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Leo Chapman |
Storm over the 33 letters which went up on estate noticeboards
‘It has made me fearful of attack,’ claims critic of tenants’ body leadership
A LETTER which went up on 33 noticeboards at a Finsbury estate was at the centre of a huge row this week.
Written by leading members of Peabody estate tenants’ association, the letter accused activist and committee member Leo Chapman of undermining attempts by the association to get funding to improve the estate.
The letter was placed alongside a notice announcing the next annual meeting on July 9 when he is seeking election as chairman or secretary of the association.
After the letters went up, Mr Chapman, who is in his 70s and registered disabled, spent several hours going round with an estate manager removing them from the locked glass noticeboards. He is insisting on an apology, which he had still not received this week.
At the heart of the row are claims by Mr Chapman about the running of the association, which he says has excluded him and others from the decision-making process.
Of the letters, Mr Chapman said: “These are serious and damaging allegations.
“It has made me fearful of walking about the estate in case one or more residents decide to attack me. All I’ve been trying to do is get them to run things a bit better.”
Eileen O’Flaherty, chairwoman of the association, admitted she had put the letter on noticeboards.
“I don’t think it was unfair,” she said. “You should hear what he says about us. He has been rude about members of the committee. That’s why we told him he wasn’t welcome on the committee.”
She added that residents who came to the July annual meeting would be able to vote democratically for whoever they wanted to represent the organisation.
The attack on Mr Chapman has been denounced by other tenants on the estate, who threaten to declare “no confidence” in the association committee.
Tenant John Lister said he offered his services as an accountant to the committee but received no response.
“The committee appear to run autonomously, shutting everyone else out,” he said. “Regardless of whether Leo’s credentials to run the association are right or not, I was horrified by the letter on the noticeboards. It was really quite nasty.”
Another tenant, Michael Collins, said that every year the Peabody Trust provided money to improve the estate.
“Without asking, the tenants’ committee members decided to spend £16,000 on pot-holes – work which the trust would have done anyway,” he said. “When Leo discovered this and tried to stop it these people verbally attacked him and expelled him from the committee, which is unconstitutional.” |
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