PROBE INTO TENEMENT COLLAPSE CALLED FOR LEGAL MOVE
GOVERNMENT INQUIRY RECOMMENDED ACTION AGAINST DEVELOPER OVER BUILDING HORROR
AN INQUIRY into a catastrophic tenement collapse that could have led to a “serious loss of life” recommended legal action against the developer which was constructing homes next to the building.
On August 27, 2007, emergency crews were called to 275 Wilton Street, near Queen Margaret Drive after huge cracks appeared in the blonde sandstone building.
Firefighters evacuated five people and minutes later, the building collapsed.
Construction work had got under way to build a sevenstorey block of 16 flats next to the tenement block.
A damning report by the Health and Safety Executive, which has never been made public, states that Standard Homes Ltd, had little experience of projects of this scale and had mainly been involved in refurbishing flats.
Work had commenced without a health and safety plan being in place with little evidence that risk assessments had been carried out.
Residents are currently fighting a fresh plan by a company, believed to have links to Standard
Homes, for a similar development on the same site.
The HSE report describes how “deep excavation work” had been carried out by the contractors close to the gable end the day before the tenement collapsed.
The report adds that “no means of temporary support” was provided for the excavation “despite its depth requiring such measures”.
It goes on to say that this omission “ultimately led to the undermining of the base of the gable wall and its eventual collapse”.
The HSE said the fact that no-one was injured (including the contractors involved) was only due to quick-thinking residents who noticed serious cracking in the tenement wall hours before the collapse.
The report states that Standard Homes had been warned about the dangers associated with deep excavation works before construction work got under way.
It concludes: “Legal proceedings are recommended against the Principal Contractor for their failings to both properly plan and manage the works and for failing to carry out the works in a safe manner, resulting in seriously endangering both members of the public.”
The development was halted and Standard Homes, which was headed up by Nahid Ali and Tanveer Ali, is said to have been dissolved.
The owner of the collapsed block of flats, Jagdish Bassi, is understood to have abandoned efforts to bring a legal claim against the developers and the gap site has been lying vacant every since.
However, residents with the support of a local councillor, Martha Wardrop, are now fighting a fresh plan by a company said to be linked to the original developer for a similar development of flats.
Dunand Ltd has planning permission to build 16 homes on the site between 259 and 275 Wilton Street. Nahid Ali and Tanveer Ali were listed as directors up until last year.
The new director of Dunand is Robeena Kahlid. Ms Kahlid and Tanveer Ali are both registered as living at 70 Barrington Drive, off Great Western Road.
The original planning permission was granted in 2005 and there is a deadline for the development to have been completed by February 2020 or the consent runs out.
The developer has applied for an extension and local residents are calling for this to be rejected – as well as a fresh application for a building warrant – on the grounds of “public safety.”
It is understood that City Property has asked Dunand for a timeline of works, which is now under consideration and the developer is preparing to appoint a construction firm.
Commenting on the safety concerns raised by residents,
a council source said: “Whether a developer has appropriate competency to carry out building operations is not controlled by planning legislation.
“Similarly, health and safety on a construction site are not controlled by planning legislation.
“They are matters over which the planning authority (Glasgow City Council) has no remit.
“Every planning application is considered on its individual merit, and will be considered in due course before the planning officer makes a recommendation one way or another.”
Dunand Ltd is registered on Company House at Ballantyne & Co, 60 St Enoch Square.
The Glasgow Times contacted the firm for comment on the developer’s plans for the site and the concerns raised by residents but no-one responded.
Legal proceedings are recommended against the Principal Contractor