Telford Court in the crossfire (From St Albans & Harpenden Review)

Telford Court in the crossfire

5:21pm Monday 14th September 2009

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NOTHING causes a stir quite like someone in council accommodation asking for a bigger home or a different flat.

The Review has highlighted the plight of several Telford Court residents and all have received the same kind of response from readers.

“If you don’t like it, get your own place,” “spongers,” “stop moaning” – I am sure you get the picture.

If someone is taking the you know what, I am usually the first to point it out, but I do believe we have highlighted what an issue Telford Court, and council accommodation in general, has become.

Our first such article, in April this year, told the story of mother-of-two Tracey Morris who had no alternative but to bring her children up in a mould-ridden flat.

She told us that despite repeated calls to St Albans District Council she had simply been advised to open the windows and turn on the heating. Not only would this leave her children hot or cold, depending on the system, it is also a pretty daft suggestion from a council which claims to be attempting to reduce its carbon footprint. Thankfully our intervention ensured the problem was eventually dealt with.

Following that article, I was inundated with emails asking why I thought our readers cared. Meanwhile our news desk was being bombarded by calls from other residents who were facing similar problems.

A week later Jessica Maidment contacted us. We soon found out that she was sharing her flat with her 17-month-old daughter and hundreds of flies.

Our quick-thinking local authority responded by admitting that “flies could be a nuisance” and, while some of our readers were a little more sympathetic to this issue, others believed that “opening the window and letting the flies out” would resolve this issue. It seems that, for some, opening the window is the answer to everything.

Last week the Review spoke to Leanne Jeggo.

Leanne has to walk up a double flight of stairs to her top-floor flat in Telford Court because the lift does not go up that far. She is heavily pregnant, has a two-year-old son and her GP has told her that this part of her journey could put her baby at risk.

One observational reader spotted the buggy and suggested her son was more than capable of walking up the stairs. Right you are, but what happens when she goes shopping and he wants to go to sleep?

Most of those who emailed me seemed not to care that her GP had written to the council asking for her to be moved. They seemed more upset that she was pregnant again.

I can understand their thinking. There are plenty in the Jeremy Kyle generation, as I like to call them, who look for ways to take advantage of a system which seems to look after those who need it least. But we must be careful not to pigeonhole all those who are less fortunate than ourselves without knowing the facts first.

Reader Mr Hall – I will not reveal his full name or address as I would fear for his safety if I did – seemed to be a lost cause however.

In a letter for publication, he wrote: “This is the third such article the Review has published. All are single mothers, all sponging off us taxpayers and yet you continue to highlight them as if they are suffering. Young women seem to think that getting pregnant is a sure fire way of getting a house. The problem is, once they have one, they can’t stop. They seem to have no self control whatsoever.”

Not one for generalising is Mr Hall. He obviously believes that every single mother has chosen to be unattached. Heaven forbid that the father should walk off and contribute nothing. He also assumes that all such women live in council accommodation and claim benefits. I know many who, with the help of a supportive family, have returned to work. However, in the case of Tracey, Jessica and Leanne this may not be possible.

Sometimes we do not always need to know everything about their circumstances, only that local councils should offer a lot more support to vulnerable residents who actually need it.

More work must be done to ensure there is no grey area. The bone idle claimants and benefit cheats must be identified so that those who are attempting to get the best deal for their families are not singled out by those who sometimes, do not need an excuse to have a go.

As for those who ask why we cover such articles. Well, it gets you talking, doesn’t it ?

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