Petition calls for CCTV at Rotunda housing block in Romford

Havering councillor David Taylor presented a petition at a full council meeting on March 22 asking for CCTV cameras to be put in place at the Rotunda housing block, which is managed by the council.

Cllr Taylor told the meeting that the Rotunda, in Mawney Road, has had residents sleep with baseball bats and bricks by their front door as they are afraid of people breaking in.

Recently the building was the subject of a drugs raid by police, the councillor added, as he called for CCTV cameras to be installed in common areas to ensure residents' safety.

Read More: Havering Council CCTV camera upgrade finally set to go ahead

A shop worker who lives in the block told the Recorder that residents would often report seeing people do drugs in the corridors.

She shared: “I don’t feel safe leaving my flat. I find it very difficult to go outside and the fact there are no cameras in the block of flats where I live, that makes me feel unsafe all the time.”

Sky River and other residents claimed strangers would knock on their doors in the middle of night and ask to come in.

Cllr David Taylor presented the petition to Havering Council (Image: David Taylor)

Sky said one man has knocked at her door multiple times in the early hours, adding: “It made me feel sick and so uncomfortable. I just hide under my bed and have panic attacks."

Another resident, who requested to be anonymous, shared the stress of having the block being raided by police. They said: “I have put multiple alarms, I know people who have put alarms… everybody is just so scared. We cannot sleep.”

A man who has lived in the housing block for years claimed the block had better security features previously.

He said: “Years ago we used to have a proper intercom system so we could see who is knocking on the door, but then they removed it."

Residents, he claimed, have been forced to move out due to these issues. 

“On the outside this seems like a nice block of flats, but internally it is not good at all."

Havering Council was contacted by the Recorder about these claims and a spokesperson said: “Antisocial behaviour can be very upsetting and we take reports of drug use very seriously. We are always prepared to take strong action where there is unacceptable behaviour from residents."

They suggested that CCTV cameras are subject to budgets approved by the council on March 1 and will be rolled out in phases with priority areas completed first.

The spokesperson added: “In the meantime, we continue to support Rotunda residents regarding this matter, as well as regularly working with Metropolitan Police and the council’s enforcement team to carry out patrols of the area to identify and prevent criminal and antisocial activity."

An upgrade to the council's CCTV system was announced earlier this month, years after a 2019 survey found almost half of the council-owned cameras were faulty.