UPDATE - case taken up by ward councillor. LETTER: A letter to Brent Council regarding my safety in the event of a serious fire in my high-rise block

 Dear Editor, 

How can I get Brent Housing Management to fix the self closing fire doors in my high-rise, William Dunbar House, South Kilburn.

At the Grenfell Inquiry, self closing fire doors that did not self close were identified as the second highest issue after unsafe cladding and as a result I have been emailing the council to fix 2 self closing doors that do not self close and which are part of my only fire escape in my high-rise, one on the 3rd floor & one on the 5th floor but after 3 years, they still have not been fixed and everyone's safety is under threat because of this.

I had a response to one of my emails from a housing officer who said "Fire Safety is not included in my job description" and he failed to pass it on to another officer, who did have Fire Safety in their job description.

After 3 years I decided to ask the London Fire Brigade to solve the issue but I was shocked by their reply, which said they were not responsible for Fire Safety in council blocks and they forwarded my email back to Brent Council who failed to take any action as usual.

Now I am asking Wembley Matters to get a response from Brent Council and get them to fix the 2 self closing door in my block.  However if there are at least 2 damaged doors in my block, I am sure there must be many more damaged doors throughout the rest of Brent's high-rise stock and the council should carry out an urgent inspection of all their high-rises to check to see if there are any other self closing fire doors that do not close.

I realise how important this issue is after the tragic fire in the Bronx that was caused by a non self closing door that stayed open, allowing fire and smoke to escape to the rest of the building, resulting in so many tragic deaths.

My fear is that my block could be next, unless Brent Housing fix all the damaged fire doors across the borough, or we could end up like Grenfell or yesterday's fire in the Bronx..  

Thank you Martin.

John Healy

 

UPDATE: Following publication of this letter on Wembley Matters a ward councillor has got in touch with John to take up the case.

£10m bill to rectify safety issues at Network Homes' Grand Union Heights in Alperton

 

Grand Union Heights

Network Homes, whose Head Office is in Wembley Park,  have written to residents of Grand Union Heights, Alperton to tell them that the cost of remedying safety issues in  the development will be £10 million.  The development was subject to a fire 'waking watch' until earlier this year when fire alarms were installed according to local sources. One guard remains.

Network Homes have requested that residents who use their flats for 'financial gain' (landlords?) should submit their own claim for government funds:

We’ve submitted the application for the remediation work at Grand Union Heights to the government’s £1bn Building Safety Fund. This does not guarantee that the government will approve the application. Even if we’re successful, the fund does not cover every cost incurred at Grand Union Heights. You need to fill out a state aid form if you ‘use your property for financial gain’. We are unable to do this on your behalf so please spend some time going over the documents to ensure you understand if you need to fill it out. We’ll let you know the outcome when we hear back from the government – we expect it will take them about a month. Whatever the outcome, we’ll hold a webinar where we’ll go through the next steps and you’ll be able to ask us any questions you may have.

Given the developments in Alperton, South Kilburn and Wembley Park we can expect similar claims to be submitted.

Brent Council issues parks and allotments fire warning

BBQ at Barn Hill Open Space at the weekend

Scorched grass after fire at the Open Space (not caused by above BBQ)

Brent Council has now put out the following announcement:

Due to the very high temperatures we have been experiencing over the last month, the London Fire Brigade have issued a temporary ban on all BBQs in parks across London. This is due to the risk of fire if they are left unattended. 

In Brent, we already have a complete ban on BBQs in our parks, however this is an opportunity for us to remind residents about the increased risk of fire due to the hot weather.

We appreciate that residents will want to enjoy the hot weather, however please remember your safety at all times. Perhaps you may consider alternatives such as arranging a picnic instead.

We would also like to request that allotment holders do not burn any green waste during this heat wave, to reduce the possibility of fire spreading.

If we are to have regular hot summers it may be worth the Council considering installing stone/concrete 'fire places' in its parks such as those found in North America and Australia but there are issues of air pollution to consider. LINK

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Waiting for action after South Kilburn meeting on fire safety

Tuesday's meeting in fire safety held in South Kilburn was well attended by residents despite the awkward time of 4pm. One attendee described it as understandably emotional at times. Phil Porter, Brent Council lead officer, said that every block on the estate would have their own meeting (although some blocks don't have a meeting room of their own) within the next 6 - 8 weeks.

The panel chaired by Tulip Siddiq consisted of Brent Council officers and representatives from BHP, housing associations and the London Fire Brigade. Councillors sat in the audience  with one attendee remarking that this seemed to absolve them from direct democratic accountability. Catalyst Housing had been invited but sent apologies.

Brent Housing Partnership were asked to change policy on any bicycles and push-chairs etc that blocked stairwells. Rather than give 7 days notice of their removal they should be removed immediately as they constitute a fire risk.

Cllr Duffy has been chasing up the issue of large bins filled with combustible material (see above) stored beneath balconies and netting used to keep out pigeons fixed along balconies which could act as a fire bridge. This is of particular concern as a tenant was found yesterday to be trying to store tyres on his balcony.

Duffy  told other councillors about the issues today as the CEO, Carolyn Downs, had failed to reply:

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The council looks neglectful  having a public fire -risk meeting in a block that is in the opinion of the LFB  has unsafe aspects.

