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Southwark sets out plans for Ledbury Estate
Southwark Council is set to give the go-ahead to the refurbishment of four tower blocks where structural problems have compromised fire safety and forced it to disconnect gas supplies.
Its cabinet is due next week to debate a recommendation that the blocks on the Ledbury Estate should be completely refurbished, including strengthening works.
New homes would be built on adjacent sites to help finance the refurbishment – of which at least half of which will be council homes – with the remaining cost met from the Housing Revenue Account.
Stephanie Cryan, cabinet member for housing at Southwark Council, said: “We know it has been a difficult time for many people but I feel we are at a point where we can start moving forward and get this work done to fix the homes in the four tower blocks, and use this opportunity to build new family homes on the estate to help meet costs and help local families living in overcrowded conditions.”
The cabinet report said the council became aware of cracks appearing in towers after a post-Grenfell public meeting on fire safety in June 2017.
It said thermal movement of the towers’ large concrete panels had led to the breakdown of fire safety compartmentation.
Consultant Arup was commissioned to check on the blocks’ structural integrity and found they had been built without the correct strengthening measures in place.
They proved to be of a similar design to Newham’s Ronan Point, which partially collapsed in a gas explosion in 1968. Southwark then cut off the towers’ gas supply.
Last December Southwark said in Freedom of Information disclosures that it had spent £6.8m on the estate since concerns were raised in July 2017, including £1.3m on fire marshals, £420,000 on installing temporary immersion heaters and £3.6m on installing a new district heating system.
A spokesperson for the Ledbury Action Group - which represents residents of the estate - said: "Where many other Large Panel System owners around the UK are discovering similarly serious problems and simply opting for demolition, Southwark are instead taking a unique position by attempting a newly designed structural strengthening and fire-stopping programme to the Ledbury tower blocks.
