LEICESTER CITY COUNCIL
IN 'DISTRICT HEATING' CHARGE RETREAT

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Residents could not be steam rollered...

In a humiliating retreat and astonishing U TURN... the likes of which have not been seen in Leicester since the naming debacle of 2007 over Hammerson's Highcross regeneration centre piece Leicester City Council were today struggling to explain why they have now abandoned the 76% price increase on District Heating and Hot Water charges.

The dramatic increase which was without historical precedent in Leicester adversely effected thousands of Leicester City Council Tenants in the neighbourhoods of St Peters, St Mathews and St Marks which are regarded as deprived neighbourhoods.

Cost

Questions must surely be asked now as to how they could have got it so wrong. In a meeting on the 6th November 2008 at the town Hall just after the increase was announced, former Chair of St Peters Neighbourhood Management Board and local resident, Mel Gordon warned Hanif Aqbany that Leicester City Council had failed to gauge the mood and disposition of the people of the effected neighbourhoods to the increase and that come election time there would be a settling of scores over it.

During the meeting we pointed out to Hanif Aqbany that Leicester City Council had clearly been caught napping as regards the exposure of residents in St Peters and the other effects neighbourhoods to the costs of fuel on the world markets.

It was made clear that residents ought to have the ability to metre and control the use of the heating and hot water according to their own respective household budgets and requirements and that leicester City Councils failure to implement metering at an individual household level represented an appalling failure.

St Peters NM would like to acknowledge Sunshade Blinds Ltd for their contributions and support.

Sunshade are the UK based worldwide brand leaders for Integral Blinds (interstitial blinds) Manufacturers based in Corby, Northants.

Their contributions enable St Peters NM to fund our campaigns as well as web publishing.

STPETERSNM.COM WARNS LEICESTER CITY COUNCIL

In a meeting with Hanif Aqbany in October at Leicester Town Hall stpetersnm.com pointed out that the fault for the cost of the heating lay not just in the international fuel price market but in Leicester city council's institutional failure to risk assess this situation.

And to also implement metering and better thermostatic controls within each home as well as modern insulation of the hot water cylinders and piping where so much heat is lost.

Additionally we asked Hanif to look at the situation of the lack of cavity wall insulation in the apartment buildings.

The reason we asked for these things is because he explained that the heating charge is levied based on average use.

So if average use if far higher than it truly needs to be because of the lack of metering as well as lack of thermostatic control then residents are paying for this.

Residents also pay for increased district heating cost through wasted energy.

It really is unacceptable that Leicester city council was caught napping on this, in their failure to put in place adequate measures and provisions that would buffer against exposure to the cities most this once.