Residents with placards gather outside the Bray tower

CHALCOTS residents demanded transparency and communication from the council at a protest against the installation of new windows across the Swiss Cottage estate.

Work to replace old windows with a “tilt and turn” design at the tower blocks in Adelaide Road has been significantly delayed, and there have been complaints over noise and disruption.

Some residents strongly oppose the designs and say the majority did not choose them. The estate has been the focus of council fire safety works since its unprecedented evacuation six years ago when everybody was told they had to leave their homes in the wake of a post-Grenfell inspection.

On Thursday, more than 50 residents held a demonstration outside the Bray tower, where the old windows are currently being replaced, demanding a public meeting with the council and its contractors.

Hasan Shah, the Burnham tower’s tenants and residents association (TRA) rep, said there is potentially dangerous lead oxide in the previous window frames which could be released when they are removed by builders.

He added that concrete on the sides of each flat was being cut through, which could compromise compartmentalisation – the way a fire is contained to one flat in the event of a blaze.

Mr Shah said if a public meeting is not held, they will not allow contractors access to their flats.

“The old 1960s frames which are inside the windows at the moment, we want to see the safety certificates and test results that say they are safe to be worked on or not. If they are not then they need to be doing things very differently,” he said. “We put this in writing to [the council]. They have not responded to us other than saying ‘it’s fine’. If there are dangers and issues then we need to see it.”

Mr Shah added: “We asked for a public meeting before the election [last May].” He said he first learned about the particles in the windows in notes when previous contractor Wates were working on the project. Chantal Peters, who has lived in Dorney for 27 years, said it was taking sometimes over eight weeks for windows to be replaced, when it was predicted to take two weeks.

“Since Grenfell, it’s been a whole disaster. Getting us out, getting us back in, it was too much,” Ms Peters said.

She and her daughter have suffered from depression since the sudden evacuation in 2017.

Ms Peters said: “What they’re doing to us with the windows is ridiculous. I think they’re dangerous. The whole point of having glass all the way down, with kids, people that have mental health problems, you could do anything. Just stick with the ones we’ve got.”

She added: “I don’t want to be here, but it’s difficult to move.” In February, Chalcots tenants were told by the council and McLaren to wear noise-cancelling headphones because the works would be so loud. A respite room has been provided in Bray, but acting Dorney TRA chair Mandy Ryan said the room was overcrowded with “people sleeping on the floor”. Some alternative accommodation is also provided.

Anthony Royle, who lives in Bray and is a former TRA chair, said: “It’s noise and banging all the time. Our criticism is Camden’s total inability to communicate with residents. They are autocratic, they do what they like. They’re very remote. They won’t sit down and talk with residents.”

Housing chief Councillor Meric Apak said: “Our number one priority is the health and safety of the 3,000+ residents who live on the estate. We are delivering on this by using an independently reviewed and approved health and safety model that sees a full risk assessment completed in each resident’s home and each communal area before work can start to remove the windows, curtain wall and old materials, and before the new A1 rated cladding system is installed.

Housing chief Councillor Meric Apak

“This includes testing for lead and asbestos. Once we have the results from each home we confirm with the resident that works can commence safely in their home. Our processes mean that we can dispose of the old windows safely – with no risk posed to residents or staff working on site – and that the glass and frame of each window on the estate can be taken away, recycled and used again.”

A council spokesperson added: “In each home we are completing works within two to four weeks, only taking more time to complete in properties where there are out of scope, additional improvements that we can make at the same time, or where concrete repairs are necessary.

“Our project team are available to meet with residents regularly, through a number of accessible and open forums.”