Most owners of private high rise blocks in Nottingham have responded to a request from the City Council to look at building and safety standards in the wake of the Grenfell tragedy.
However there are particular concerns that the owners of a city centre high rise have yet to respond, despite reminder letters being issued.
The owners of Loxley Court on St James’s Street are being urged by the Council to provide an update on their building and safety standards. In the meantime, Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service (NFRS) has been asked to conduct its own fire safety audit on the building.
The Council is requesting the same information from private high rise owners that the Government has asked from councils. Nottingham City Council owns 13 tower blocks that are managed on its behalf by Nottingham City Homes. Its own review of these properties revealed that none of them are clad in the same material that was used on Grenfell Tower, and that fire safety arrangements are robust.
However, to provide extra protection and reassurance for residents, the council has committed to installing sprinklers and improving intercom systems. It is now looking to private high rise owners to carry out the same audit and consider whether they should take any action.
City Council Leader, Councillor Jon Collins said: “We want to ensure that all residents in tower blocks can have the confidence that the safety of their buildings has been properly assessed which is why we’ve worked hard to contact private high rise owners over the last two weeks.
“Although most have responded positively to our request providing some reassurance that they have considered safety standards, it’s clearly a concern that the owners of Loxley Court are yet to get in touch. We urge them to do so quickly and have already taken steps to have the buildings fire safety audited by NFRS.
“Details of all the private high rise owners who have been contacted and the responses we have received so far have been published on the Council’s website. We are also sharing all the info we receive with the fire service and where there is no reply we are asking them to visit the building to carry out appropriate inspections using a risk-based approach.”
The Council has prioritised contacting the owners of high rise buildings but it has also asked owners of ‘medium rise’ tower blocks for the same safety information.