Barbican estate flats 'not liveable' as homes 'filled with fumes' from neighbouring tower
| Published date | 18 April 2024 |
| Publication title | MyLondon (England) |
A spokesperson for Linklaters said the company has been working with the City of London and the Barbican Residents’ Association, and hopes to resolve its power outage “as soon as possible”.
Sarah Stobbs, 52, who has lived in Cromwell Tower for around 14 years, described the situation as ‘not liveable’, adding residents are bearing the burden of Linklaters’ emergency.
The generator first appeared in late March, after Linklaters had sought advice from the City of London and obtained the necessary permits following the power outage. It initially ran 24/7 outside Cromwell Tower, by the Barbican Centre, though following complaints from residents its operating hours have been reduced. It has also been moved around the corner, outside the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and nearer Speed House, another Barbican block.
At a protest outside Linklaters’ offices earlier this week April 16, Ms Stobbs told the Local Democracy Reporting Service LDRS she and her family came back from holiday to find the generator running and their flat full of fumes.
She contacted the City’s environmental health team, who she said acknowledged the issue and indicated they would work with Linklaters to resolve the issue.
Since then, Ms Stobbs said the City and Linklaters have ‘tinkered’, in changing the operating hours and the location of the generator, but have failed to act sufficiently.
She believes that rather than run the generator until the affected building's transformer is sorted, Linklaters should explore other options for its staff, including working from home or sharing space in the other block. She said this has however so far fallen on deaf ears, with the firm refusing due to not wanting to deal with the ‘inconvenience’.
“They don’t want to work from home because it would be inconvenient,” she said. “They are prioritising their convenience over the health of their neighbours.”
In an email sent to the head of public relations at Linklaters, seen by the LDRS, Ms Stobbs wrote: “Unlike us, Linklaters have many options. You can work from home. You can share space in your fully functional Milton Tower. You can purchase short-term WeWork passes for your workers.
“Linklaters needs to ask itself: how is it acting in a way that upholds the...
To continue reading
Request your trial