Tempers were frayed during a tense community meeting at Ashburnham Primary School last Thursday (17th September) during discussions with residents and councillors over a proposed £8 million replacement of Cremorne Estate’s heating system.
The meeting was chaired by Ben Coleman MP and attended by a number of local residents and three RBKC councillors – Cllrs Heena Bellara and Laura Burns (Riverside) and former Deputy Leader Cllr Kim Taylor-Smith (Stanley). No council officers attended.
One resident reported that she had contacted the council and had been told that officers would not attend because they felt that the meeting “would simply be repeating discussions from previous meetings”.
In a private message to The Citizen from a senior member of the council on the day of the meeting, it was stated that officers would not attend because they had “not been given enough notice of the meeting” by Ben Coleman. This “lack of notice” was disputed by both Mr Coleman and residents.
The issue on the agenda was the new hearting system (see previous Citizen report from September 2025) which has been an ongoing subject for several years. Phase 1 having taken place to replace old boilers, which were prone to failure, and Phase 2 having been paused as residents request more information from the council about the purpose, costs, and results of further changes.
Ben Coleman and Cllrs Bellara and Burns who addressed the meeting
The plan proposed by the council would see a new communal heating system introduced. However, residents say that the council has not fully established the need for the new system, that it has not been made clear to them how this system would change their costs, or how vulnerable people will be protected if their bills increase.
A spokesperson for the council told The Chelsea Citizen: “We understand that many residents are concerned about changes to the billing and metering of their heating. These changes are required under the laws and regulations which govern heat networks. The communal heating system on the Cremorne Estate is beyond its useful lifespan and needs to be replaced.”
They added that the number of repairs callouts related to pipework had increased by more than half between 2023 and 2024, and that the installation of individual heat meters is “required by law” when pipework is upgraded.
One resident told councillors in attendance that the proposed changes could increase some one-bedroom properties’ gas bills from an average of £1,000 per year to over £2,000.
Cllr Kim Taylor-Smith pointed out that the new system is expected to bill houses more accurately, with properties being billed for the amount of energy they use. “Those people who are parsimonious will pay less,” he said. “Are you in favour of paying for what you use?”
This point was reiterated by the RBKC spokesperson, who said: “At present all homes on the network pay a share of the communal heating charge. In future residents will pay for what they use in their own home.”
One resident disagreed, addressing Cllr Taylor-Smith directly: “For every person who pays less, someone else must pay more, and who are those people on the Cremorne Estate? The elderly, the disabled, and the vulnerable.”
The meeting in May 2025 when residents began voicing their demands for more information about the need for a new heating system
Ben Coleman MP attempted to keep the arguing to a minimum during the meeting, asking parties to focus on identifying the information which the council needs to provide to residents.
One of the articles he has pushed for the council to provide is a detailed plan for how vulnerable residents will be supported if a new system increases their energy costs.
“This is getting a bit nuts,” he said. “They [RBKC council] don’t seem to want to respond.”
Over the course of the meeting, Coleman’s team identified multiple points still awaiting a response from the council, including reports, plans, and surveys.
Cllr Taylor-Smith was adamant that the plan would benefit many residents, and repeatedly reminded residents of the Fair Funding Review which will cut over £100 million of Government funding from RBKC over the next four years. At one point he accused Coleman of voting for these cuts, which Coleman denied.
“My job really is not to opine on whether this is the right scheme or not,” he added. “Some residents have very strong opinions that it’s not. They’re worried about the extra costs for leaseholders and for elderly people and disabled people. My job is to make sure residents get a hearing and the reasonable questions they ask, they get an answer to.”
Speaking to The Chelsea Citizen after the meeting, Mr Coleman said: “What was helpful tonight was having three councillors there. Kim Taylor-Smith said he was shocked that the council officers hadn’t provided the information they said they would. I had the impression from him that he and the other two were committed to getting the answers.”
He added that he has been involved in this matter since May 2025, and has taken part in several meetings where council officers have promised answers that “didn’t really appear”, and that he hopes that the council can now give residents the answers they need.
Cremorne Estate
Map of the estate
The ‘To Do List’ that has not – allegedly – been completed by the council in nearly a year
