We are all working to respond to residents’ estate concerns (From Echo)

We are all working to respond to residents’ estate concerns

2:39pm Wednesday 10th March 2010 in

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I was shocked and disappointed to read your article “No apologies from housing bosses for Felmores fire” (Echo, Basildon edition, Friday).

Last year’s fire was the result of an arson attack using furniture dumped in the area, but not reported to Basildon Council’s collection team.

If a criminal is determined to commit arson, no fire risk assessment will make a difference.

Indeed, it is important to remember the house where the fire started had received a fire risk assessment.

I am disappointed with the tone of recent stories, many of which I consider to be irresponsible.

For the press to use an “independent fire risk expert” to make sweeping claims about the safety of an entire estate following a single site visit is nothing short of reckless.

St Georges Community Housing has been working with its own expert fire risk assessment consultants to devise and implement a fire management plan for the Felmores estate.

This has been done in consultation with Essex Fire and Rescue Service.

Your expert spent (at best) a couple of hours on site, and expressed his views with such sensational rhetoric that, just hours later, we had a group of terrified residents arrive at the council offices demanding a meeting with our head of housing services.

All partners are reviewing the situation and are working to respond to local concerns and any outstanding issues, not just at Felmores but across the entire district.

We will continue working in the best interests of residents, and this includes reminding residents of their own responsibilities to keep their area clean, tidy and safe.

Tony Ball
Leader, Basildon Council

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Echo asked the council to apologise and accept responsibility for failing to complete a fire risk assessment on Felmores within three years of the relevant legislation coming into force.

It refused to do so.

The risk of fire spreading between these timber-clad buildings is the key issue, not whether last year’s fire was started deliberately.

The comments published from a surveyor came after the council’s own fire assessment found there was a “substantial risk” of death or serious injury in the event of a fire at Bockingham Green.

The Echo has backed tenants’ calls for urgent measures to minimise the risks.

We suggested the council should install fire extinguishers and implement other short-term measures, pending its full fire management plan.

The council has declined to do so.