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Back Issues
Our security door entry system that was renewed at the beginning of the year is still causing concern!
Another door is now not closing properly. We had a report this morning that at night, tenants in one of the entrances to a "low rise" block in Columbia Close were having to come out of their flats to check that the door was closed at night.
We asked the obvious question: Have you reported the fault? Yes, was the reply. But no one has fixed it!
So we contacted the local housing office and reported the fault. And we will visit each day to see if the fault has been rectified. Watch this space daily for updates. So much for security!
The contractor responsible for the new installation, Gloucester City Services (the DSO), are now blaming all the faults on the system on tenants and misuse. Now that is pretty rich, we think.
We would accept that some of the faults can be blamed on misuse by tenants and their visitors - and we have evidence of this.
But to suggest that all faults are caused by tenants is certainly "below the belt". Of course, not being born yesterday, we have a pretty shrewed idea why misuse is blamed!
There is a 12 month warranty on the work. This means that Gloucester City Services would have to meet the cost of calling in their contractors. But if the tenants could have the finger of suspicion pointed at them, then the Housing Revenue Account would have to pay for the DSO's contractor to attend and fix the problem (not forgetting the 15 per cent profit markup that the DSO seemingly adds to the cost). It's a nice little earner .. and the tenants will pay!
It appears that the Estate Service Worker is not totally extinct! One was spotted on the estate today - and there were several more sightings.
Investigations suggest that our caretaker is on leave this week and so an Estate Service Worker has come out of hibernation to provide cover.
But the second one, to assist in the leaf clearance and the litter pick, appears to be "lost"
At lunchtime, we had to contact the Local Housing Office about the litter that had not been cleared after the weekend.