2010 sees the building I live in being graciously given a new lift by Camden Council. The original lift dated from 1963, and was not due to be replaced until 2023. Thanks to the local Labour Councillors, that’s been brought forward to 2010.
Given the track record for project management within my building, and the fiasco around the lift to date, I’ve started a twitter feed to document the expected 111 days of hell.
The lowdown – the building I live in is shared between us and a hotel. Premier Inn live on the lower part, we’re on top. Premier Inn have three lifts, we have one, which is out of service for 16 weeks.
Old and disabled people can use the hotel’s lift. The postman apparently can’t. Camden Council and Premier Inn decided that he, and any other utility workers, can take the stairs. Those of us who are below 50 can also climb the stairs. It’s only 170 to get to where I live.
Day One was due to be 8th March, but the project manager didn’t give enough time to let people move out. That start date was put back to 29th March. Yeah, they were going to come in, put hoardings up, then bugger off for Easter.
Work started on 6th April, just as the Prime Minister was announcing the election. The workers switched the lift off, and sat in their van drinking coffee. The elderly and vulnerable hadn’t been given their special privilege cards to access the hotel’s lift, so eventually lift service resumed, albeit briefly, the lift replacement team broke it pretty quickly. Lift engineers? Nah, they couldn’t fix it, they wouldn’t even call a competent engineer. They just buggered off home for the day.
So, it’s probably best that I get it all off my chest rather than let myself get stressed over the incompetence. Maybe I’ll use my twitter for other things too. We’ll see.
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