Story: Lisa Swift
Carwood tenants met with the Council in April to complain about the district heating system which broke down in the cold weather and snow in March.
Residents rang the Council repeatedly from Thursday 21st March but heating was only restored the following Tuesday. Mrs Abdulrazzaq, told the Messenger,
“It started on Wednesday. It stopped working, then came back on. By Thursday it had stopped completely. We kept calling the Council and they said someone would come and work on it. I rang many times, and my neighbours, but nothing happened.”
Carwood resident, Nagat Abdullah said,
“The Council gave us an electric heater but we were only allowed one. It cost a lot of money to run and the rest of the house was very cold. Everyone was happy to pay for the district heating when it was warm all the time. But after the new boilers were put in, it’s not worked properly and we don’t want to pay for it; it’s very expensive.”
Carwood Tenants and Residents Association and the Messenger organised a meeting for residents to express their concerns to the Council and local Councillor Ibrar Hussain. More than 20 residents attended.
A local mother complained,
“I have a 9 month old baby, and I have 6 children. One heater for a 3 bedroom house and no hot water – what are we supposed to do?”
Methaq Ahali asked,
“Why did you ignore us? Everyone was calling but no one came to fix it for days.”
Another resident said,
“It’s not just this time. In the last 3 years, it has been broken for a few days every 3 or 4 months. And it is always very cold at night.”
Richard Hawson, Heating Manager for the Housing Service, told the meeting,
“I can hear the depth of feeling on this issue, and I would like to apologise for what has happened. We tried a number of things to resolve the problems before we discovered it was a leaking pipe. The repair was delayed because of a damaged electrical cable near the leak.”
He went on to explain that the pipe work needs replacing but it was a long term project,
“We have asked for Carwood to be prioritised for new pipework. In the meantime, we will fit a valve near the boiler house during the summer so that, if another leak does occur, we can isolate that part of the system.”
The Council also promised to investigate the heating at night. The Council ‘sets back’ all heating systems in the city to 18ºC between 11pm and 6am. It is possible that on Carwood the boiler has been set too low. Residents who were affected by the heating breakdown will also be given 2 free weeks on their heating bill.
Michelle Cook, former Carwood TARA treasurer who chaired the meeting, said,
“District heating is the top issue on our estate and has been for some time. The practice of turning down heating centrally at night will only end once metering is introduced and people have full control over their own heating. District heating costs around £18 per week, regardless of usage, and is not covered by housing benefit – quite expensive for a service which isn’t working. We would like the major repair work and the introduction of metering to be brought forward to ensure tenants have value for money.”
A further meeting is planned with residents on 2nd July to update on further progress.
This will be at 1.00pm in the Carwood Meeting room