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| Cladding to be removed in Camden as councils scramble to check tower blocks | Cladding to be removed in Camden as councils scramble to check tower blocks |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| The London borough of Camden has said it will remove cladding similar to that which burned rapidly on Grenfell Tower from five of its blocks, and accused a contractor of fitting flammable materials below the standard requested. | The London borough of Camden has said it will remove cladding similar to that which burned rapidly on Grenfell Tower from five of its blocks, and accused a contractor of fitting flammable materials below the standard requested. |
| The borough is the first to say it will remove aluminium cladding from a high-rise. But across the country councils have identified at least a further nine blocks with aluminium composite cladding, seven of which are undergoing tests. | |
| One, in Havering, is having its cladding removed, while another in Plymouth will be placed under 24 hour fire safety checks. Across Birmingham, Liverpool, Leeds and Newcastle councils have started reviews of privately owned apartment blocks. | |
| Camden | Camden |
| Georgia Gould, the leader of council, said the outer cladding panels on five blocks in the borough were made up of aluminium panels with a polyethylene core of the kind believed to have helped the fire at Grenfell Tower spreading across the building. | |
| They were fitted in 2006 as part of a £150m PFI deal by the same contractors which refurbished Grenfell: Rydon, the main contractor, and Harley Facades, the subcontractor. The architect was HTA Architects, whose chairman, Ben Derbyshire, will take over as president of the Royal Institute of British Architects in September. | They were fitted in 2006 as part of a £150m PFI deal by the same contractors which refurbished Grenfell: Rydon, the main contractor, and Harley Facades, the subcontractor. The architect was HTA Architects, whose chairman, Ben Derbyshire, will take over as president of the Royal Institute of British Architects in September. |
| Camden said: “We will be informing the contractor that we will be taking urgent legal advice.” | Camden said: “We will be informing the contractor that we will be taking urgent legal advice.” |
| The move to strip the cladding from the buildings on Camden’s Chalcots estate came after they were independently tested by the Building Research Establishment after last week’s disaster, which is believed to have killed at least 79 people. | The move to strip the cladding from the buildings on Camden’s Chalcots estate came after they were independently tested by the Building Research Establishment after last week’s disaster, which is believed to have killed at least 79 people. |
| The council also pledged round-the-clock fire safety patrols on the estate’s corridors “to reassure residents and carry out enhanced fire safety checks” until the cladding had been removed. | The council also pledged round-the-clock fire safety patrols on the estate’s corridors “to reassure residents and carry out enhanced fire safety checks” until the cladding had been removed. |
| Tenants confronted with the news on Thursday said safety fears had been “very stressful”. | Tenants confronted with the news on Thursday said safety fears had been “very stressful”. |
| David Tusk who had lived in one of the blocks since 1968 said: “When there was a fire here a few years ago it didn’t spread. But with the refurbishment they changed the windows and they don’t open fully they just tilt out so I don’t know how you could even jump out if you had to.” | David Tusk who had lived in one of the blocks since 1968 said: “When there was a fire here a few years ago it didn’t spread. But with the refurbishment they changed the windows and they don’t open fully they just tilt out so I don’t know how you could even jump out if you had to.” |
| Rosie Closier, 23, who is seven and a half months pregnant, said: “I live on the 12th floor and after Grenfell me and my partner worked out how we were going to get out of there was a fire. I have been very worried ever since the fire and I feel better now the cladding is coming off.” | Rosie Closier, 23, who is seven and a half months pregnant, said: “I live on the 12th floor and after Grenfell me and my partner worked out how we were going to get out of there was a fire. I have been very worried ever since the fire and I feel better now the cladding is coming off.” |
| Bob O’Toole, head of the residents’ association, told BBC Radio 4’s World at One: “There are about 20 to 30 council staff here at the moment on the estate and they are being departed to all parts of the estate to inform residents. A lot of people are worried, because they all thought it was all safe. A lot of the residents are calling for thorough sprinkler system to be put in, and fire alarms. We have no fire alarms.” | Bob O’Toole, head of the residents’ association, told BBC Radio 4’s World at One: “There are about 20 to 30 council staff here at the moment on the estate and they are being departed to all parts of the estate to inform residents. A lot of people are worried, because they all thought it was all safe. A lot of the residents are calling for thorough sprinkler system to be put in, and fire alarms. We have no fire alarms.” |
| Gould said: “The panels that were fitted were not to the standard that we had commissioned. In light of this, we will be informing the contractor that we will be taking urgent legal advice. | Gould said: “The panels that were fitted were not to the standard that we had commissioned. In light of this, we will be informing the contractor that we will be taking urgent legal advice. |
| “Camden council has decided it will immediately begin preparing to remove these external cladding panels from the five tower blocks on the Chalcots estate. Camden council will do whatever it takes to ensure our residents are reassured about the safety of their homes.” | “Camden council has decided it will immediately begin preparing to remove these external cladding panels from the five tower blocks on the Chalcots estate. Camden council will do whatever it takes to ensure our residents are reassured about the safety of their homes.” |
| Residents were told the works were likely to start in around six weeks. | Residents were told the works were likely to start in around six weeks. |
| However, the council said the insulation used “significantly differs” from that on Grenfell Tower because it included “fire-resistant Rockwool insulation designed to prevent the spread of fire and fire-resistant sealant between floors, designed to stop a high-intensity flat fire from spreading to neighbouring flats”. | However, the council said the insulation used “significantly differs” from that on Grenfell Tower because it included “fire-resistant Rockwool insulation designed to prevent the spread of fire and fire-resistant sealant between floors, designed to stop a high-intensity flat fire from spreading to neighbouring flats”. |
| The council said this arrangement previously contained a fire at a flat in Taplow block in 2012. | The council said this arrangement previously contained a fire at a flat in Taplow block in 2012. |
