Ultra-high-tech CCTV has totally transformed Leeds’ once infamous ‘Toxic Towers’ to a “friendly, neighbourly” apartment block, claim residents.
Parkway Towers in Seacroft, which hulks 16 floors high over the east Leeds suburb, once had a reputation for antisocial behaviour and drug dealing. But residents living there say it’s changed and has a lovely atmosphere, thanks to the watchful eye of the camera lens.
Mahmoud Sefe, 46, has been living in the tower with his partner for 10 years. They currently own a cross-poodle, who likes to yap but whose bark is bigger than its bite.
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Mahmoud, who’s originally from Iran, said his Parkway flat is his first council property. A major advantage to living in a tower block, than say in the houses below in Seacroft, is “safety”.
He said: “There’s more safety, we have cameras. The neighbours know each other and look after each other. Plus there’s a perfect view.
“My friends told me not to move here, that it was a rough dodgy area. Ten years I have been living here and I have had no problems.”
Mahmoud says to anyone thinking of living in a tower block, avoid the steps! He used to stomp up and down them all the time for fitness but it ended up causing a knee injury. Nowadays his only concern here is the water pressure, other than that, he wouldn’t change a thing about it.
The 46-year-old praised his neighbours and said it felt like living on any other street with the post officer coming all the way up to the top, like it was like living in any sort of English street.
Mahmoud said: “Most people say hello to eachother here. We have very nice neighbours. Our post woman is really friendly as well. Our next door ones keep changing, I don’t know why. It’s very good that people know each other, I try my best to meet them.”
'There's no stairs'
Another resident heaping praise on the CCTV set up was Steve Marshall, who’s lived in Parkway Towers for 14 years. He said: “They’ve got lots of cameras in now so it’s calmed down.
“It was a bit noisy, we used to get lots of kids coming up and down. We used to have problems with drugs at one point.
When Steve moved in, he said it was “basically derelict”. However, life has since improved there. His favourite thing about his tower block flat, ironically, is “no stairs”.
Have you visited Parkway Towers? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.
Steve, who is a retired conveyor, said: “I miss having a garden. But there’s no stairs, everything is on one level.”
Working as building conveyor, he was used to tall heights so fit into the tower block snugly. He says guests don’t mind the heights either but sometimes feel trapped in the lift.
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