Tenants say they feel fearful and overcrowded in a council high-rise that was once the envy of the city, and they have "given up" on hope of improvements. For a block full of families, many say Lansdowne Court doesn’t seem very family friendly - even the playground has been removed.
But 20 years ago there was a waiting list of people who wanted to live in the Easton tower block. Residents had successfully campaigned for a concierge scheme and within four years of its implementation there had only been three emergency calls, all for minor incidents.
But Lansdowne today echoes what Emra House was known for prior to the scheme that was introduced in 1995, a year after tenants balloted to give their block a new name. Like the early 1990s tenants say they are again living in fear of their safety, claiming they have to regularly assist their children in dodging heroin needles on their way to school.
READ MORE: Dad living at Lansdowne Court claims it is 'really horrible' and 'dangerous'
Avon and Somerset Police said it is aware of antisocial behaviour and drug complaints at the block, and carries out "high-visibility patrols in the stairwells, often multiple times a week". The force said it has been working proactively with the council, but tenants say there is still more to be done.
Samuel Smith shares a one-bedroom flat with his two sons. As he shows Bristol Live around the 16-storey building, he points out other larger families in one and two-bedroom flats, claiming up to eight people are living in some of them due to not being rehoused.
“A lot of the kids here play this game where they get a big box lid to partition their mattresses and say, ‘that’s my room and that’s your room’. My nine-year-old can’t even get on with his homework and his younger brother being four will sometimes rip up the paper,” said Samuel.
The father-of-two knows most of his neighbours and like many of the other tenants we spoke to, he said they are “like family”. He can be often found helping mums with their shopping, opening doors for wheelchair users, firing off emails to the council and advocating for others in the building who don’t always have the confidence or English language skills to speak up for themselves.
In the recent floods that saw the Lawrence Hill underpass nearby, completely underwater, residents along one side of the building were left without power. Samuel said he has received a cheque in compensation but he is aware of at least one person yet to be compensated, who said she was without power for two weeks.
Samuel said he fills up kettles to get hot water to bathe his children - not only because of his concerns over the cost, but also because his hot water doesn’t work very well. His neighbour Olivia has reported the same problem and said she doesn’t bother turning it on now because the water never seems to heat up and she doesn’t want to keep paying for cold water.
Another neighbour, Jiji Thibalwe, said she does not have any problems with her hot water but the pipes from her boiler are leaking. The mother-of-five lives in a two-bedroom flat with her husband said that like many of the tenants at Lansdowne Court, she feels tired of complaining to the council.
“It’s not nice at all, I don’t know when it’s going to change. My kids have to hold their nose when they walk through the halls because of the smell,“ said Jiji, who has almost given up hope that things will ever change at Lansdowne Court.
Another woman on the ground floor came out of the lift and said: "We’ve given up, we complain but it’s still the same.” Samuel has organised petitions and tried to set up meetings with the council which he said at times have been set up with short notice and no translators.
One father, Zakarya Maxamad, a refugee from Somalia who fled the civil war with nine bullets in his body, said he is now concerned for the safety of his children. He says they have nowhere to play and he worries they are at risk of being targeted by drug dealers.
Mr Maxamad worked as a caretaker for Lansdowne Court 15 years ago, and said he noticed the same problems back then. He lives in a two-bedroom flat with his wife and their five children and the oldest is now 17.
He said he understood the demand for accommodation but he just wants something to be done to protect the children, adding: It’s very difficult because they don’t have enough housing now, we don’t mind waiting but they have to give the children somewhere they can play.
“Otherwise they’re selling drugs, they’re going down the wrong path. They have a lot of land around here where they could build somewhere for the children to play.
“People come here, they use drugs. I don’t want my kids to see someone injecting drugs in front of them. Since 2006 it’s been the same.
“I feel safe here but I worry about the safety of my kids. There are people with knives around here.”
Back in the early 90s the tenants of what was then called Emra House began campaigning for better security in the block. They set up a tenants' association, petitioned the housing committee and then worked with local councillors to get the concierge scheme in place.
The fires, break-ins and muggings they had experienced became a thing of the past and tenants' groups from nearby Croydon House, Twinnell House and across Hartcliffe were asking to get a similar system in their block. The scheme was said to have paid for itself with the money saved in policing.
Former tenants such as John Castle said of the scheme at the time that “whenever you need anything done, you just have to call down on the intercom and they come and sort it out for you”. Samuel said the full-time staff who previously looked after the 16-storey block and its adjoining buildings had already been scrapped by the time he moved in 10 years ago.
“There’s been two deaths since I’ve been here, we don’t matter to them, they treat us like cattle. But if this place was nice and done up it would be fine living here because of the way we all get on as a unit,” added Samuel.
The police response
Inspector Cath Leigh said: "We are aware of community concerns relating to antisocial behaviour and drug use relating to Lansdowne Court, in Easton. Nobody should feel they need to accept crime on their doorstep and for that reason we have an ongoing problem-solving plan in place to help tackle these issues.
"Our neighbourhood officers carry out high-visibility patrols in the stairwells, often multiple times a week, to identify any offenders and to help prevent crime. A local PCSO also works from within the community room on occasions too.
"We appreciate that some people would prefer to speak face-to-face to the neighbourhood team and we encourage anyone with concerns to approach those officers on patrol who will be happy to stop, listen and assist. Similarly, we will look to hold Talk To Us community drop-in sessions in future, so we can work with residents to understand their concerns and try to resolve them.
"We also work closely with other agencies, including the local authority. That joined-up approach has enabled proactive action to be taken in recent months, this includes a number of individuals known to cause issues being subject to injunctions preventing them entering the complex. Breaching those injunctions would be an arrestable offence.
"There have been a number of occasions where we have received anecdotal information about crime, which while helpful in building up a general picture of what has occurred to help with our patrol plans, often is insufficient evidence for us to seek criminal charges.
"We'd therefore encourage anyone who witnesses a crime, or has key information that can help our ongoing problem-solving work, to please call police on 999 if it is an emergency or a crime is in progress. Alternatively call 101 or use our website for non-urgent matters and provide specific details to assist us with subsequent enquiries."
Bristol City Council has been approached for comment about residents' complaints.
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