Estate tenants who had food bank and creche taken away have been ‘left hanging out to dry’

Angry tenants whose local creche and food bank were taken away from their Chelsea estate said they have been “left hanging out to dry” by the council.

Residents on the World’s End Estate near Battersea Bridge said the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) had also “stripped” them of vital legal advice.

Maura Mae Nunez-Trejos, known as Mimi, has lived on the estate for 35 years.

She told councillors during a meeting on Wednesday, April 27: “It started with the neighbourhood community advice centre being closed. Now we find that the Under 5’s and the food bank are now going to be closed.

“After Grenfell there was a promise council leaders would listen and take care of our residents, at the very least consult with us.

“Community provisions have been stripped and residents have been left hanging out to dry.”

Mimi accused the council of replacing WENAC – the World’s End Neighbourhood Advice Centre – which provides residents with legal advice, with “inadequate” service providers.

She said: “An older lady came to us and said she did not feel heard and at one point she felt her advisor was bored. She was humiliated, went home and spent the night crying.

“Another [older person] was told to go to the bank, get information and come back. When he returned, the advisor was not there and so the issue was left unresolved.”

She claimed one disabled tenant couldn’t reach one of the providers, Nucleus Local Advice Centre, in Earl’s Court and still hasn’t had her problem resolved while another has waited two weeks for a call back.

Mimi said: “It will come at great cost to the local economy, the community and social cohesion.

“The points I have made reinforce the contempt, disregard and dismissive manner in which RBKC leadership has traditionally treated the community.

“Especially the most vulnerable in our community. We can no longer trust you.”

RKBC’s communities lead, councillor Sof McVeigh, said WENAC was being replaced by Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) and Nucleus because they “weren’t doing all that they should be doing for the community”.

The Tory councillor said: “[The arrangement] has been in place for two weeks and so we need to understand what they are not doing right.

“We need to have this conversation. We will then go back to CAB and Nucleus and say they’re not doing what they should be doing. We will take that on board.”

Labour councillor Claire Simmons said she was “dismayed” by news of the creche and food bank closing.

She told the council: “I am really struggling to see the rationale on that. If the council wishes to have the building back, it must not be at the expense of residents.

“Services must not be removed on pretext. It must be possible to find alternative accommodation for the absolutely essential services placed there and I hope the lead member will be willing to do this and I hope all three of these services will be reinstated with urgency.”

Pictured top: Mimi has lived on the World’s End Estate in Chelsea for 35 years (Picture: RBKC)