Swindon residents have received a letter from Swindon Borough Council and Head of Property Maintenance, to start fire safety works in wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster in June.
Along with implementing fire safety works throughout David Murray John (DMJ) Tower, Swindon Borough Council have elected consultant Rider Levett Bucknall (RLB) to determine the best occupational use for the building.
Currently inhabiting both residential and commercial dwellings, RLB will navigate an options appraisal over the next few months.
DMJ tower has an aluminium curtain walling which Gary O'Connor, Head of Property Maintenance, insists is not the same as the polyethylene-filled panels used on Grenfell Tower, which is believed to have enabled the fire to spread so rapidly.
In a letter to DMJ's residents, Gary O'Connor wrote: "We have already carried out building surveys to the commercial lower floors and planning to carry out internal surveys to flats to access the condition of the components such as kitchens, bathrooms, and electrical wiring etc.
"The consultant is planning a range of specialist surveys, which includes a structural assessment of the existing concrete frame. We will need to remove two or three aluminium panels to gain access and will test these when they are removed, purely as a precautionary measure, to be absolutely sure that they don't contain any AMC (plastic) material.
"The options appraisal work will include costs and opinions for the installation of a fire suppression system (sprinklers or misting system).
"We have good fire safety measures in place at DMJ, which includes fire resistant front entrance doors, two protected shafts or stairways with positive pressure ventilation for means of escape, internal fire doors, and door entry check system to provide security with a fail-safe device, escape or emergency lighting, fire detection and alarm system to communal area and inside flats, pressurised wet riser with new booster pumps and fire-fighting lift.
"To improve fire safety further we are planning to fit replacement high quality flat front entrance doors with integral door closer (FD30S fire door), additional hard-wired independent smoke detectors to the lounge and bedroom to provide early detection in the event of a fire."
The option appraisals and fire safety works follows on from a council meeting held in July. An initiative to carry out reports on all of Swindon's high rise tower blocks received cross-party support.
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