No timeline on fire safety upgrades for tower block

The date for fire safety upgrades to start at a residential tower block has not been set, even though a council has approved investment for the works.

Ipswich Borough Council unanimously approved the procurement process to upgrade 19 of its properties with a £9.6m investment. They include Cumberland Towers on Norwich Road, which is the authority's only high rise block of flats.

The safety measures, from sprinkler installations to fire alarm updates, must be carried out in order to "meet the requirements of the Fire Safety Act", according to a council report.

Despite no timeframe, the work is expected to be completed in two phases at the properties.

At a meeting of the council’s executive, concerns were raised around the length of time it would take to upgrade Cumberland Towers as well as keeping residents up to date.

Labour's Cumberland ward councillor Carole Jones was concerned the tower block had not been included in either phase one or two of the works, and a date was yet to be agreed upon.

She told the meeting residents would want to know when it would happen, and she requested that they be kept up to date and given a "timeframe".

In response, Labour councillor Alasdair Ross, who is the portfolio holder for housing, said the council would know more once the procurement process was completed and they would understand when work could start.

The senior officer in charge of the project, Gavin Fisk, told the meeting that Cumberland Towers, as it was the only residential tower block owned by the council, would be "treated differently" and that it was already "treated differently through legislation".

The 19 properties will undergo the improvement works as part of changes from the Fire Safety Act in 2023 that was introduced in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire.

The upgrades include:

• Fire alarm upgrades or replacements
• Fire compartmentation works (including upgrading, repairing or replacement of fire doors)
• Sprinkler installation
• Smoke control upgrades
• Loft compartmentation
• Ventilation systems
• Wayfinding signage
• Electrical compliance and upgrading/new wiring where required as part of the overall fire strategy

Designs and specifications for the first set of buildings have already been completed, with tenders now invited from contractors, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Money will be awarded at a later date, subject to approval from executive members.

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