Residents on a council estate in Bush Hill Park say they are too afraid to leave their flats amid ongoing crime and anti-social behaviour.
Ayley Croft Estate is suffering from worsening violence so bad residents are moving away.
The estate’s community association recently met with the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) to discuss the issues they were dealing with, ranging from stabbings and drug dealings to collapsed roofs.
Rita Hajinicoloau, the community association chair, said: “People defecate and urinate on the stairs in Gainsborough House. We’ve got drug dealers in there, they all go into a flat, and god knows what happens in there.
“Last winter we had somebody unconscious [lying outside] not only from an overdose but from hypothermia.”
The housing estate in Enfield consists of 254 properties spread across six blocks, with the two tallest, Bonnington House and Gainsborough House, being eleven storeys and known hotspots for anti-social behaviour.
John Dolan, the association’s secretary, said: “We report it at the meetings, we go to the local police, the estate manager, they’re aware of it but they’ve not caught them red-handed so it’s still going on.”
Rita said: “We’ve got a lot of one-bedroom flats in the big blocks. There’s a lot of single people and families, fair enough, but we’ve got a lot of people with mental health issues.
“Now, we don’t mind as long as they are controlled. We had a serious incident [in September], involving children, with someone who is schizophrenic. No-one was bothering to check on him to make sure he was taking his medicine.”
In September a resident from Bonnington House disrupted a birthday party in the estate’s play area. Mum Sacha Campbell, whose child was celebrating, said her partner had to restrain the man, who was carrying a knife, to prevent him from causing harm and the incident had left her family traumatised.
She said: “Nobody was aware of him on this estate, the association wasn’t, nobody knew someone with such unmanaged severe mental health issues was placed here. This is why I’m in the process of moving.”
A spokesperson from the Metropolitan Police said the man had been arrested and an investigation remained “ongoing”. They said: “We have worked with partner agencies to ensure he has been removed from the estate and has bail conditions which reflect this.”
Security firm Ignite patrols the estate at night, however, they aren’t allowed inside the blocks themselves.
Rita said: “People smoke and do drugs inside the blocks, they [Ignite] are no use to us outside.”
John added that the security had only been a recent addition and that there had been murders on the estate, stabbings, and gangs congregating, but the police had told them it was a “council job” as these were council-owned buildings.
He said: “Residents are scared to go out of their flats and that’s a terrible way to live. The council needs to do something.”
Rita added: “For years and years they [the council] have been ignoring us, we invite them to our meetings, nobody from repairs or groundswork or antisocial behaviour [ASB] comes.”
Invited to comment in response, the council’s cabinet member for housing Ayten Guzel said the ASB team and the police were aware of the issues, particularly at Gainsborough House, and would continue to “work very closely” with the community association.
She said the council patrolled the estate on a daily basis and an out-of-hours roving security patrol was currently being “piloted” on estates at large to crackdown on issues, adding initial feedback which had been “very positive”.
The police spokesperson added the local team was “committed” to improving the area “both in the Ayley Croft Estate and the wider ward of Southbury”.
Flats in Gainsborough House had fallen susceptible to mould and leaks as a “poorly placed” 5G telecoms mast on the roof “got in the way” of repair work. One resident had to move out because severe mould and leaks caused a part of their roof to “collapse” and another reported “worms in the bathtub”.
Rita said: “This hasn’t been going on for three months or so, these problems have been happening for years, it hasn’t been taken care of properly.”
Flytipping is another issue, as tenants threw rubbish and furniture out of windows and knives were frequently found in bushes, making the situation so dangerous Sacha said the caretaker “wasn’t allowed to clean it up”, encouraging rats.
A bicycle storage unit was removed with the “promise” of reinstallation, according to John, but this hadn’t happened. Cllr Guzel said the removal was “another concerted effort” to stem criminal activity and was done “at the request of residents”.
She said residents would be consulted on the “possibility” of providing a replacement and added security doors and locks on the blocks would be checked over.
On Gainsborough House, Cllr Guzel said: “The mast will need to be removed so repairs can be carried out, and we are progressing the mandatory legal processes for this to take place.
“Affected residents have been contacted through door knocking to assess repairs required including those to tackle damp and mould issues.”
Regarding flytipping, she said five community protection warnings had been “recently issued” to residents found to be incorrectly disposing of waste.
“Evidence found includes rubbish thrown out of windows and breaches of fire safety,” Cllr Guzel said.
All the issues described were taken “seriously” she said, adding the council would continue to listen to its residents to address their concerns.
