Woman's plants outside her flat destroyed by Camden Council

Luise Usiskin, 45, says that a mess has been left behind on the outside landing of her flat at the West Kentish Town Estate after her plants and pots of 11 years were removed by Camden Council.

Householders on the estate were warned early in December that many items left outside flats would be removed as they were considered to be a fire hazard.

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Stickers placed on the plant pots read: “Take me away. This item could catch fire or get in someone’s way in an emergency so it’s not safe for it to stay here.

“Please find somewhere else to keep it or it will be removed on December 7, 2023.

“If you do not remove this item, we will take it away and it will be destroyed.”

The landing after plant pots were removed (Image: Handout)

Ms Usiskin said that she patiently waited for the removers to arrive in December so she could discuss the matter and explain she could not afford 'fire-resistant' pots, but nobody had arrived.

Then suddenly on January 18, she came back home to find her plants pulled out and the pots removed.

She said: “If they had come on the day I wouldn’t have been that shocked and I would’ve been able to negotiate, but they didn’t and they just took it all away.”

Without an actual garden, Ms Usiskin said some flowers and plants were already there when the tenants moved in 11 years ago and the collection grew bigger over the years.

It is estimated that the plants, pots and ornaments added since she moved the estate cost around £200 to £300, and had a lot of sentimental value – including gifts from their wedding.

A notice warning that items will be 'destroyed' (Image: Handout)

Ms Usiskin continued: “There’s nowhere officially where we can store stuff and often you get stickers on things and nothing happens. They didn’t show up on the date so we just left it there. We had nice Christmas lights there, it was beautiful.

“A few days ago I came home from dropping my daughter at school and there was maybe eight to ten people, and they’ve just taken all the pots that were in plastic pots and all of the ornaments and just left the most hideous mess.

“I had a deck chair, a little table and AstroTurf patch and they’ve just taken everything.”

A look at the plant pots before they were removed (Image: Handout)

Bits of wood, plastic, soil and damaged plants remain at the site and have not been cleaned up by Camden Council, the angry tenant said.

“On the floor below us, they left this enormous plastic box full of someone’s stuff, right in the middle of the stairs where it was blocking everything else,” she added.

“I was so furious and my wife was so furious. It was our beautiful garden, we raised butterflies with our daughter, we watched them grow. When my daughter came home, she was really upset. It was devastation.”

And Ms Usiskin claims that the London Fire Brigade has visited the site several times, with no warning of the display being a fire risk.

She concluded: “They [Camden Council] have this blanket ban and they’re not looking at these individual estates, because it’s clearly not a fire risk at our estate, it’s just a Camden-wide policy. It just felt so brutal.”

Cllr Meric Apak, cabinet member for Better Homes, said: “We want to achieve the highest standard of fire safety in our residents’ housing – and we need our residents’ help to ensure areas like balconies remain free from combustible items.

“However, providing the area is safe, we take a pragmatic approach and plants can remain in earthenware or metal containers if they are not causing obstruction.

“We have met with residents in Ashington to explain how these steps are helping us to ensure that our buildings meet the highest standards of safety.

“We thank them for their understanding and have offered to clean the balcony area as a gesture of goodwill."