Islington Tribune - News: Town Hall bins home records

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Islington Tribune - by ROISIN GADELRAB
Published: 2 May 2008

Town Hall bins home records

A HOME owner has been told that a vital property document has been destroyed by the Town Hall as part of a de-cluttering exercise.
The document, belonging to Sarah Ward, from Northdown Street, King’s Cross, is one of thousands cleared by staff.
Records more than 15 years old documenting safety inspections of home alterations, such as walls that have been knocked down or new windows installed, will be incinerated or shredded.
Ms Ward may now have to fork out hundreds of pounds to pay for surveys before she can carry out her own home improvements.
Ms Ward said: “We had been told building control holds the plans but when we asked for them we were told they had been destroyed.
“I wish they had contacted freeholders before they were destroyed. I’m surprised they haven’t scanned and archived them digitally if they were concerned about office space.”
She added: “We wanted to look into the possibility of extending downwards building a basement. We need to know how the house was built before we could possibly do anything. I was always told Islington Council would hold my documents.”
A Town Hall spokesman said: “We’ve been storing an increasing number of building control files going back many years, which take up a massive amount of space. Much of the older information is unreliable and has been superseded by more recent records which are readily available. This is why we took the decision to put a 15-year time limit on our files, which is legal and in line with what many other local authorities do. We’re not getting rid of any planning documents and the information that we’re disposing of doesn’t have any historical value.
“In the past we’ve removed any such items, and we’re now disposing of the remaining documents as confidential waste,” he added.

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