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Will tenants’ voices echo round council chamber?
• SADLY, in two months’ time, on May 31, the Federation of Islington Tenants Associations (FITA), which currently represents the sole independent voice of council tenants in the borough, will be forced to close its office in Drayton Park after 27 years of tenant representation, due to the unjustified and unilateral decision by Homes for Islington (HfI) to withdraw its public funding.
Predictably, the present Lib Dem council refuses to suspend or reverse the closure order on FITA, and effectively disclaims any responsibility for the actions of HfI, its management department, to the point of ignoring my emails and letters to leader of the party, Councillor James Kempton, and deputy leader, Councillor Terry Stacy, regarding the subject.
Unfortunately, although Councillor Catherine West, leader of the opposition Labour Party, initially agreed to consider some form of financing through the £10,000 annual remuneration paid to Islington’s councillors, their party offices have recently informed me they have decided such an arrangement is not financially viable and, therefore, they will not be contributing financially to an independent tenants’ voice in the borough. Nevertheless, FITA has absolutely no plans to close down, but intends to continue serving its members as usual and, to this end, is currently seeking new office space from which to service the community, independent of either HfI or Islington Council.
Furthermore, as chairman of the association, I am currently applying to various organisations and groups for assistance with regard to initial financing through grants and donations in order to promote and support FITA’s future actions.
Inevitably, since neither the Lib Dems nor Labour appear interested in promoting and supporting an independent voice for tenants in the borough, the solution to true tenant involvement would appear to reside with a degree of independent participation in the council chamber of our Town Hall.
Consequently, the current directors of FITA are actively considering standing for election as independent councillors in the next borough-wide elections and, if elected, propose to donate their pay to the independent tenants’ federation.
Dr BS POTTER
Chairman, Federation of Islington Tenants Associations
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