English: 13 August 2014. One of the two security vehicles parked outside the former sheltered housing block, Protheroe House, Chesnut Road, Tottenham N17. The other car was marked "Dog Section".

Protheroe House appeared empty, without any sign of the building work needed to replace it with an "Extra Care supported housing scheme" run by a Housing Association called "One Housing Group".

The previous elderly and disabled residents were moved from their accommodation for this purpose in 2012. ("Decanted" is the jargon.)

The building was then left empty for several months.

in June 2013 it was squatted by a group of several dozen people. They were evicted by Haringey Council in September 2013.. Read more about these events here.

This includes the scandalous delay caused by negotiating a Section 106 planning agreement with One Housing Group, for £30,000 allocated to a wasteful and entirely unnecessary "Green Link".

Security

After eviction of the squatters in September 2013, the doors and windows of Protheroe House were re-sealed and a security company hired to prevent further unauthorised access.

As the months went by, it seemed that this arrangement was continuing. The building remained sealed-up; and guards from the security company - with dogs - were outside the entrance.

Interestingly, it seemed that a portable toilet had been provided for this company's staff. Although I don't know whether or not it had connection to the sewer and mains water. Last year, the Council staff told me that it was not possible to provide even a stand pipe for the squatters.

I was concerned about the continuing cost; and the lack of any apparent progress. If "extra care housing" was a high priority for Haringey residents, when would it be provided?

My Freedom of Information Act Request

On 7 March 2014, I made a Freedom of Information Act request to Haringey asking for the cost of the security company and other information.

You can read my questions and Haringey's replies here on the website What Do They Know.

You'll see that the cumulative bill for security was £94,218 from September 2013 - when the last squatters were evicted - until 2 April 2014. It was then running at a weekly average of £2,500. Which would mean an additional cost of over £50,000 by the end of August 2014.