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Hillrise Mansions |
Pensioner in 40ft fall as he repairs window
69-year-old tenant survives plunge onto concrete
A PENSIONER has survived a 40-foot fall onto concrete as he tried to fix rotting windows at his Archway council flat.
The 69-year-old, named only as Mr Roberts, escaped serious injury when his fall was broken by a canopy.
He was using a screwdriver to try to open a jammed window at his third-floor flat on the Hillrise Mansions estate, in Warltersville Road, one morning late last month when the frame gave way.
The pensioner was found unconscious, still clutching his screwdriver, and was taken to Whittington Hospital in Archway.
Mr Roberts was later released from hospital but, according to neighbours, has now been taken into a residential care home.
Homes for Islington (HfI) had been due to fix the rotting windows at the beginning of March as part of work to bring the estate up to the government’s Decent Homes Standard.
But a planning application error meant the windows were left unrepaired.
Brian Potter, chairman of Islington Leaseholders’ Forum, said: “The problem is no one is listening. Islington Council pays lip service to tenant participation and nothing more. Are they waiting for someone to get killed before they do anything?”
He blamed HfI’s failure to repair the windows on a lack of communication with tenants, saying that residents had warned HfI consultants about installing damp-proof uPVC windows, on the grounds that they would be too big for the frames.
He said: “These contracts are not being vetted. This can only be done by the people intimately involved with the buildings, and that’s the residents.”
Lise Husebo, a resident of Hillrise Mansions, said: “Every single waking moment you are fighting against the council. It’s exhausting. The windows are damp and rotting, with large draughts blowing into the building. It’s obvious they’re in a bad way.”
An HfI spokesman said: “We have plans to re-do the windows. We know they need doing. Homes for Islington started three years ago and we have three more years to go. When you’re doing an entire borough, someone’s always going to be done last, unfortunately.”
“It is expected the existing windows will now be repaired but a final decision has yet to be made.
“Following meetings with residents’ representatives, we are re-surveying the windows to look at the options and relative costs of repairing the existing windows.” |
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