Agenda item

A deputation had been received from the Broadwater Farm Resident’s Association, in relation to item 9 of the Agenda – Broadwater Farm.

Mr Jacob Secker, Secretary for the Broadwater Farm Resident’s Association, was invited by the Leader to put forward his deputation to Cabinet.

Mr Secker was speaking as the representative of the Association, and Tangmere block resident with right of return, and introduced fellow deputation party members, Archbishop Frimpong who was a previous tenant at Tangmere with right of return, and Alan Goodall who was a resident at Northolt block.

Mr Secker began his representation by reiterating that the Association was demanding a ballot under Greater London Authority (GLA) rules for Tangmere and Northolt residents. He contended that this ballot should be on the question of whether the estate blocks should be strengthened or demolished and rebuilt. The Association felt that without the ballot, there could be no guarantee that the Council would abide by its commitment to re-provide the same number of Council homes at Council rent.

Mr Secker had observed in the consultation forms, a clearly stated commitment to residents of an equal number of Council homes at Council rent with more family sized accommodation for Northolt Block. However, Mr Secker argued this commitment for provision of an equal number of homes was not included in the report presented to Cabinet. The report advised at paragraph 6.61 that ‘any ’Council homes demolished would be re-provided, and the deputation felt that the term ‘any’ could be open to interpretation and called for the report be amended. There was a need make clear that the number of homes demolished would be equally re-provided otherwise this would make the consultation null and void.

With regard to Northolt, Mr Secker claimed that residents had been informed, in the consultation documentation, that when they were moved into a new home, if they did not like it then they would be allowed to request a move to another home. This commitment was also not included in the report and Mr Secker argued that if this commitment was also not adhered to, then the consultation would be deemed invalid.

Mr Secker continued to reiterate the importance of the ballot as the deputation party felt without this process there was no guarantee for residents that promises about re- provision of homes at Council rents would not be kept to.

Mr Secker conceded that, in the context of tower block safety across London, the safety issues with the blocks at Broadwater Farm was a relatively serious safety issue. He re-iterated that GLA rules stipulated that where there were reasonable alternative solutions to demolition, then there had to be a ballot. Mr Secker noted the Council’s own surveyors stated the blocks could be strengthened, demonstrating there was a reasonable alternative to demolition, in his view, cheaper than the demolition, therefore, meeting the requirements of a ballot.

Mr Secker concluded his deputation by asserting that the reason the Council were not balloting residents was because there was not the intention to stick to its promises made during consultation with residents.

Following the deputation, the Leader invited Cabinet Members to ask questions.

Cllr Adje thanked the deputation and disputed their view that the report was not clear on equal numbers of re- provided Council homes. He referred to the report which stated at paragraph 6.61 – ‘The Council was committed to replacing any Council homes which were demolished with new Council homes on the estate’ .Mr Secker reiterated that the use of the word ‘any’ was ambiguous and could mean any number of homes instead of the equal number of Council homes to those that were demolished.

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Estate Renewal responded to the deputation and stressed that the fundamental concern of the Council was for the safety of the residents at Tangmere and Northolt and they had always been the priority. The Cabinet Member made the following points:

• Disputed Mr Secker’s claim that the safety concerns were ‘relative’ and advised they were serious, especially in the aftermath of Grenfell. It was not appropriate to discuss level of concern that should be attributed to the safety of the blocks but accept the seriousness and duty to safeguard tenants and leaseholders in the two blocks.

• There were current mitigations in place to ensure the tenants were safe at Tangmere and Northolt but these were not long term sustainable solutions and the Council therefore needed to make a decision about how to resolve the serious structural issues at the two blocks. Other blocks on Broadwater Farm had been assessed and were being strengthened but this was not considered a reasonable option for Tangmere or Northolt.

• In June 2018, Cabinet considered the options available to it, decided that rebuilding the blocks would be the most suitable option, and consulted tenants with this preferred option put forward. There had been a significant response from residents, with 90% of those replying from Tangmere agreeing with the proposal and 80% of those replying from Northolt agreeing with the proposal.

• The report before Cabinet at this meeting recommended agreeing to demolish the Tangmere and Northolt blocks.

• An earlier Cabinet report made clear the Council’s guarantee to rebuild the same number of social rent tenancies following the demolition of the two blocks.

• The wording of the report would be changed so that ‘any’ at paragraph 6.61 became ‘all’ so that there was no doubt that all homes demolished, as part of this decision, would be replaced with the same number of Council rented tenancies, on the same terms. Every resident is guaranteed his or her right of return to the estate when the blocks were rebuilt.

• In terms of the funding, the Council had provisionally allocated part of the GLA Building Council Homes for Londoners funding allocation from the Mayor to rebuild the blocks. Due to the safety issues of the block, there was an urgent need to rehouse residents of Tangmere before the Cadent deadline. To complete a compliant ballot would have taken time, which was not available given the safety issue concerns. The Council were in discussion with the GLA for the application of an exemption and continue to work with them.

• Irrespective of any exemption granted by the GLA, and based on Council policy, there was always a commitment to holding a ballot as part of the engagement undertaken on the next phase of work, which would be developing proposals for the new homes on the estate. This ballot would be of residents across the whole Broadwater Farm estate, including those former tenants of Tangmere and Northolt who have relocated as a result of the issues discovered.

The Cabinet Member further confirmed that all of the existing social rented Council homes on the Broadwater Farm estate would be replaced.

The Leader thanked the deputation party at which point Archbishop Frimpong responded to note that he had full confidence in the Cabinet to keep their commitments. Cabinet continued to consider the Cabinet report on Broadwater Farm.