THE College Bank tower blocks could become a ‘thieves’ paradise’ since a flood wiped out the security system.
That was the claim from a councillor who has been inundated with complaints from tenants over the failure of CCTV cameras and the intercom system.
Tenants have been told the fault had been caused by recent bad weather, which caused flooding in the basement of the Holland Rise block.
But almost a fortnight later, the system is still out of action – a fact likely to grate with the hundreds of tenants that pay £5 a week for the security service.
This includes a concierge service, where visitors use an intercom system installed with security cameras to gain access to the flats.
Councillor Ibrar Khan says he has received several calls from angry householders.
He says Rochdale Boroughwide Housing should be paying out thousands of pounds in compensation.
He said: "The main back-up for the flats went down over a week ago and that hit the security systems in every block.
"Tenants have told me that neither the CCTV cameras nor the intercom system are working.
"Nothing has been done for over a week and my main concern is health and safety.
"There are a number of elderly people living at College Bank. With no CCTV in place, I feel it it is turning into a thieves paradise.
"There is already a problem with people gaining access to the building to sleep in the compartments where tenants store their rubbish.
"It is only a matter of time before something happens.
"Since there are hundreds of people a week paying this fee for such a service, RBH may owe thousands of pounds."
A Tentercroft resident claimed the failure of the CCTV would naturally attract trouble.
"We have a lot of problems with gangs and graffiti," said the 42-year-old, who asked not to be named.
"What makes it worse is that we pay weekly charges of £5 for a service that doesn’t work."
A spokesman from RBH confirmed the electrical equipment in basements at College Bank was affected by flooding on Saturday 19 January.
He added: "We would like to reassure residents that to date there have been no breaches of security.
"We are working to correct the problem as quickly as possible."
Tweet
Showing comments 1 to 2 and replies | View All
Tony Rooper, Rochdale (07/02/2008 at 14:11)
Hmmm what about the fact that the doors to one of the blocks (both ground floor and basement) have been jammed open for a good week or so, the fact there are more and more groups of kids drinking and taking drugs in the stairwell, the fact that Tentercroft stairs have been covered in graffitti in the last month or 2....
These flats were just getting to be a decent place to live, clean and tidy, with decent residents.
It seems they are being left to go back to how they used to be all those years ago.
The poor caretakers work raelly hard to keep them looking there best only for kids to get in scrawl all over the walls, urinate in the stairwells and leave cans and bottles all over the place!
Rant over
Tony Rooper, Rochdale (07/02/2008 at 14:13)