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PUBLIC TO BE LOCKED OUT OF ‘PUBLIC’ SALFORD COUNCIL TOWER BLOCK FIRE SAFETY SCRUTINY MEETING
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Star date: 24th July 2017 FIRE SAFETY 'PUBLIC' SCRUTINY MEETING CLOSED TO THE PUBLIC A panel meeting which is supposed to publicly scrutinise Salford Council's dealings over fire safety in the city's tower blocks is to be held behind closed doors tonight. The whole point of these 'scrutiny' committee meetings is to be an open and transparent process of councillors, in public, holding the Council and the Mayor to account. But tonight the meeting is to be held in secret. Why? Full details here...
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Tonight, the public will be locked out of a 'public' meeting about fire safety in the city's tower blocks, as a scrutiny meeting of councillors, which should be open and transparent, will be heard behind closed doors. The Growth and Prosperity Scrutiny Panel of Salford City Council is made up of backbench councillors who are charged with holding officers and Cabinet members to account for their actions. These meetings are always held in public, and the public can usually ask questions. However, at this evening's Scrutiny Panel, a 'Verbal Update on Fire Safety in respect of Salford Tower Blocks', by Chief Officer Ben Dolan and Deputy Mayor and newly appointed 'fire tsar', John Merry, is to held in 'Part 2': Closed To The Public. Salford City Mayor, Paul Dennett, has stated that fire safety reports relating to Salford tower blocks will be made public, and Councillor John Warmisham, at last week's council meeting, was praising John Merry for the way he's been getting information out to the public, which, he added was "second to none". Tonight there will be just 'none'. The Salford Star understands that councillors themselves had problems bringing the issue of how the Council is handling fire safety to their Growth and Prosperity Scrutiny Panel after being originally refused permission to discuss the subject. Following protests by councillors, permission was finally granted – but the public has now been excluded. Members of the public and residents of tower blocks may well now be asking 'What have they got to hide?'...
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Hedley Hopper wrote
at 17:38:52 on 24 July 2017 |
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| Obviously, the residents of Salford's Tower blocks are very concerned about the fire-safety of their homes. To allay the fears of the residents and for the sake of transparency Part 2 of the Scrutiny Committee should be held in public, despite the fears of awkward questions being asked.
To paraphrase a well-known adage, if it looks like a cover-up, and smells like a cover-up, then it probably IS a cover up!! |
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Alf wrote
at 17:38:49 on 24 July 2017 |
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| A social tenant myself, I do feel second-class at times. Though not fire-related, thank god, the Irwell flooding on Boxing day 18 months ago highlighted a continuation of shoddy work our landlords deliver on us, largely by contractors that are only in it for a quick buck and assign skilled workmen that sometimes be better off on tea duty. Fire has cost lives, and I'd want more clarification I was safe in a tower block. Back to my circumstances though, and I know for sure that any future flood from the Irwell will simply arrive at our dwellings and laugh at the half-cocked measures Salix, their contractors have sent in to as defence, a bit of plastic hear and there. Thankfully we had another chance; those in tower blocks should a blaze occur, may not. My experience of contractors' work, I'd sooner have to clean up after a flood than worry whether I go to sleep in a death trap. |
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Cladding Wonder Woman wrote
at 12:00:19 on 24 July 2017 |
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| I think I know exactly what they are hiding. This meeting is not about the fire safety of the tower blocks, this is about finding ways to cover it up cheaply, without the tenants knowing. This is just not acceptable. The tenants have a right to know that the cladding used in Arthur Millwood is exactly the same rubbish as they used on the Grenfell Tower. We also have a similar, if not the same gas supplied communal heating system that Grenfell Towers had. Our front doors have not been fitted properly and there are large gaps all the way around the door frame. That is so going to stop a fire spreading. "not". Then we have the brilliant plastic mounted metal lid letterbox. That is so going to drop off if there is a fire. Yet another fire hazard. Some of the hallway fire doors do not shut properly, do not open properly, or blow open in the wind. I think these properties were not refurbished at all. I believe they just stuck a bit here and a bit there to hide all the problems, inside and outside the block. And as far as John Merry, I'm not surprised Arthur Millwood has these problems. I think he looks old, tired and obviously blind if he believes that my tower block would pass a real fire inspection. Another fire hazard that was brought to my attention was the rubbish disposal unit, which is on every floor. A fire could easily spread from the ground floor to the top via this rubbish device. All the seals have either bust, or the cast iron door is falling off the wall. So if you wanna know what they are hiding, read the above!!!!!!! |
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