Woodberry Down Residents' Association meet to discuss common issues

[Adrian Essex]

On Friday 4th November 2022, representatives from the Tenants and Residents’ Associations from social housing, shared ownership and private blocks across the estate came together at Skyline Lounge to share their experiences of pest control issues, and the on-going (over 9 years) issue of sewage outside the social housing blocks on the north side of Seven Sisters Road.  Whilst there are a number of common problems across the estate, the associations decided to tackle this one first as a group.  A letter is currently being drafted and will be sent to Berkeley Homes, the London Borough of Hackney and Notting Hill Genesis.  It will set out some of the problems we collated, ask for answers to some specific questions, and request an estate wide pest control strategy.  

The main thrust of the matter is that neighbours in social housing receive very different responses to those in shared ownership and private housing when reporting cases of vermin, but that a pest control strategy on the estate can only be properly effective if there is a single approach or at least that the management companies responsible for the buildings work together.  There are issues with building quality, decisions made about built-in deterrents and retrofitted solutions, better education around the use of bin rooms, and a piecemeal  - or lack of - response to reported cases.  A lot is made about Woodberry Down being a community, and this is the community coming together to address a public health issue which affects everyone who lives here.

 

The residents' associations involved are 

Residents Association	Contact person /Chair	Email address
Maplewood Residents Association	Omar Villalba	[e-mail]
KSS1 Residents Association	James Campbel and Cathy Garnier-Ramirez	[e-mail] [e-mail]
KSS3 Residents Association	Oonagh Gormley	[e-mail]
Rowan and Hornbeam Residents Association	William Sheehy and Phil Cooke	[e-mail] [e-mail]
The Park Collection Residents Association	Adrian Essex  Mike Price  Kevin Lau	[e-mail] [e-mail] [e-mail]
Hartington Court Resident Association	Richard Leafe and Russell McDonald	[e-mail]