Erith scout group says vandalism due to ‘Orbit Homes neglect’

The hall is run by the 1st Erith Slade Green Scout Group and located at Cheviot Close, Erith - however the land itself is owned by Orbit Homes which the group pays rent to.

Murray Smith, who has been a scout leader at the group for more than 30 years, said that he felt the organisation is desperately needed as it is located in a deprived area of the borough, supporting over 150 kids from ages 4 to 18.

He told the News Shopper that around four years ago Orbit offered to build a new hall for the group at a new location on Venners Close.

The company wanted to the use original location for more new housing and began demolition of the surrounding buildings.

The damaged minivan

He explained that their move to the new scout hall has been repeatedly delayed due to issues with planning permission – leaving the scouts stuck in a hall surrounded by the continuation of Orbit’s planned work despite no signs of their new hall being built.

In July 2022, the garages and a wall which surrounded the hall and “protected the site” were demolished by Orbit and Murray explained that this is when the criminal incidents started happening.

Murray said: “Our hall has been there since 1968 and we have never had any problems whatsoever until recently.

“All the leaders come here voluntarily, and it becomes very disheartening for us that this keeps happening.

“We try and keep our young people on the straight and narrow and do the best that we possibly can for them but when you get things like this happening it does dishearten you and make you think ‘why do we do it?’ “All Orbit seem to be interested in is developing properties and they don’t care about anything else.”

Metal Harris fencing was put up by Orbit in its place, but Murray explained that the fences are easy to bypass and describes them as “not fit for purpose”.

The fencing has now been down for the last seven weeks despite for repeated requests for it to be fixed – and according to Murray, Orbit said it would be done on April 17.

The harris fencing has not been fixed (Image: Murray)

The lighting in the car park has also been broken for around four months and Murray explained that this led to a young person who was attending the group to fall and break their foot.

Orbit claimed that the lighting would also be fixed on April 12, but Murray said he has had no contact from the company, and it does not appear that any work has been completed.

He said: “There's no safety for our young people.

“As it becomes lighter and we are wanting to do things within the grounds, it becomes difficult to do so because it’s not secure at all.

“Some of the leaders feel quite susceptible and aren’t willing to go in on their own, so they wait for another leader to arrive first because its pitch black there – there are three lights that aren’t working currently.

“You can feel very, very vulnerable.

“Orbit just ignore any contact - they didn’t even response to our email regarding the broken lighting and how someone had fallen over and broken their foot.

“If we were a school this type of fencing would never be allowed up either - as you can see from the pictures it is not safe at all.

“I questioned it when they were putting it up because it’s not a permanent structure and they just said ‘Yes it is’.”

The scout group has had to fundraise and dip into their own funds to keep on top of repairs as the scout hall has been vandalised three times in the past year, with their minibus trashed along with the building.

These repairs have pushed the scout group into around £3,500 in debt according to Murray.

Previously, Orbit reportedly agreed to help pay for the cost of the minivan repairs, but once the quote was provided to the company, they dropped the offer.

A spokesperson for Orbit said: “Our security contractors have offered to contribute towards the cost of the damaged windscreen on the Scout’s van however we understand this has not yet been accepted.”

The latest incident occurred as on March 30, where a key safe was broken into and the spare key stolen – meaning that the locks had to be changed.

Key case broken into (Image: Murray)

Murray believes the vandals were disturbed by a dance group who were attending the hall for a lesson and so were unable to break into the hall on this occasion.

There was CCTV footage of two people entering the site around the time of the first break but not directly capturing a break in.

Police have not made any arrests.

A spokesperson from Orbit Homes said: “We’re very sorry to hear about the anti-social behaviour issues that have been affecting the Scout Hut and share their frustration about the damage which is being inflicted on their facilities and to our security fencing.

“Despite installing measures such as anti-climb paint, vandalism unfortunately remains an issue at this location, and we would encourage people to report their concerns to the Police.

“We’re awaiting a decision from the Council on our plans to regenerate this site, providing much needed housing as well as a brand new hut for the Scouts within a five minute walk of their current location.

“In the meantime, our contractors will be attending the site on 12 April to repair the carpark lighting, and we have arranged an appointment to strengthen sections of fencing to be installed on 17 April.

“We have also arranged for regular visits to the site to be undertaken by our teams and we remain in contact with the Scouts whilst we address these issues.

“Our security contractors have offered to contribute towards the cost of the damaged windscreen on the Scout’s van however we understand this has not yet been accepted.”

A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said: “Police were contacted on 12 April after a lock box at a venue in Cheviot Close, Bexleyheath, was broken into on 29 March.

“No arrests; enquiries continue.”