A plant growing in the guttering on the top floor of a property in Mt Vernon St; note the collapsed gutter. (Image: V. Simpson-Young)
A plant growing in the guttering on the top floor of a property in Mt Vernon St; note the collapsed gutter. (Image: V. Simpson-Young)

The City of Sydney unit of SES was called on to respond to scores of requests for assistance (RFAs) during the recent torrential rains. From Glebe there were a number of calls relating to uprooted trees (Glebe St), leaking roofs and branches fallen on houses (Derwent St, Mt Vernon St), power lines downed by fallen trees (Boyce St, Broughton St) skylights blown off, and ceilings collapsing. Calls were still coming in on 23 April, at time of writing.

While damage from such a catastrophic weather event cannot generally be avoided, and only some of these calls were from residents of public housing properties, it is worth noting that upon reconnoitering reported damage at some HNSW properties the lack of maintenance by HNSW had obviously increased the potential for such problems.

The attached photo was taken on 22 April during one such inspection of a HNSW property in Mount Vernon St. The presence of one metre tall camphor laurel saplings in both front and rear gutters is ample evidence of landlord neglect. The resident said the need for remedial action had been reported on numerous occasions over many years but no action had followed. Therefore it seems incumbent upon the Glebe Society to once again call on HNSW to maintain its properties to a standard that does not place tenants at risk.