Crown Heights cladding: Basingstoke council to meet people

The external cladding at Crown Heights, which has around 250 flats, contains the flammable material 'expanded polystyrene' and features no fire breaks.

It means that should there be a blaze, it could engulf the whole building similar to what occurred at Grenfell Tower in 2017.

In a cabinet meeting held on Tuesday, September 6, council leader Paul Harvey said the authority will take all steps it can as a council to resolve the concerns of Crown Heights residents.

He was speaking after considering a motion referred to the cabinet from the council.

READ MORE: Crown Heights: Work to get underway to remove cladding

“Some of the actions that we can take as a council for Crown Heights residents relates to other bodies," Cllr Harvey said.

“I've spoken to the chair of the residents association at Crown Heights and agreed with her that we should have a meeting along with the ward councillors in order to scope out our direction of travel to solve some of the issues that residents are facing. A lot of those issues they are facing directly relate to the contractors they have involved and the management company on site. And we will be doing what we can to support residents in dealing with them.

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“But it's very clear that we need to take the actions that we can take and then work with others appropriately.”

Previously, the council requested the cabinet to write to the valuation agency, calling for revisions to the council tax bands of these properties, given the impact of problems with the development on the value of these properties.

The council also requested the cabinet establish a task force within the council to ensure rapid completion of cladding and remedial works, provide a single point of contact at the council for Crown Heights, and provide fortnightly updates to the ward members of Brookvale and Kings Furlong.