The problem is the same old problem with Brent, do a lot of good work but fall at the last hurdle. One resident has agreed to help me move the bins  from under the balcony this afternoon into a safer location.

What are Brent's housing providers doing post-Grenfell?

Never again

Brent Council has published details of registered housing providers in Brent for residents who wish to check up on fire safety following the Grenfell Tower tragedy. The amount of information varies between the providers:

Catalyst	www.chg.org.uk/residents/all-residents/resident-news/37128/keeping-our-residents-safe-grenfell-tower/
Family Mosaic	www.familymosaic.co.uk/statement-grenfell-tower/
Genesis	www.genesisha.org.uk/customers/advice_and_support/fire_safety.aspx
Homegroup	www.homegroup.org.uk/Media/News/Home-Group-news/Home-group-statement-on-fire-safety-following-Grenfell-Tower-fire
Hyde Housing	www.hyde-housing.co.uk/news/local-news/grenfell-tower-west-london/
Innisfree	www.innisfree.org.uk
Inquilab	www.inquilabha.org/news_feeds/detail/information-for-residents-following-the-fire-at-grenfell-tower
L&Q Group	www.lqgroup.org.uk/about/media-centre/news/details/31
Metropolitan	www.metropolitan.org.uk/statement-on-fire-safety/
Network Homes	www.networkhomes.org.uk/firesafetyupdate/
Notting Hill Housing	www.nhhg.org.uk/news/news/resident-news/grenfell-tower-fire-information-for-residents/
Octavia Housing*	www.octaviahousing.org.uk/news-events/news/233
Origin Housing	www.originhousing.org.uk/media-hub/news/fire-safety

*As far as we have been made aware, so far, only Octavia Housing has been told that there are concerns with one of their properties following the Government’s testing of their cladding samples. There are questions surrounding the cladding used on Octavia's Elizabeth House development in Wembley. However, following an extensive check of the building the London Fire Brigade has advised Octavia that Elizabeth House does not require evacuation nor immediate removal of cladding.

The Government has said that it will notify the relevant registered housing provider and the council of any other blocks in Brent which have concerns over cladding, once samples have been tested, and the council will publish any new information we receive widely – including on this web page LINK

Brent Council statement on high-rise blocks safety

Brent Council has posted the following statement on its website LINK:

High-rise safety in council blocks

Many residents living in high-rise blocks across the country will naturally be concerned so within Brent, the council and Brent Housing Partnership (BHP) have moved quickly to do extra checks and double checks of our high-rise blocks so that we are able to provide our residents with the reassurances they deserve. In Brent the facts are:

• We have 37 high-rise blocks in Brent and all 37 are 100% fire risk assessment compliant.
• We have never used Rydon Limited or Harley Facades Limited, the contractors who worked on Grenfell Tower, anywhere in Brent.
• Estate inspectors and compliance experts have visited all 37 high rise blocks, including communal areas and exit routes to remove any remaining rubbish, bicycles and other hazards which could hinder access and exit in an emergency.
• More than £10million has been spent over the past 4 years on measures to reduce the risk of fires in council run properties across the borough.

For details on all 37 high-rise blocks in Brent and the status of each of their fire risk assessments, please check the fire safety information here. [Ed: when I last accessed it this doesn't include Quintain development in Wembley or Octavia's Elizabeth House in Wembley High Road]

Council blocks with cladding

One high-rise block, Watling Gardens, has cladding. However, the cladding used is completely different to the cladding used at Grenfell Tower. We have double checked and the cladding is a non-combustible mineral wool material that would not promote the spread of flames externally and is in compliance with current British standards. However, we are not taking anything for granted and will also be commissioning our own independent checks on the cladding as well and report the results of this to residents in Watling Gardens as soon as possible.

Registered housing providers – high rise blocks

Aside from the assessments we have been carrying out across the Council’s own housing stock, we have also been in contact with all registered housing providers in Brent to ensure that the same thorough assessments are being carried out on their buildings as a matter of urgency, specifically on high-rise and cladded buildings. We have also asked them to communicate with residents to provide them with reassurance regarding their homes.

The list of registered providers in Brent is as follows: Family Mosaic, Notting Hill Housing, Hyde Housing, Genesis, Innisfree, JL Living, Catalyst, Metropolitan, Network Homes, Octavia, Origin Housing, Homegroup and L&Q Group. We will provide links to updates on this web page when they become available.

Private housing – high rise blocks

In terms of other private buildings and properties across the Borough, the main developer in Brent is Quintain who we contacted shortly after the Grenfell fire and they have confirmed that all of their new build residential blocks meet fire safety standards. We are waiting to hear back from other private developers in Brent and will provide links to updates on this page as they become available.

The council, as a planning authority, is not involved in assessing planning applications against fire safety as this is covered by other Government legislation, in this case, Building Control regulations. When a developer is building, they can choose whether to use the Council as building inspectors, or an accredited inspector. If they choose the latter, the council is not responsible for oversight of the work.

The council regularly reviews its fire risk assessments, servicing and maintenance programmes in all accommodation blocks and will continue to do so to ensure our residents are always kept safe. Once the findings from the Government’s emergency review into fire safety in tower blocks are known we will of-course review and, if needed, amend our fire management processes and strategy as a matter of urgency.