At the Council meeting of 7 February 2018 there was at least one question which was asked regarding the retro-fitting of water sprinklers. There being Question 10 which are part of the Paper ‘Questions to the Leader of the Council’, this being Councillor Ravi Govindia.
—-
(10) Sprinklers: Question raised by Councillor Heaster to the Leader of the Council:
In the Housing Revenue Account are firm plans, boldly put forward by the Conservative administration, to spend Borough wide on the Installation of sprinkler systems to high rise buildings. £12,000, 000 in 2018/19 and £11,800, 000 in 2019/20. Such measures ae overwhelmingly supported by the Mayor of London; nationally by the Labour Party; London’s Fire Commissioner and worried occupants living in high rise buildings
Does the Leader therefore:
a) Have any concerns about Wandsworth’s Labour Party plans, to potentially reduce or undermine this expenditure, by consulting individual high rise occupants on whether they support plans to install sprinklers in their individual blocks and thereby possibly exclude some from benefiting from better fire safety in their homes?
b) Does he believe, like me, that this is purely gesture politics by scared local politicians who are failing in their duty to unequivocally support calls for greater fire safety as a result of the tragedy at the Grenfell fire disaster?
c) Condemn the push-me-pull-me politics of a desperate minority?
d) Continue to demonstrate firm and decisive leadership in promoting the highest standards of fire safety for all throughout the borough?
Answer:
As my fellow Councillors are aware Wandsworth took an early decision after the Grenfell Tower fire to seek to install sprinklers into every property in all blocks of ten storeys or more, bringing existing residential stock up to the same standard with respect to fire safety that would apply to all new build properties of the same height. I was pleased that the proposal received the full backing of opposition members at the time. Since this important decision a number of other large scale social landlords have announced similar plans to retro-fit sprinklers to their existing high-rise stock and I fully expect more will follow our lead as the Grenfell Tower public enquiry proceeds. Professional bodies including the Royal Institute of British Architects, the Chartered Institute of Housing and the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority have also issued statements supporting the retro-fitting of sprinklers.
The Council is proposing a detailed consultation with affected residents on the proposals and will be making a pro-active application to a First Tier Property Tribunal and will encourage leaseholders to present their concerns.
I was obviously concerned to hear that opposition members are seeking to move away from their previous position and suggesting that the fitting of sprinklers should only proceed if a majority of residents in a block supported the proposal. This will not work and in my view could seriously jeopardise the safety of our residents. It is self-evident that in order to provide comprehensive fire protection to all residents it is critical that all properties in a block are fitted with sprinklers. As the London Fire Commissioner, Dany Cotton, stated last year sprinklers “can’t be optional, it can’t be a nice to have, this is something that must happen”.
I would also draw attention to the fact that Labour led Birmingham Council which has the largest number of tower blocks in the country as well as a number of Labour led London Councils, including Croydon, Islington, Waltham Forest and Hammersmith and Fulham, have also taken the decision to retro-fit sprinklers. John Healey MP, Labour’s shadow housing secretary announcing last year that “Sprinklers save lives, which is why the government should set aside the money to fit them into tower blocks across the country.” Indeed he went further in welcoming the original decision to have a Public Enquiry post Grenfell he did not support waiting for its outcome and recommendations. He was clear on the need to “act now on the recommendations that were there in the coroner’s report that they’ve had for over four years – so they can start by installing sprinklers in the high-risk blocks, the highest rise blocks” and this position remains the clear policy of the national Labour Party.
Responsible leadership requires conviction and fortitude, qualities it seems may be being sacrificed by opposition members on the altar of political expediency, our residents who chose to retain this council as their landlord will not forget or thank them. As a landlord the Council is fundamentally responsible for the health and wellbeing of its tenants, leaseholders and their sub-tenants and whilst the decision to retro-fit sprinklers has attracted some criticism and will not be without challenge, I remain convinced that this is still the right thing to do. Sprinklers save lives and I would urge all members to support the Council’s commitment to this programme of works and not seek to make a political issue out of such an important matter, we must never, ever allow a tragedy such as Grenfell of Lakanal to happen in this borough in housing we are responsible for.
_____________
Please note that all information is provided on a best efforts basis and that readers should make their own efforts to review and assess the provided content.
To receive blog articles as they are uploaded please ‘follow’ the blog.
Contact
Email us at – roeregeneration@yahoo.com – and let us know of any concerns/thoughts you may have or add a comment at the end of the blog entry in the ‘Leave a Reply’ section.
Or email your Roehampton and Putney Heath Councillors at;
Or email your local Member of Parliament at;
For a different view of Roehampton, especially the Alton Estate
roeregeneration 