Byker Wall garden still locked to people despite eased measures

By Daniel Holland

Housing bosses at the Byker Wall have been slammed for still banning people from accessing their garden due to Covid fears – despite lockdown measures having been eased.

Residents of Tom Collins House have been locked out of the building’s communal lounge area since last summer, when it was closed off after a gathering that breached social distancing rules was caught on CCTV.

Going through the lounge is the only way to get to the garden and some residents of the sheltered housing facility have been left furious at the fact that they are still being denied the chance to enjoy the outdoor space – after lockdown rules changed in late March to allow groups of six to meet up in private gardens.

A petition calling for the area to be reopened was posted on the lounge door this week, but building manager Karbon Homes has told residents that the garden will have to stay off limits as it is “too early” to reopen the communal area and potentially risk indoor mixing that could pose a danger to vulnerable people.

One furious relative likened the restrictions to a “prison”, though Karbon Homes has now said that it will consider “temporary external access to the garden area” to resolve the dispute.

Emma Graham, whose mum Shirley lives in the building, said:

“The residents have asked for the lounge and the garden to be opened again and they have been told no.

“Fair enough when the rules from the government are that you are not allowed to socialise in gardens.

“But they Karbon Homes should not have the option to say that they feel it is not the right time to allow it. It is not their choice.

“The government is saying that people have the right to do that now, Karbon Homes does not have the right to say that they can’t. It is sheltered housing, not a prison.”

In a letter sent to residents on Thursday, Karbon Homes said that while many people will be keen to meet up with family members and friends again, others will still want to “keep to themselves” because of the ongoing pandemic crisis.

The note added:

“Currently we are planning to keep our communal lounges closed, as we feel it is too early to encourage indoor mixing.

“Unfortunately, as gardens are only accessible from the lounge, it is currently unavailable for residents in Tom Collins House to access.

"We will write to you again when we feel it is appropriate to re-open the lounges.”

In a statement to the Local Democracy Reporting Service on Friday afternoon, however, the company indicated that some garden access could be restored.

Michelle Bell, assistant director for the Byker Community at Karbon Homes, said:

“The outside garden area at Tom Collins House sheltered housing scheme is accessed through the communal lounge area.

"The communal lounges of all sheltered housing schemes across the organisation remain closed until we feel it is appropriate and safe to re-open them and a full risk assessment has been carried out.

“Some our most vulnerable customers live at Tom Collins House and our number one priority is to protect the health, safety and wellbeing of all our customers.

"We will continue to follow government guidelines and will not encourage mixing indoors.

"We will however, explore options to provide temporary external access to the garden area and we will keep our customers informed.”