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Majority want to go forward
• THE article (Battle to save old people’s homes, October 9) was misleading and unhelpful and we would like the opportunity to put forward our side of the story.
We, the tenants, did originally oppose the first plans proposed two years ago, but consequently Octavia Housing and Care listened to our concerns and withdrew them.
Since then, the Waites Houses Tenants’ Association set up a working party, which met regularly with Octavia, the architects and the contractor to find a solution that enables the tenants to continue to live on the estate and have an improved quality of life.
Most of the secure tenants who moved into Waites House many years ago are now in their 50s and 60s, but we do not consider ourselves as living in an old people’s home.
Of the 70 homes, over 40 are occupied by short-life tenants mostly in their 30s.
Although some people like the current properties and everyone appreciates the gardens, some of the flats are small (most are studios and one-bedroom flats) and all of them have little or no insulation or sound-proofing.
Octavia felt it was for our sake, the tenants, that the estate really needed to be redeveloped to modern standards.
I do not know where Sue Esterman, Chairperson of Combined Residents of South Hampstead, got her information that Octavia told us “You can work with us or against us”, but I can assure her this was never the case.
We do not think the new scheme is a great monstrous building.
It is a modern design, but only four storeys high and we think, when the bricks have been chosen, will blend in well.
The communal garden will be retained and there will be extensive landscaping around the site.
A lot of hard work and effort has gone into this project and although a few of our elderly tenants understandably want things to remain just as they are, the majority want to move forward.
CAROLYN PARSONS
Chairperson, Waites Houses Tenants’ Association
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