Council tower blocks in Warwick district benefit from £2.5 million of fire safety improvements

Warwick and Leamington MP Matt Western visited two of the towers, Eden Court in Lillington and Radcliffe Gardens in Leamington, in the wake of the deadly fire.

While the blocks were found to be safe, it was clear upgrading their safety would be prudent.

Since then, Warwick District Council has committed to improving fire safety in all of its tower blocks, and is investing £2.5 million to do so.

The improvements include replacing and upgrading all of the front doors to the tower blocks.

Mr Western visited Eden Court and Radcliffe Gardens once again in December 2018 with Warwick District Council’s head of housing Lisa Barker, the portfolio holder for housing Cllr Peter Phillips, as well as Cllr Colin Quinney.

Mr Western said: “Eighteen months on from the tragedy of Grenfell Tower, it’s essential that locally we learn the lessons from that awful incident.

“I welcome the £2.5 million investment by Warwick District Council to improve fire safety in their tower blocks and was impressed by my visits to Eden Court and Radcliffe Gardens.

“I was impressed by the refurbishments and the further increase the safety of residents living in these flats in the event of a serious fire.”

Refurbishment work at Radcliffe Gardens, Binswood Street and Clarendon Square has now finished, and the council believe work will be finished at the other six blocks in the next nine months.

Cllr Peter Phillips, said: “We appreciate the support that Matt Western has given to the council’s fire safety work and welcomed the opportunity to show him the progress we have made since his last visit.

“We have worked with tenants over the past 18 months not only to ensure their homes meet the fire safety requirements following the Grenfell tragedy, but also to provide a much improved living environment for them.”

The Grenfell Tower fire, which happened on June 14, 2017 in the North Kensington area of London, killed 72 people.

The cladding on the tower allowed the fire to spread incredibly quickly. This caused many local authorities, including Warwick district, to investigate whether their own tower blocks were safe.