Council Cuts and anti-social crime

In much of the door to door work the IWCA has done in the borough, the main concern of many tenants has been anti-social behaviour and crime.

We have already publicised the issue in the pages of the local press and are continuing work with tenants in a number of blocks to address the problem.

This round of council cuts has hit the provision of concierges in 15 blocks in the borough and tenants are now very worried, particularly older tenants in blocks like 355 Queensbridge Road which is for the over 50s (incidentally a flagship regeneration project, visited by Tony Blair on the award winning Holly Street redevelopment).

Tenants quite rightly feel that they are now more at risk from break ins and anti-social elements making their lives a misery. It goes to show that once the hype has died down and the politicians have basked in the publicity, things soon go back to normal (i.e. a mess).

As if to rub our noses in it, signs are meanwhile going up on new private developments in the borough promising not just concierges, not even suited concierges, but Armani-suited concierges. You couldn’t make it up.