Barton House parents terrified of return as date set for move back in
Residents who were evacuated from a tower block over fears of a collapse almost two months ago, have finally found out when they’ll be able to return - but many are terrified of the prospect of going back.
Barton House tower block in Bristol was suddenly evacuated in the evening of Tuesday 14 November, last year. This came amid sudden fears that a fire or explosion could cause a collapse in the flats where hundreds live. This came about, the council said, after the block was recently subject to a survey to assess its future. This raised the alarm about the integrity of the block of flats, and led to almost all of the residents being moved out.
They are now living in a nearby Holiday Inn, where they spent Christmas and New Year, or with family and friends as a small number refused to leave or moved back into Barton House. In a letter sent to residents, the Bristol City Council identified the two main areas of concern with the building that wasn't made to plan.
These were the absence of structural ties that were supposed to connect the floors and walls, leaving them unconnected, and concrete covering the building’s metal reinforcements being too thin, leaving it at risk of fire damage. In light of this, the council are undertaking three strands of work that they say will make the block safe to live in again.
These are: installing a new fire alarm, new fireproofing measures, and water testing for legionnaires in unoccupied flats. Bristol Live have covered the shocking incident since it unfolded and reported that as many as half of the residents who do not want to return to their homes inside Barton House. The outlet added that 41 residents had signed a letter saying they did not want to return and that they no longer felt safe within Barton House. They went on to demand that they were given urgent prioritisation for housing.
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However, now with a timeline for the works, and a date to move everyone back in on February 23, some parents are terrified of moving back, and said it’s been keeping them up at night. Yas, a mum living inside the flat with her children, said that "moving back in is not an option". She found out about the evacuation from her neighbour, hours after the media knew, and said she was afraid of what would happen in a few years or decades time to the building.
She added: "I’m not willing to put my child through that. He’s two next month and he's moved four times. We were told we'd be evacuated for two to three days, then two to three weeks, now we’re here till the end of February. For the majority of the parents, we don't want to move back, we refuse to move back, we want priority housing, the council said if we refuse to move back, we’re making ourselves voluntary homeless."
The Bristol tower block at the heart of the issue (Tom Wren / SWNS)Bristol City Council was approached for comment on whether it had told terrified parents that they would be homeless if they didn’t move back into Barton House. They have so far not responded.
Shaban is another dad who lives in the block with his kids, and also the secretary of the Bristol branch of Acorn. He was banned from today’s meeting after previous disruptive scenes at December’s full council meeting where he tried to ask the mayor questions.
He told The Mirror: "Ever since they announced the building would be safe to return to, I haven’t had a proper night’s sleep. I’m very anxious and very worried. I don’t want my kids to go through that. I don’t think we can cope with anymore disturbances, it’s traumatising for the kids, for the parents. Are we the next Grenfell? That's what worries me? Are we the next tragedy that’s waiting to unfold? Now the council is saying we’ll be homeless if we don’t go back. This isn’t the way we treat citizens."
Residents were informed of the danger late one evening and had to suddenly relocate their lives (Tom Wren / SWNS)At a previous meeting in December, the city council said that the structural anomalies found in November, that sparked the evacuation, had not been found elsewhere in the block. Amongst the work needed to allow the return of residents, is a block-wide fire alarm that would detect any blaze in a flat or communal area.
Works have already begun to install this in communal area but they will need residents’ permission to enter their homes. A vital worry of the building is linked to its steel framework. The T-shaped building has two blocks and where they meet the steel framework supports the brickwork.
However, the fireproofing of this structure is lacking and needs improving. To do so, works will be undertaken in 42 separate flats. The other issue stems from the structural ties, which were only put in place in some places and not others. Alongside this, water testing is being carried out as a precautionary measure to test for legionnaires.
Some 400 people were evacuated from the tower block (PA)Avon Fire & Rescue previously had to changed advice and guidance on appropriate operational procedures if a fire were to occur in the building, but have confirmed they will continue to attend to all emergencies on the premises.
Avon Fire and Rescue Services’ Group Manager for Prevention and Protection, Ben Thompson, attended the Barton House residents meeting at City Hall, and said: "Since the initial building survey, after which residents were advised to leave immediately as a precautionary safety measure, and subsequent actions and works taken on Barton House, we have supported Bristol City Council in the approach they are taking.
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"We understand this is a challenging time for residents of Barton House and we would like to reassure you that the approach the Council are taking towards fire safety as responsible persons and owners of the building is appropriate and proportionate. We continue to support the Council in these ongoing works to ensure that the building is a suitable home for residents to live. I hope today’s meeting bought some clarity and assurance to residents of Barton House, be reassured that we will continue to work with the Council to provide support where appropriate."
Marvin Rees, the Mayor of Bristol, said: "Since our meeting with residents in December, we have been busy working with engineers to establish the extent of the works needed at Barton House to make it safe for residents to return. Those actions are now agreed. We shared the planned approach with Avon Fire and Rescue Service who confirmed that this work is needed before residents can return safely.
"There are contractors in place, either carrying out these works already or prepared to begin immediately, as we continue to move at pace to make the block safe. The residents of individual flats are being approached to gain permission to carry out works in their properties. This is a vital part of how quickly we can move to complete these works and any delay in gaining access will impact on our plans to support residents to move back into Barton House by 23 February.
"We are now in a place where we can have a high level of confidence that the structure of Barton House is safer than we thought back in November, but not yet safe for residents to return. This confidence comes from the detailed further work carried out by engineers to survey the block across a number of key locations and the findings of those investigations.
"These results will be published once we have the final report and can be assured that we have taken all reasonable steps to make the block safe. We remain grateful to all Barton House residents for continuing to support our efforts and allowing us the opportunity to carry out these essential works, and to everyone who is continuing to support affected tenants."
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