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Camden News - by PAUL KEILTHY
Published: 22 May 2008

Taplow tower block residents Shirley Phillips and Abdirahman Osman outside their homes

Tower block has serious flaws

Pensioners are left stranded as lift breaks down over weekend at neglected flats

WHEN there are 22 floors and every other landing holds a pool of urine, taking the stairs is unpleasant work whatever your age.
But for the pensioners and immobile of a tower block revered as Camden’s worst kept, spending last weekend without a lift was the final straw.
For months, the residents of the 161 flats at Taplow, part of the Chalcots estate in Adelaide Road, Swiss Cottage, have become used to being imprisoned in their high rise homes on a regular basis.
From Friday to Monday, a lift was available for a total of just five hours.
Among those affected was an 87-year-old woman in a wheelchair who was unable to get back up to her 21st floor flat.
Tenants Association (TA) committee member Shirley Phillips said: “We had to open up the tenants room on the ground floor so that she and other people who were effectively trapped could have somewhere to rest while the engineers tried to fix the lift. One woman who uses a mobility scooter was trapped downstairs for seven and a half hours and the only support came from TA members.
“To fix the lift the contractors have to come from Birmingham and fetch parts from all over the place.”
Abdirahman Osman, 73, who lives on the 16th floor, said: “You become afraid to go out even when the lift is working because you could be trapped outside.
“When it is broken, you can get down the stairs, but getting back up is very difficult. So people stay in their flats, some hardly leave.”
The council apologised to tenants and asked them to “bear with us” during a programme to replace the block’s other lift, currently out of commission, by 2010.
When the New Journal visited on Tuesday afternoon, pools of urine and piles of rubbish littered the stairwells. Walls were daubed with graffiti and wires hung exposed from ceilings.
The block’s neglect has its origins in negotiations between the council and government over paying for the refurbishment. Residents were left in limbo while the terms of a £66 million Private Finance Initiative were discussed during protracted negotiations. Work began in 2003 but Taplow was the last block on the list and the long-awaited refurbishment starts today (Thursday).
Tenants Association chairman Stuart Ashbourne-Martin said: “I am completely disgusted over the condition of the building and the lack of support from the council. They have taken no action to alleviate this while they wait for the PFI (repairs) to start.”
A council spokesman said: “We would like to apologise for the problems residents at Taplow are facing with the lifts.
“We’re replacing the lifts one by one to minimise disruption to residents, but when one is out of operation it places double the load on the remaining lift. Due to the age of the lifts this can mean they break down more frequently.”

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