likely to continue, as fraudsters continue to take advantage of the rollout to some many people.
Please see our article on our website:
https://www.ourwatch.org.uk/news/fake-text-identifying-you-eligible-covid-19-vaccine
repair service is getting worst.
One of our residents in the ground floor is constantly having problems with drain blocckage when it rains hard for a while.
Whilst just on New Years day a drain in the bath completely blocked, which also affects all waste water from the kichen, the repairs service does nothing to fix the situation. They sent a man with a large palstic plunger, which didn’t help, than a man with a drill, that couldn’t go around the bends of pipes from the kitchen to the bathroom. The tenant has been told they can still use the bathroom sink, to do
- washing
- washing up
- laundry
- personal hygiene
- and all other things you need to do.
Apparently even the washing machine is connected to the same wastepipe as the bath, so that kitchen sink, washing machine waste flows into the bath/shower, making them unusable and THH wants to leave the tenant waiting for 9 days to have this repaired.
This is intolerable as the tenant is elderly with arthritis problems.
The councillor Eve McQuillan promised to contact Head of Repairs but why should we have to go to that lenght to get a blockage removed that is not due to negligence by the tenant?
Obviously the architecture of the block is complicated and out-dated and makes it very difficult to carry out repairs. A kitchen unit has been built in by the landlord to cover the waste pipes, which now needs a carpenter to remove to carry out pipe repairs.
Who suffers the endeffect? The resident.
supporting our older generation
There are a number of scams, which are meant to intimitate older persons as they are considered more vulnerable to some scams. Often living more isolated can lead to being more receptive to phone calls and demands made via email or phone.
Do you get emails telling you, that you have to pay extra for TV license, missed deliveries, which need extra payment, offers of money into your bank account? Do you get phone callls that threaten your arrest unless you press a reply button immediately and pay a sum of money?
Do you feel unsafe when going to shops, chemists? We can give tips on how to make every-day chores safer for you.
We would love to invite all members of our community to courses – in small groups – to talk about
- how scams affect us and how we can put safety nets in place not to fall for them.
- how to spot scam emails
- what to do when worried
- how to shop safer
Please get in touch with Parkview Neighbourhood Watch or the Tenants and Residents Association to arrange sessions that suit you.
