A group of elderly residents has given a very warm welcome to news that their block of flats will get a new heating system.
It comes after Labour councillor Janis Blackburne and local Labour activists took up the case of the parky pensioners at the flats in Janes Brook Road.
The residents had complained of being forced to choose between living in flats “as cold as a butcher’s storeroom” or face huge heating bills of up to over £600 a quarter due to failures by landlords.
Complaints about the heating system installed at their apartment block and badly fitted windows had been ignored for years they said, amid fears that their new landlords were not taking the concerns seriously either. The properties in Jane’s Brook Road are now owned by Places for People which took over from Stonewater just over a year ago.
Furious elderly tenants said they had been forced to go without heating because oil-filled electric radiators previously installed by Stonewater could individually cost up to a pound an hour to run; which coupled with badly fitted double-glazing and poor insulation meant they faced either massive bills or freezing, with risks to their health.
Cyril Lee, 84, has lived in the flats for 24 years, he explained that his heating is off most of the time because of the problems:
“I was a butcher for 50 years so I know what I mean when I say it can get as cold as a butcher’s storeroom in there during winter. It’s either that or pay bills that we simply can’t afford. I’m lucky in one way I suppose as due to my job I’m used to freezer rooms, others aren’t and we shouldn’t have to live in them.”
The tenants turned to local Labour councillor Janis Blackburne for help as they felt their complaints had fallen on deaf ears with successive owners of the apartment blocks. After taking the case up repeatedly with the new owners over the last few months, the tenants have now been prommised a new heating system in the coming new financial year.
Cllr Blackburne says she’s delighted that the owners have listened to her repeated representations:
“I appreciate Places for People listening to the case we presented and finally confirming they will act on it. This is just the latest example of how Labour councillors are making a real difference for residents in Southport.”
“While it’s a shame things can’t happen now, and we also need to ensure that the insulation problem is addressed, I’m really glad that the tenants will not have to go another winter facing this awful situation.”
Seventy-one-year-old Lorna Davis, who previously told how she’d been forced to keep her radiators off for over 18 months because of the cost, said residents were “extremely grateful” for the help Labour had given:
“We’ve been asking for action for the last few years on this and felt enough was enough. The heaters are simply so costly we can’t afford to run them sufficiently to heat up the flats without racking up massive bills, which meant a stark choice of going cold or going poor.”
“We were getting nowhere fast and Cllr Blackburne and the Labour team have managed to change all that. We are all really grateful for their efforts. they’ve been such a help.”
” The winter before last, my bill for the quarter was over £600 just to keep the flat warm – I simply can’t afford that or face another winter of going cold instead and now I won’t have to thanks to Cllr Blackburne,and to Places for People for listening and saying they will act.”
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