Lib Dem campaigners keep pressure on Greenwich Council over cladding

Steve Day, our local Lib Dem candidate, who achieved a brilliant second place in the recent by-election in West Thamesmead, has been working hard in his role as chair of Royal Artillery Quays residents’ association in the ward. He is aiming to bring developers to book over various building defects and cladding on the buildings at RAQ. Currently, developers can replace external cladding at RAQ but leave combustible EWS1 B1 rated materials on the buildings. This means the current hefty £6000 per flat service charges could continue in perpetuity. Mortgage lenders may not provide funds for potentially unsafe buildings and insurance companies charge high premiums as combustible material that is banned on new buildings is being retained without any fire performance test evidence to identify the risk of leaving it on. 

To make matters worse a recent fire safety inspection by the Fire Brigade has revealed serious concerns about the Fire Stairs, the only means of escape, resulting in them issuing an enforcement notice. These concerns are something the Council's own building control department condemned as not meeting building regulations in 2019, yet nothing has been done for the 5 years since. 

Steve sought to bring an amendment to a building safety motion voted on at a council meeting in January regarding these issues but the amendment was not allowed. Steve was supported by a large group of RAQ residents at the meeting who jeered when the council said time had run out to discuss the amendment. This brings to mind a key issue in the Grenfell report that observed that residents were not listened to over fire safety concerns. 

Steve is not prepared to give up on getting a proper deal for his 1000 residents. He has written to the council to urge them to use their existing powers under the Building Act, 1984 to apply for an injunction to force Barratt to address all building regulation breaches at the time of construction. The current situation is financially ruinous for people as well as very stressful knowing that you live somewhere unsafe. He is also working with MP’s and peers in Parliament to try and bring about a legislative solution that would work for people across the country as well as West Thamesmead. More about the legislation here. 

The latest write-up is at: https://greenwichwire.co.uk/2025/02/05/royal-artillery-quays-thamesmead-greenwich-council-motion-barratt/