In five high-rise buildings, the potentially unsafe cladding was not removed immediately by Grenfell’s instructions from the fire chiefs – magviral

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Following the Grenfell tragedy, a housing association did not remove the potentially unsafe cladding of five high-rise housing blocks for social housing in Trafford on the advice of the Greater Manchester fire chiefs.

In November, the Trafford Housing Trust admitted that the replacement of the ACM cladding, which was classified as the main cause of the spread of fire during the Grenfell fire, was delayed.

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The cladding comprised around 15 percent of the five Trafford blocks.

The panel replacement should be completed on all five blocks by February this year. In the case of three blocks, however, the problematic cladding was removed and completely replaced. However, work on the two remaining blocks should not be completed until this summer.

The five skyscrapers in Stretford and Old Trafford are:

Iain Wallace, head of property management at Trafford Housing Trust, said at a council meeting that the Greater Manchester fire chiefs asked them not to remove the cladding because the exposure of the polyethylene to the aluminum panels was classified as flammable and flammable became dangerous when it was covered up.

Mr Wallace said the hope was to complete the work in 2018, shortly after the Grenfell Tower tragedy, but this advice had delayed the move process.

He said: Immediately after (Grenfell), we brought in contractors to work with us to remove (the cladding) as soon as possible. We were hoping that this would be completed in 2018, but we received a notification from Greater Manchester Fire and emergency services, which did not require you to remove a panel until you found a suitable technical solution to replace it.

Initially we thought we would strip the towers and essentially leave them open until an alternative is available. However, the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service advised us not to do this.

He added that since then, further delays have been caused by difficulties in getting experts, scaffolding and contractors to complete the work.

The Stretford Empress Court is managed by the Trafford Housing Trust(Image: Google Maps)

The trust admitted that there was an arbitrary decision by other organizations to remove the ACM cladding from their buildings, but at that time the trust was receiving advice daily and keeping residents at the heart of the process. ,

Authorities in the south east of England who removed aluminum plates were criticized for this.

Since the cladding had been replaced on three of the five blocks in the past two and a half years, 18 residents were temporarily relocated so that the work could take place.

Housing Trust chiefs said residents were absolutely fantastic and incredibly patient and incredibly understanding during the trial.

The central government is expected to cover the panel replacement bill in Trafford and elsewhere in the UK through a grant funding program so residents do not have to pay for the process.

Representatives of trust also confirmed that watch watches are in operation around the clock in all five high-rise buildings.

Two firefighters patrol the five high-rise buildings every hour on the hour to remove flammable objects. In the event of a fire, a horn would sound to initiate the evacuation of the building. Something that trusted representatives said was very well received by residents.

In consultations with the residents of high-rise buildings, a ratio of 60 to 40 was determined in order to retrofit sprinkler systems in all of the districts high-rise buildings.

Iain Wallis confirmed that funds would be provided to cover all of the costs associated with this sprinkler system if installed after a decision by the Board of Trustees and after further consultation with the residents.

A decision on the sprinkler system is expected to be made in March 2020 at a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Trafford Housing Trust, which includes former Council President Coun Sean Anstee and current Council President Coun Andrew Western.

A spokesman for Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Services said: Since the Grenfell Tower fire, GMFRS has worked with housing providers like the Trafford Housing Trust to develop renovation solutions.

No enforcement notices have been served on the Trafford Housing Trust and a work program has been drawn up.

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In five high-rise buildings, the potentially unsafe cladding was not removed immediately by Grenfell's instructions from the fire chiefs - magviral