New heights in fire safety

 

 

 

The Government's leading Fire & Rescue Adviser, Sir Ken Knight, was especially impressed by improvements at the ten-storey Bewley Court, where the first phase of a £3m fire safety project has just been completed.  

In one of the first visits of its kind, Sir Ken Knight inspected state of the art fire prevention systems installed at the Southend premises and spoke with tenants about how they are benefiting from the additional safety measures.   

The project, carried out by South Essex Homes, on behalf of Southend-on-Sea Borough Council, aims to make Southend's tower blocks some of the safest in the country.

This is being achieved by installing new fire prevention features and educating tenants on their role in preventing fires.   

Bewley Court improvements included installing new Gerda fire safety equipment, such as one-hour fire resistant communal doors, fire resistant paint, and automatic bin room sprinklers.

In addition, tenants in the blocks had new fire resistant entrance doors fitted to their individual flats. In total £272,000 was invested on upgrading the tower block.  

Sir Ken Knight wrote the interim report into the Lakanal House fire in July 2009 which killed six people in Camberwell, and is Britain's foremost authority on fire safety in tower blocks.

During his Southend visit, Sir Ken said: "I've seen a lot of good practice which I hope South Essex Homes will share with other housing providers and partners.

In particular, this project has demonstrated some excellent examples of partnership working with tenants and residents being involved in the work to be done and a lot of the decisions to be taken.  

"I'd like to reassure tenants that tower blocks are safe places to live. However there is always going to be a risk of fire at any property which is why measures such as those I've seen today are so important."  

Joining Sir Ken were representatives from all partners involved in the project including South Essex Homes, Southend-on-Sea Borough Council, Southend Fire & Rescue Service and fire safety company Gerda. James Duddridge, MP for Rochford and Southend East also attended.  

Southend-on-Sea Borough Council's Executive Councillor for Adult Social Care, Health and Housing, Councillor Lesley Salter said: "The safety of our residents is paramount, so we very much welcome these important new measures which give even greater safeguards.  

"We are honoured that the work is being recognised and inspected by such a leading national figure as Sir Ken Knight."  

South Essex Homes Chief Executive, Mike Gatrell, said: "As an organisation, we have made a commitment to improve and modernise the tower blocks to ensure they had the latest fire safety measures and we will be spending £3m over the next 4 years to upgrade more of our   tower blocks to this high standard.  

"However it is important to remember the role our tenants must play in fire prevention. Tenants have a responsibility to look after their communities through simple things like ensuring fire exits are kept clear, that fire doors are not left open, that burning material is not thrown into waste chutes and that domestic rubbish and furniture etc is not left in communal areas."

Tenant coordinator and Bewley Court resident, Pauline Tanrikulu, said: "I am really pleased with the project. We were consulted the whole way through and we got to have our say in what designs and colour were used which was really nice. 

"I definitely feel much safer in my home now, especially with the new front doors that have stronger locks and give us 30 minutes fire protection.  

"We have moved forward massively as a community and people now take more pride in the area and there's less graffiti on the walls. South Essex Homes do listen to the people that live here which is brilliant."  

South Essex Homes has published specific fire safety advice for tenants living in tower blocks which can be viewed on this page of the South Essex Homes website: http://www.southessexhomes.co.uk/content.asp?content=12223