The damaged entrance to the old Schools Keeper’s cottage was boarded up today after some good partnership working between residents (who first raised the alarm), the Police Community Support Officers, local Councillor Paul Convery and the Council. On inspection the police confirmed residents’ suspicions that the place was being used for rough sleeping, drug injecting and drinking. The site was right next to new family homes where kids play in the street.
Councillor Paul Convery was very helpful in musteirng resources in the confusing Council bureacracy to get the place boarded up quickly once the extent of the problem was known. The police attended again today to support the boarding-up team. Let’s all keep and eye out for any more rough sleeping and report it quickly.
Paul convery’s email to local residents pasted in below rounds thing up nicely.
[Convery email paste begins]
Dear all,
I thought you might like to know what’s happening about the School Keeper’s house on Gifford Street. The building still belongs to Islington Council although it is due to be sold-off very soon to form part of the overall redevelopment of the old school site. Although the house had been well secured, the gates into the yard and the side sheds have now been repeatedly broken-in to and are being used as place for dossing-down, drug use and prostitution. Inside it’s a mess and there’s evidence of needles and other drug and sex detritus making it extremely dangerous to any curiosity minded children.
The local police team has investigated and are making efforts to move people on from the site. However, it needs to be properly secured to prevent it being used at all. I have now spoken with Kelvin Daley who is Islington Council’s property Development & Disposals Manager and is responsible for the site. I have spelled out the problem, the hazards etc and the concerns of the police team. I have assured him that, although the building is being used for rough sleeping and vice activity, it is not "squatted" and so there is no need to waste time with legal proceedings to regain possession.
Council surveyors and the police visited the site again today to assess what security works are immediately required. One obvious solution may be to quickly remove all the sheds and outbuildings whilst securing the building itself. I hope this will prevent further vice activity in the next few days and I have given the Council officials 48 hours to get this properly secured.
It could still be months before the site developer gets construction work underway. As the plans are to demlish the school keeper’s house, I have asked Kelvin Daley to prepare a plan for speedy demolition and containment of the site. I see little point in the building remaining standing for just a few more months if it continues to be a magnet to just the kind of people and activity we have all been working hard to chase out of the neighbourhood these recent years.
Meanwhile, Will Perrin who lives on Rufford Street has set up a "blog" website at http://northkingscross.typepad.co.uk/ which catalogues all the problems (and the fixes) in the area. Will convenes the North Kings Cross neighbourhood management environment working group and the site is a good record of everything that is causing us grief and documenting how things have been improved. I am sure that Will is going to keep the blog updated with each development about the school keeper’s house. If anything significant crops-up, I will email again.
As this email list only contains about 1 in 5 of households in the area, I would be grateful if you could let your neighbours know what’s happening.
Regards
Paul
[ends]
About William Perrin
Active in Kings Cross London and South Oxfordshire, founder of Talk About Local, helping people find a voice online and a trustee of The Indigo Trust , Good Things Foundation and ThreeSixtyGiving as well as Connect8.
The damaged entrance to the old Schools Keeper’s cottage was boarded up today after some good partnership working between residents (who first raised the alarm), the Police Community Support Officers, local Councillor Paul Convery and the Council. On inspection the police confirmed residents’ suspicions that the place was being used for rough sleeping, drug injecting and drinking. The site was right next to new family homes where kids play in the street. 
Kings Cross Environment 