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SHEILA Szulimowska at her front door as kind neighbours clean up her garden.
Seeking the same treatment
Ailsa Cranna25/ 5/2006
A COUNCIL tenant claims she has been threatened with court action over the state of her garden while asylum seekers next door got the work done for nothing.
Sheila Szulimowska, who lives on Briar Hill Grove, Little Hulton, is on incapacity benefit and suffers from anxiety, stress and depressive attacks.
When council gardeners appeared on Briar Hill Grove Sheila, 49, thought the council had decided to tidy her garden after all, but the workmen only visited some of her neighbours' ones.
She says she was told by New Prospect Housing, which manages the council's housing stock, that they were asylum seekers, and the council had to provide basic services, such as garden maintenance.
Sheila said: "I arranged a meeting with New Prospect but on the day it was due I got a phone call from one of their managers to discuss the matter over the phone.
"I said I wanted to do the work but could they suggest how I did it on my income? I only get £59.20 a week, and after I have paid my bills there is only £15 left for food, and out of that they were saying I had to find cash to buy garden implements.
"The officer said I had signed a tenancy agreement, part of which included maintaining the garden, and I had until May 30 to get the work done or I could be taken to court."
She added: "I am not criticising asylum seekers, but it is crazy that those who don't have tenancy rights get work done that council tenants are expected to do themselves."
Luckily for Sheila, a group of volunteers stepped in to help her out. However, the threat of legal action still looms if the garden falls back into a state of disrepair.
Tommy Cavanagh, 52, of Beck Grove, Worsley, was one of the volunteers who cleared the garden. He said: "We heard about Sheila's plight and knew she didn't have the equipment so I got together with a few mates and did the work for her.
"But she's right - we can't keep coming back and she does need a little more help from the council."
A spokesperson for New Prospect Housing said: "We realise that some residents may find maintaining their gardens more difficult than others and urge anyone to contact us if they are having trouble. Ms Szulimowska has contacted us and we have given her advice that we hope has been useful.
"We can confirm that legal action is an option. If the garden is not maintained by the date stipulated, the tenant can be taken to court."
A council spokesperson added: "We are contractually required by the Home Office to house and support asylum seekers in the area. Part of the grant we get to do this must be used to maintain the properties to a certain standard."
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26/05/2006 at 12:51
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