Grenfell fire: Hackney Council is ‘dragging its heels’ on fire safety, say local Liberal Democrats
Grenfell Tower fire. Photograph: Natalie Oxford via Twitter
Hackney Council has been accused of responding too slowly in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire in Kensington and of lacking transparency in what it is doing to protect residents.
Dave Raval of the Hackney Liberal Democrats said: “The Mayor of Hackney and the council have been dragging their heels and the worrying lack of pace and urgency on fire safety has done little to reassure concerned residents.”
Last week the council took five days to say how many social housing blocks in the borough had sprinklers installed. A spokesman confirmed to the Citizen that there are only two – Scotney and Exbury blocks, both on the Frampton Park Estate off Well Street.
On Thursday Mayor Philip Glanville promised “futher info tomorrow” on what steps the council was taking after its initial statement after the Grenfell fire which killed at least 79 people.
That statement was published after working hours on Friday, 23 June, and announced an “action plan” approved by “an independent fire advisor”, a borough-wide fire safety review, an independent review of all cladding in high-rise blocks, the release of these new fire safety risk assessments online, and a meeting on fire safety with housing associations.
The independent review of cladding and the new fire risk assessments had already been reported by the Citizen on Wednesday, 21 June, and the new statement does not give start and end times for the reviews.
The council also promised to look again at the need to “retrofit” sprinklers into existing tower blocks, as recommended by the 2013 coroner’s report into the Lakanal House, Camberwell, fire in 2009.
The council said: “Sprinklers will be fully explored as part of these reviews and the council will move to install them if recommended to do so by our independent fire adviser or following advice from the London Fire Brigade.”
A petition by the Citizen calling for sprinklers in all of Hackney’s tower blocks has received 1,500 signatures at time of publication.
But other councils have moved faster and released more information, with Camden, Hounslow, Islington, and Braithwaite removing cladding from tower blocks as a precaution, and giving dates for work being carried out.
Dave Raval, who wrote to Mayor Glanville last week calling for action, welcomed the council’s statement, but added: “It is very worrying that it took ten days following the tragic Grenfell Tower fire to formally announce these measures, and the statement released by Hackney Council does not contain any clear timescales as to when any safety checks will take place and when they will be completed by.”
He said fire risk assessments should be published as they take place “so that residents can review progress”.
On sprinklers, he added: “It is also notable that Hackney Council still has the implementation of sprinkler systems under review when the evidence is clear that sprinklers are very effective in stopping the spread of fire in high-rise buildings.
“It is law that all new buildings taller than 30 metres are required to have sprinkler systems and we at the Hackney Liberal Democrats firmly believe that residents living in older buildings deserve the same level of safety.”
Mayor Glanville, quoted in Friday’s council statement, said: “While the cause of the [Grenfell Tower] fire hasn’t yet been officially confirmed, residents are obviously concerned and are seeking reassurances that our blocks are safe.
“It’s only right that we take stock now, and we have commissioned an expert independent company to carry out a review, to allow us to give residents some extra peace of mind.
“Staff are busy completing this work now, and we will keep residents up dated as to the outcome of the review, and other measures we are taking to provide added reassurance.”
Do you have any information about fire safety in Hackney? Email editor@hackneycitizen.co.uk