Westfield House, West St, Bridgwater, Somerset, South West England, UK, TA6 3RL
Fire Safety Review Gives Westfield House the ‘All Clear’ Westfield House towering above Bridgwater’s West Street since 1965 Sedgemoor District Council’s Corporate Scrutiny committee, under the chairmanship of Westover Councillor Brian Smedley, has reviewed the Council’s response to the Grenfell Tower fire disaster in its own hi-rise properties and has concluded that all necessary steps have been taken to re-assure tenants and where there was cause for concern measures are being introduced to improve the situation. On 14 June at about 1am, a fire started on the 4th floor of the Grenfell Tower block in London housing some 600 people. Grenfell Tower had 24 floors with 6 flats per floor, an alarm system that worked and the Fire Brigade in immediate attendance – yet at least 80 died – most of them in 23 of the blocks 129 flats Ward Councillor Brian Smedley immediately called for urgent review of safety measures On the morning of 14th June, Scrutiny Chair Cllr Smedley visited Sedgemoor’s (and Somerset’s) only tower block, Westfield House and nearby lo-rise blocks around West Street. Hi Rise blocks are defined as ‘anything above 18 metres’-usually 5 storeys or more. Noting resident’s concerns he immediately wrote to Chief Executive Kerry Rickards and SDC Leader Duncan McGinty asking for a swift Council response to re-assure tenants and offered to hold a Scrutiny meeting at which residents and Homes in Sedgemoor officers could participate. Cllr Smedley said “The key question asked was ‘How can a small kitchen fire in one flat lead to this catastrophe? How could it happen there and could it happen here?’ Residents raised four areas of concern -The Stay Put Policy, the lack of a central sprinkler system, the lack of a central Fire Alarm and , crucially, the Cladding used which seemed to have contributed to the spread of the fire. We felt a Scrutiny Working Party should look at these issues first and present a full and open report to be put on the table for the public
Size: 3648px × 5008px
Location: West St, Bridgwater, Somerset, South West England, UK, TA6 3RL
Photo credit: © Tony Smith / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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