Cleaning and repair squads to blitz Tower Hamlets estates

Tower Hamlets Homes (THH) and Tower Hamlets Council's Community Safety Service staff will be out and about on local estates over the summer, working with residents at a series of special Estate Action Days designed to make estates cleaner, greener and safer.

The action days - to be launched on Saturday July 19 on the Malmsbury Estate, Bow - will see caretaking and repairs squads out and about on the estates, to carry out a blitz on cleaning and repairs. The weekend sessions include everything from sorting out minor repairs to cleaning-up communal areas and scrubbing out graffiti.

The campaign will also see bulky rubbish and abandoned vehicles removed, smoke alarms handed out and residents asked about their priorities for tackling local crime and anti-social behaviour, including drug problems.

"We've been talking to residents' groups on estates to make sure that we are concentrating on their priorities," explained Paul Leo, Head of Housing and Customer Services at THH. "However, we're also ready to take action on issues raised on the day by individual tenants and leaseholders."

Paul added: "This is a way of ensuring that we can make local estates cleaner, greener and safer and show residents that we're committed to responding to their concerns in these areas."

Councillor Abdal Ullah, Lead Member Safer, Cleaner, Greener at Tower Hamlets Council said: "These clean up days are a practical example of the council and Tower Hamlets Homes working closely together, and with other agencies - like the Safer Neighbourhood Teams and London Fire Brigade, through the Tower Hamlets Partnership - for the benefit of local people."