At the end of last year, we put up this post about the plight of residents in the Lionel Oxley House tower block in Grays: A catalogue of failure – December 29, 2021. This dealt with a catalogue of failures to assist and where needed, temporarily re-house residents after a fire in the block. As if this wasn’t bad enough, there are more issues affecting this block and the five others on the estate…

The blocks are in the process of being refurbished by the contractor, Axis. There have been some inexcusable botches which have left residents in hard to heat, damp flats which are now being afflicted by mould. The external thermal cladding on the blocks is being replaced along with the windows. It was only after the thermal cladding was removed it was discovered that due to a botched measuring job, all of the replacement windows are the wrong size and will have to be re-made. Re-making the windows is not going to be a quick job and it’s estimated that work is unlikely to resume until this coming May. You can read the full story of this monumental screw up here on Thurrock Nub News: Scandal of botched windows delays flats refurb for months but tight-lipped council rulers appear indifferent to residents’ plight.

Providing and maintaining social housing stock is one of the basic functions of a local authority. That means having processes in place to ensure that any contractors charged with maintenance, repairs and building work , do so to the highest possible standard. That means having a process in place to ensure checks on the progress of a major project are carried out frequently. It means making sure the contractor has processes in place to ensure that when a large number of components needed for a refurbishment project have to be manufactured, all the necessary measurements are checked and re-checked. It’s pretty f**king clear that there have been some major failures with checking and supervision on this project. Failures that will not only cost a lot of money to rectify but will adversely impact the health of residents.

As increasingly seems to be the case with a f**ked up infrastructure, building or refurbishment project supervised by Thurrock Council, communication with residents is piss poor. We’re talking about residents who are now struggling to heat flats with no exterior thermal cladding, windows that are overdue for replacement and who are having to deal with damp and mould. This is in the middle of what is a prolonged spell of cold weather. All factors which will adversely impact their health. Thurrock Council have a duty of care to these residents. If any of them fall ill or worse as a result of living in these conditions, the council will have nowhere to hide.

You only have to look back through Thurrock Nub News and also this blog to read a long list of f**k ups from Thurrock Council along with repeated failures to communicate with their residents. This council is not fit for purpose. If a growing number of residents feel that the only way they can express their anger and disgust at the way they’re being treated, it will be no less than Thurrock Council richly deserve…