Brent: Council apology over Stonebridge Park flats disrepair

An elderly resident claims she and her neighbours have been abandoned by Brent Council, turning their home into a lawless place where drug-dealers operate with impunity.

Long-time resident Myrtle Jackson claimed she places furniture up against her front door every night before going to bed because she is so frightened for her safety.

“I’m not young,” said Myrtle. “I don’t know how much more of this I can take. It is hell living here.”

Myrtle last called the Times out to Amundsen House, Stonebridge Park, in September 2021.

Brent Council promised improvements, but when we visited again last Thursday, August 17, Myrtle claimed the council had instead allowed the site to fall into even more dangerous disrepair.

The Times witnessed children playing in the grounds of the Amundsen House tower block, which were covered in broken glass (Image: Charles Thomson)

During our visit last week, small children were riding bikes and scooters around the block’s grounds, which were strewn with broken glass.

Long metal spikes, once attached to the building to stop birds from nesting, had fallen off and were also dotted around the area.

“Children could fall and hurt themselves,” said Myrtle. “There is no caretaker here. They don’t clean. It’s dirty.”

Blood and Urine

When the Times reported on Myrtle’s concerns almost two years ago, Brent Council claimed it would redecorate the communal areas.

But when we visited last week, the walls were cracked, the paint was chipped and there was an unknown liquid on the floor of both lifts.

Sometimes, she said, she finds blood and urine in them.

Metal pigeon spikes were dotted around the grounds of Amundsen House, where children were playing on scooters and bikes (Image: Charles Thomson)

The rubbish chutes – which were out of action when we last visited, in September 2021 – remained locked.

“They have been like this for years now,” said 86-year-old Myrtle, who consequently has to carry her rubbish to the bin store herself.

The building’s parking garages were boarded up with wood. Myrtle claimed this was because people had been living in them.

Now, she said, people sometimes sleep in the stairwells, aided by people who live in the building and prop open the fire escape door to let them in.

“I can’t sleep”

Drug dealers operate from the block, Myrtle claimed, adding that she has been mugged three times.

The garages at Amundsen House are boarded up. Myrtle Jackson said this was because people had been living in them. Brent Council did not deny that claim when put to it by the Brent & Kilburn Times (Image: Charles Thomson)

The building has also become a magnet for loud anti-social behaviour, she says, with noise going on into the night.

Outside the block are a number of lockboxes, indicating that some flats may be being let as AirBnB-style short-term stays, which often attract noisy stag and hen parties.

Myrtle is frightened for her safety in her own home.

“Every night, I can’t sleep,” she said. “The doctor has to give me sleeping tablets. Every night, before I go to bed, I have to put furniture up against the front door.”

The Metropolitan Police says it has no record of any recent serious incidents at Amundsen House – although a fragment of crime scene tape was flapping in the wind when the Times visited last week.

A number of lockboxes were affixed to the wall outside Amundsen House, suggesting some of the flats may be being used as AirBnB-style short-term lets (Image: Charles Thomson)

Complaints

Myrtle said she moved into the building in 1975 and had watched it deteriorate.

She feels increasingly isolated.

“Most of the people I knew here have died,” she said.

Some, she claimed, were not discovered dead until they had already decomposed.

Myrtle said she had complained about the state of the building for more than a decade, to four different council chief executives.

Last year, she was accidentally sent an email showing former council chief executive Carolyn Downs was monitoring her complaints and had ordered staff not to respond to them without consulting her first.

Yellow crime scene tape, tied to a metal barrier in the grounds of Amundsen House, was flapping in the wind when the Times visited. The Met Police said it had no record of any recent serious incidents (Image: Charles Thomson)

Downs – who has since left her post – said a complaints handler should “consult with me before she responds given this lady attacks me personally in the press”.

Myrtle had simply told the Times how she had written complaints to Mrs Downs and received no response.

“You write to them and you get nothing back,” she said.

Brent Council

Brent Council said it took “immediate action” after the Times informed it of its findings.

“All broken glass and pigeon spikes have been removed,” said council leader Cllr Muhammed Butt. “The stairways will be deep cleaned this week and outstanding repairs to light fixtures and garden maintenance will also be completed.”

He said the bin chutes were closed because they were “prone to blocking, which can cause a fire risk and a backlog of waste.”

After Myrtle raised concerns in the Brent and Kilburn Times in 2021, Brent Council said it would redecorate the communal areas of Amundsen House. But this was the main entrance when we visited last week (Image: Charles Thomson)

Cllr Butt added that residents who struggle with carrying their rubbish downstairs should contact a housing officer.

“We are very concerned to hear about Miss Jason’s experience,” he said. “We know that no one should have to live in substandard or dangerous conditions and we apologise for any inconvenience or distress she has experienced.

“We take all complaints seriously and we are committed to providing safe and well-maintained housing for all our tenants.”

The council said anyone with housing concerns should contact it directly.