Ruislip & Eastcote & Northwood Gazette
Residents left with no gas were given buckets to wash with
SOME FLATS HAVE BEEN LEFT WITHOUT FOR GAS FOR SIX WEEKS
RESIDENTS in a block of flats in West London were given buckets to wash themselves as they’ve been left without gas for weeks. It’s already been around six weeks since the gas supply at some homes in College Court, Hammersmith, was cut off and residents fear it could be another two months before it is reinstated.
Residents of one section of were given a bucket, a battery operated shower, and a single electric hob when the gas was cut off on July 7 following a leak, leaving them without heating or hot water.
The lack of heating isn’t such an issue in summer, but without hot water residents have had to fill the bucket up and use the battery shower to pump water but it only lasts “for 20 seconds”. Residents say they have been forced to buy an electric shower out of pocket or resort to a cold shower or going to the gym or to work to wash.
Paul Taylor, 33, explained: “You fill the bucket up with water from the kettle, add cold water and the battery shower pumps water over your head for 20 seconds. That’s it for everyone – families, doctors, nurses. You just don’t expect that to happen in London. It’s disgusting not being able to have a shower when you want to.” He added: “We thought it would be a few days; it turned out that’s how we have to live for 2 or 3 months.”
Carer support worker and mumof-two Halimo Mohammed, 54, resorted to buying an electric shower out of her own pocket for £89 from Argos as she “couldn’t manage” with the bucket. “I couldn’t believe it when they brought it,” she said.
Halimo told MyLondon she is spending a lot more on electricity as everything is reliant on it now, something which isn’t easy as energy bills are rising. But what she is most concerned about is if the gas doesn’t return in the autumn and they are left without heating or hot water when it gets cold.
Another female resident, a 31-year-old who works in the hospitality industry but did not want to be named, says the battery powered shower she and her two flat mates were given lasted only two weeks before it broke.
Now the three flat mates only have the bucket or the sink to wash. She told MyLondon that she washes her hair with cold water in the sink and goes to the gym to have a proper shower. With only one electric hob, the three flat mates are forced to take it in turns to cook and often eat out at work.
Like Halimo, she is concerned about the colder months. She insisted: “I’m not planning to shower like this in November or not use heating.”
‘It’s an emergency’
The gas cut out in the evening of July 7. Residents were told there was a leak which led to the gas supply having to be turned off. More than a month later, the works are finally beginning but are expected take another two months.
Paul says residents were informed that the gas pipework needed replacing as early as 2019, and that another section of College Court had their gas mains replaced five years ago.
“It’s an emergency – why haven’t they fixed it?” asked Halimo. Last week, residents finally received a letter informing them that work was due to commence on August 12 and it is estimated to take eight weeks to complete.
The letter from gas company Cadent read:
“We have now received permissions from the organisation responsible for the management of your building. You will start to see our operatives mobilise on site. We currently estimate the duration of our work to be 8 weeks.”
A Cadent spokesman explained that the gas supply was cut off to a number of flats “for safety reasons” after a reported gas escape. Over the past five weeks, Cadent says they been working to plan for the replacement of the pipe and to gain consent and permissions to do “emergency necessary work”.
As College Court is a listed building, the spokesman explained that there are additional permissions needed to minimise the impact of the works. Cadent have promised £65 compensation for every 24-hour period their customers are off gas, to be automatically paid to them via their gas supplier.
The spokesperson said: “Like our mains replacement programme to replace the metal mains in the streets, we have an ongoing programme to replace the vertical pipes in high rise buildings too. When we are not able to provide gas to a customer we offer them alternative cooking, heating and shower facilities as a temporary replacement whilst the work is ongoing.”
They added: “We would encourage customers to contact us directly with any concerns they have. Once we know about concerns, we can do something to address them. Please talk to us, we are here to help and restore your gas as safely and quickly as possible.”
A Hammersmith and Fulham Council spokesperson added: “College Court is an H&F property in a conservation area which requires Cadent, as the supplier, to observe rules that apply in such locations. The works have been approved and we look forward to Cadent satisfactorily completing them as soon as possible and compensating long-suffering residents fully for the extended loss of service. We are in touch with the company regularly and will continue to urge speedily resolution to the issue.”