Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Nottingham Post
Nottingham Post
World
Joshua Hartley

Similar cladding on Grenfell Tower being removed from Nottingham flats

Cladding will be replaced on a vast flats block in Hockley after it was found to contain similar insulation material as Grenfell Tower.

A report carried out by officials in September 2020 found the Castle Exchange block in Broad Street was "clad with a combination of unsafe cladding systems which require replacement".

Investigations commissioned by the managers of the Nottingham block, True Love Properties, subsequently confirmed the external wall cladding contained combustible insulation.

Enquiries also found there were limited fire break areas, which are meant to limit the spread of flames in a fire.

The existing cladding will be removed to enable the removal of the combustible polyisocyanurate (PIR) insulation.

Similar insulation material was found on Grenfell Tower, which caught fire in 2017 claiming the lives of 72 people.

The Government’s £5bn Building Safety Fund set up in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire will fund the changes to the Castle Exchange tower.

People living in the Nottingham block said they felt felt reassured that changes will be made.

Owen Perry, 26, who works as a nurse and lives in the Hockley block, claimed tenants were previously asked to pay in part for the changes to cladding.

This was before it became clear the money would instead come from the Government.

"It's good that it's being changed but the developer or landlord should have to pay - it shouldn't be Government money being used to fix this," said Mr Perry.

"We heard that the material was even the same that was used in the Grenfell building, which is a horrible thing to hear about where you live."

Wajiah Adel, 23, a student at the University of Nottingham, said: "I'm a student and I live alone here so that would have been a worry if I had known.

"I was not told about this and it sounds unsafe. It's very surprising I was not expecting anything like this here.

Ms Adel, who moved from Jordan to Nottingham, added: "I did not expect this sort of thing here in England."

Albatoul Almarhoun, 23, who is a student and lives in the Castle Exchange complex, also gave her thoughts.

"I don't know about others but I haven't been told about this at all," she said.

"It is quite scary to hear and the fact that I did not know about it is quite worrying, when it could have been unsafe while I've lived here.

"I don't understand how it could happen at all really."

Castle Exchange is made up of five large blocks housing 119 residential units.

It reaches seven levels in height.

The green light was given to replace the cladding on January 24.

A planning document outlined that a series of Fire Risk Assessments and surveys had been undertaken.

A spokesperson for True Love Properties, which manages the building, said: "We have kept residents informed and regularly updated and have been dealing with their enquiries.

“In line with legislation, we acted quickly to comply with the new rules relating to building safety.

"As stipulated by Government guidelines, we actioned a report and we are now acting on the findings with funding from the Building Safety Fund.”

Earlier this month, Secretary of State for Levelling Up Michael Gove announced a plan to protect leaseholders and make developers and companies pay to fix cladding issues.

Nottingham City Council has moved to reassure those living in taller buildings (18 metres or over) in the city that since the fire at the Grenfell it had been taking action to help keep them safe.

Councillor Linda Woodings, portfolio holder for planning, housing and heritage at Nottingham City Council, said: “The safety of our residents and leaseholders, whether living in high rise council apartments or private rented ones, continues to be of the utmost importance to us.

“Following the Grenfell tragedy, we acted swiftly to establish which buildings might be at risk and to engage the co-operation of the building owners and developers, for them to put plans in place to start replacing any suspected unsafe cladding.

"We have undertaken a huge amount of work to help reassure city residents on the wider safety aspects of living in buildings, which includes carrying out fire safety audits of existing and new taller buildings, as well as investing £8.5m in an additional fire safety programme for council tenants.”

The city council has been contacting developers and building owners to establish which buildings might have cladding considered to be a risk, and, therefore, need replacing.

Since then, all those identified have either replaced / or are in the process of replacing cladding.

Richard Ellis, Station Manager at Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service said: “We have been working closely with Nottingham City Council to improve and maintain the safety of these buildings in Nottingham.

"We have introduced a range of new procedures and equipment aimed specifically at fighting fires in tall buildings. To support this, we would like to remind residents of the importance of having smoke alarms and testing them weekly.”

Meanwhile, cladding on city council owned residential tall buildings, which are managed on behalf of the council by Nottingham City Homes (NCH), already meet the required safety standards, and did not have the same cladding as that used on Grenfell Tower.

However, additional fire safety works, funded by the city council, to help reassure and keep Nottingham City Council tenants safe, have been happening at low-rise and high-rise blocks in the city as part of an £8.5m fire safety enhancement programme.

To read all the biggest and best stories first sign up to read our newsletters here.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.