Ever since Brooke House Residents Basildon was formed, they’ve rightly been saying that living conditions in the iconic but long neglected block are intolerable. This was painfully brought into sharp focus last Thursday/Friday (20/21.8) when the electricity supply went down and the water was cut off. Normally, incidents like this at the block tend to get swept under the carpet. This time round, residents put in the graft to ensure their plight was reported: Basildon flats Brooke House ‘unfit for human habitation’. It looks as though things may be coming to a head after years of neglect.

The leader of Basildon Council, Cllr. Gavin Callaghan (Lab.) said: “the building isn’t fit for human habitation” and vowed that discussions would be held with council officers next week about its future. With grandiose (and largely unwelcome) plans to pepper Basildon town centre with high rise apartment blocks aimed at affluent commuters, how the long neglected Brooke House and its residents fits into this is a source of concern. Having covered the issues arising from the neglect of the block for a good few years, we’ve got the impression that Basildon Council, regardless of the political composition of the administration, has always seen Brooke House and its residents as a problem.

Callaghan has stated that “moving people out” would be one of the options to be discussed. Given the long history of neglect, we imagine a fair number of residents would welcome the chance to move out – so long as the alternative accommodation was a) up to a decent standard and b) was in Basildon. Callaghan also said: “I want to find a solution that’s acceptable to residents ASAP.” We intend to hold him to that with a proviso. Namely that this applies to all residents, regardless of tenure/ownership status, including sub-lets. If the current situation at Brooke House is used in any way as a justification for a ‘social cleansing’ exercise with residents being given dodgy ‘take it or leave it’ offers of alternative accommodation, we’ll be down on Callaghan like the proverbial ton of bricks…