| Rydon, Harley Facades and HTA Architects have yet to respond to requests for comment. | Rydon, Harley Facades and HTA Architects have yet to respond to requests for comment. |
| Barnet | Barnet |
| Further north in London, Barnet council has written to residents in three towers which inspections on Monday revealed were clad in the same aluminium sandwich panels believed to have been used at Grenfell Tower. | Further north in London, Barnet council has written to residents in three towers which inspections on Monday revealed were clad in the same aluminium sandwich panels believed to have been used at Grenfell Tower. |
| Granville Point, Harpenmead Point and Templemead Point all have the Reynobond PE panels that were supplied to the Grenfell Tower refurbishment project. | Granville Point, Harpenmead Point and Templemead Point all have the Reynobond PE panels that were supplied to the Grenfell Tower refurbishment project. |
| The council has sought to reassure residents in a letter that while the panels are the same, “crucially it uses different insulation materials, which are made from a non-combustible mineral fibre material”. | The council has sought to reassure residents in a letter that while the panels are the same, “crucially it uses different insulation materials, which are made from a non-combustible mineral fibre material”. |
| Granville Point resident, Ron Ekundayo, 60, said the letter sent from the council did not “alleviate fears” over the similarities with Grenfell. | |
| “I’m more concerned now with them making sure the cladding will not result in another Grenfell,” he said. “Grenfell was so heartbreaking. I’m a parent, I can imagine what it’s like to be trapped with children in your flat.” | |
| He was also concerned by the lack of a sprinkler system in communal areas. “I will only be reassured when we have sprinklers on all the floors,” he said. | |
| A 63-year-old man, who asked not to be named, said: “Now I’ve heard Camden is removing the cladding, I would expect Barnet to do no less.” | A 63-year-old man, who asked not to be named, said: “Now I’ve heard Camden is removing the cladding, I would expect Barnet to do no less.” |
| The council leader, Richard Cornelius, said: “To ensure such a tragedy is not repeated in Barnet, we have a responsibility to our community to make sure that safety systems are of the highest standard – including investigating whether sprinklers would be appropriate in our high-rise tower blocks. We will be calling on our housing committee to oversee a programme of investment, based on advice from the London fire brigade, to provide added safety and reassurance to our residents. If sprinklers are needed, they will be fitted.” | The council leader, Richard Cornelius, said: “To ensure such a tragedy is not repeated in Barnet, we have a responsibility to our community to make sure that safety systems are of the highest standard – including investigating whether sprinklers would be appropriate in our high-rise tower blocks. We will be calling on our housing committee to oversee a programme of investment, based on advice from the London fire brigade, to provide added safety and reassurance to our residents. If sprinklers are needed, they will be fitted.” |
| Haringey | Haringey |
| In Tottenham, north London, Newlon Housing Trust has discovered the same panels as used on Grenfell Tower were used on its Rivers Apartments complex and is carrying out tests. The shared ownership block was built just two years ago and is clad in Reynobond PE. | In Tottenham, north London, Newlon Housing Trust has discovered the same panels as used on Grenfell Tower were used on its Rivers Apartments complex and is carrying out tests. The shared ownership block was built just two years ago and is clad in Reynobond PE. |
| A notice to residents from the trust in the entrance to the block said: “We want to let you know that we are carrying out an immediate review of the exterior cladding at Rivers Apartments, including an assessment by an independent fire safety expert. In the meantime we will have an extra concierge on patrol at all times.” | |
| Newlon held drop-in sessions for concerned residents at a nearby primary school on Monday and Tuesday. | |
| “We are in the process of completing a full safety audit of the building with the London fire brigade,” a spokesman said. “This is currently under way and should finish shortly.” | “We are in the process of completing a full safety audit of the building with the London fire brigade,” a spokesman said. “This is currently under way and should finish shortly.” |
| Plymouth | |
| Three residential tower blocks have been found to be clad in a similar material to that used on Grenfell Tower. The Lynher, Tamar and Tavy buildings – collectively known as the Mount Wise Towers – were clad in aluminium with a polyethylene core. | |
| John Clark, chief executive of Plymouth Community Homes, said in a statement that panels from the buildings had been tested earlier this week and were found to have the lowest possible fire safety rating. He said security teams would provide 24/7 monitoring of the blocks in light of the discovery. | |
| Newham | Newham |
| In the east London borough the council identified three residential towers using an aluminium composite material in their cladding, which has been sent for testing. They include Ferrier Point. | |
| “We will take every action necessary,” a spokeswoman said. | “We will take every action necessary,” a spokeswoman said. |
| Wandsworth | |
| In the south London borough samples of cladding from three tower blocks were being sent to the Department for Communities and Local Government for testing. ACM cladding was used on Sudbury House and Weybridge Point, as well as on Castlemaine Tower, a project involving the same firm that provided the cladding for Grenfell Tower. | |
| The council said fires had previously occurred at both Castlemaine and Sudbury, but both had been successfully contained and had not spread. | |
| Manchester, Liverpool, York | |
| Manchester city council said it was still working to establish whether any of its tower blocks used flammable cladding. Liverpool, which does not own any tower blocks, said it was still investigating whether privately owned high-rises in the city had the cladding. York said it did not have any tower blocks. | |
| Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield | Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield |
| Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield, Newcastle upon Tyne, Sunderland and Nottingham city councils confirmed that none of their high-rise blocks had cladding like that on Grenfell Tower. All five said they did not yet know about privately owned buildings in their areas. | |
| Both Birmingham and Nottingham said that while none of their own tower blocks used similar cladding, it would be up to private tower block owners to carry out their own checks. | |
| Oxford council said it had five tower blocks but was satisfied they were safe, having been recently refurbished with improved fire safety and with fire retardant cladding. |