Council buildings in Portsmouth set for new £22m fire safety improvements

The city council is set to approve the cash to retrofit its eligible residential buildings with sprinklers, new fire doors and new panelling over the next four years, following pressure from Hampshire firefighters.

Among the sites to be upgraded are Ladywood House in Somers Town, Nickleby House in Buckland and Sarah Robinson House in Queen Street.

And several underground car parks, including in Grafton Street and Estella Road will be fitted with sprinklers.

The council's housing boss, Councillor Darren Sanders. said: 'Our first duty as a landlord is to make sure that all our buildings and homes are as safe as possible

'Although the buildings are currently safe we want to make sure we put in things like sprinklers - which is something the fire service has wanted for years, and the best possible fire doors.

'We are outlining a comprehensive plan to do that over the next few years.'

Mark Chapman, chairman of the Hampshire Fire Brigades Union, said it would be a 'welcome improvement' to the council's building stock.

'This is something that Southampton City Council did following the deaths of two firefighters at Shirley Towers in 2010,' he said.

'These measures don't prevent the fire or stop the fire but they hold the fire in check to allow us to fight it in a safe way. It gives us more time to get ourselves in a safe position to attack the fire. It's safer for the firefighters as well as the residents.'

Jason Avery, assistant director for prevention and protection at Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: ‘We fully support the mandatory installation of sprinklers in certain types of higher risk buildings.

‘Sprinklers are designed to control fires quickly, suppressing or even extinguishing fires before fire and rescue services arrive at an incident, helping to keep firefighters safer.

‘Sprinklers can help to create a safer evacuation strategy for residents within specific buildings. They can also significantly reduce property and water damage caused in the event of a fire.’

SEE ALSO: Next steps for Leamington and Horatia House to go ahead

As reported, unsafe cladding found on Portsmouth council buildings has been removed following the Grenfell tragedy - including at Leamington and Horatia House in Somers Town. And government has given the authority a regulatory role to ensure cladding on private buildings is replaced.

Currently cladding is being removed from the residential tower at Highbury College and Southdown View in Hilsea.

The panelling to be replaced as part of this programme will be either glass reinforced plastic (GRP) coated panels, high pressure laminate (HPL) panels or PVC composite spandrel panels that are typically located under windows.

The £22m will come from the housing revenue account major repairs reserve and will be considered at a meeting next week..

Where fire safety measures will be implemented

Sprinklers:2021/2022- Ladywood House- Handsworth House2022/2023- Mill Gate House- Sarah Robinson House- The underground car parks At Grafton Street, Estella Road,Westminster Place And Wingfield Street2023/2024- Nickleby House- Barkis House- Tipton House- Edgbaston House2024/2025- Copperfield House- Pickwick House

Fire door replacement:2021/2022- Hale Court- St John's Court- Thorrowgood House2022/2023- Escur Close (1-47 odds)- The Ridings (109-155 odds)- Copperfield House- Pickwick House- Nickleby House- Barkis House2023/2024- Mill Gate House- Sarah Robinson House- Ladywood House- Handsworth House2024/25- Tipton House- Edgbaston House

Panel replacement schemes2021/2022- Ladywood House- Handsworth House- Sarah Robinson House- Westminster Street (1-78)- Wingfield Place (1-71)2022/2023- Estella Road (1-189)- Grafton Street (2-238)- Hawthorn Crescent (475-522)

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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