Demands to fix long-running issues at Northumberland Park tower block

Safety problems raised with Haringey Council following recent fire at Kenneth Robbins House, reports Simon Allin, Local Democracy Reporter

Kenneth Robbins House in Northumberland Park (credit LDRS)

Tottenham housing estate residents are demanding Haringey Council carry out urgent safety and maintenance works following a recent tower block fire.

A meeting was held outside Kenneth Robbins House in Northumberland Park on Tuesday (21st) after housing campaigners revealed a range of fire safety actions set to be carried out on the block – including smoke alarm checks and fire stopping – were overdue.

Residents were forced to evacuate the 17-storey block when a fire broke out in a flat on the sixth floor on Friday, 17th February. Eight fire engines and around 60 firefighters tackled the blaze, and one person was treated at the scene for smoke inhalation.

According to London Fire Brigade, the fire was thought to be accidental and caused by the unsafe use of incense sticks.

The day after the fire, campaign group Haringey Defend Council Housing raised concerns after revealing the most recent fire risk assessment for the block, dated 9th May 2022, showed eight medium-priority actions listed as ‘ongoing’ from the previous report one year earlier. Under the council’s own targets, these should have been completed within six months.

It means the council failed to complete actions such as checking smoke alarms, fixing non-compliant fan lights and determining the combustibility of panels on the outside of the block.

The local authority is set to award a contract for fire safety works in May this year and claims there is “no direct link whatsoever” between the recent fire and the issues it is currently addressing.

But during Tuesday’s meeting, residents of the block said fire alarms did not work. One woman who lives on the eighth floor said she was not aware of the fire until a family member called her from outside the building. She said she “slipped and fell” in the water being used to douse the flames as she tried to escape the block, and was “choking” because of the smoke.

“There should be an alarm for every floor,” she said. “I am really, really concerned. I am not happy. I do not want to be here. I am traumatised and want to be outside Kenneth Robbins House.”

Jacob Oti-Akenteng said he also felt traumatised by the experience. He said: “I would like to request not only that we come together as a community to fight, but that we also take up the fight for everybody else not getting the right care. People in positions of power are not doing their job here.”

Olivia Opara, who lives below the flat that recently caught fire and is a reporter for Haringey Community Press, said none of the fire alarms had worked. She said: “How do you have a whole tower block and no-one heard the fire alarm? We had to find out by inhaling the smoke.”

Olivia who has lived in the block for more than three years, added that elderly people and people with mobility issues are housed on the upper floors and the lifts often do not work. “The council really needs to do something,” Olivia said. “When we complain, they just shut us down.”

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, resident Patricia Bonifaz said the council had not been in touch to explain how the fire had happened. She said she had “clear memories” of the Grenfell Tower fire and felt “unsafe” in the block.

Northumberland Park Estate, which was built in the 1960s and 70s, had been set for demolition under the Haringey Development Vehicle – a £2billion housebuilding scheme planned in partnership with developer Lendlease – but the controversial project was dropped by the council in 2018 following a wave of criticism.

Residents also claimed the council had failed to fix a range of problems affecting Kenneth Robbins House, including persistent leaks, with planned maintenance works to the block continually pushed back. One woman told the meeting her flat had been affected by leaks since she moved into the building 25 years ago.

A man added: “We would like the building to stop leaking […] The building has been leaking for 30-odd years. We are fed up with it.” He called on the council to replace pipes and windows in the block.

A resident of nearby Robert Burns House told the meeting that their flats were also affected by mould and problems with the windows. She complained about antisocial behaviour and claimed the “whole area” had been “neglected for years”.

Campaigners and residents plan to keep putting pressure on the council to deal with the problems affecting the estate.

Dana Carlin, the council’s cabinet member for housing services, private renters and planning, said: “The safety of our residents will always be our number one priority and I am thankful that all of the fire safety provisions worked inside the flat and prevented it spreading to other areas of the building.

“As the London Fire Brigade have stated, the fire was believed to be accidental and caused by the unsafe use of incense sticks. It has no direct link whatsoever to the other issues that we are currently addressing.

“We have identified medium-priority works which, under our internal target, would ordinarily be within six months. However, there are times we may take the decision to include any works associated with fire risks in a wider major works programme, and this is the case with Kenneth Robbins House.

“We will be carrying out consultations with leaseholders and residents and will then be able to confirm a start date for the works to take place.”

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