Grenfell fears Work starts soon to remove cladding from luxury flats
THE final tower block in Bristol that still has Grenfell-like cladding will have it removed this spring, it has been revealed.
The building involved is the Eclipse Tower, above Harvey Nichols in Cabot Circus, which has the same combination of materials as the London building, where an inferno killed 72 people in June 2017.
Residents of the Bristol block have been told to keep electrical appliances turned off at night since the discovery 18 months ago.
The 14-storey luxury apartment block’s owners say it is considered “low risk” and that they have applied a series of safety measures, including a new fire alarm system.
In a separate development, Bristol City Council has revealed the “massive” scale of work it is required to carry out at its own domestic properties as a result of the disaster.
It includes making 60,000 visits every year to check fire doors at council flats, despite the fact none of its 62 highrises have the same panels as Grenfell Tower.
Avon Fire and Rescue Service says privately owned Eclipse Tower in Penn Street is the last remaining building in its area that has the combination of aluminium panels with a combustible polyethylene core.
The material played a major part in the rapid spread of the Grenfell blaze, which started when a fridgefreezer malfunctioned on the fourth floor.
The fire service says seven other buildings have been identified as having the same materials, of which five have now had them removed and two are only partially clad in small areas.
They include Waverley House student halls in Queen Charlotte Street, whose owners Unite Students carried out the work just a month after Grenfell when its cladding failed Government safety tests.
Avon Fire and Rescue Service technical fire safety station manager Karl Venn said: “We are continuing to work with local authorities, developers, management committees and tenants to help ensure that the fire safety arrangements in high-rise accommodation are safe and appropriate.
“In our service area, there is currently one high-rise property with cladding similar to that of Grenfell, but plans are already in place to remove this – scaffolding is being erected currently with a view to starting the remediation works.
“Of the other seven buildings in our service area we identified over the past two years, five have already removed similar cladding and two are only partially clad in small areas.”
A spokesman confirmed the last remaining building that still required the cladding’s removal was Eclipse Tower, where extra patrols and dedicated fire-watch CCTV cameras were put in place in the summer of 2017.
Asset managers Hammerson said in a statement on behalf of the block’s owners Bristol Alliance: “We now have planning consent for the cladding replacement works and intend to start on site in the second quarter of 2020.
“We are committed to keeping residents updated as these works progress.
“The safety of residents and anyone visiting Eclipse Tower is our number one priority.
“Following guidance from Avon Fire and Rescue Service and independent thirdparty experts, we have installed a new fire alarm system, which means that the waking watch is no longer required.
“We have also implemented a series of additional risk management measures and as a result of these initiatives we can confirm that the building continues to be considered low risk by the relevant authorities.”
Meanwhile, Bristol City Council head of planned maintenance programmes, Gillian Durden, said the local authority’s buildings were “very safe” and that none of its 62 tower blocks had the same cladding as Grenfell.
She said the “concrete box” structure of its high-rises also meant fire would not spread from flats.
❝ We now have planning consent for the cladding replacement works and intend to start on site in the second quarter of 2020. Statement on behalf of owners Bristol Alliance