Tower block residents are told not to worry

MANCHESTER Street, Summervale House and Crossbank House viewed from the Civic Centre tower block

FIRST Choice Homes Oldham (FCHO) has re-assured residents living in Oldham's tower blocks after the devastating fire at Grenfell Tower in London this week.

The housing association, which has five high rise buildings in Oldham with a total of 414 flats, confirmed that on Wednesday a team of staff visited all high rise flats to re-assure residents and hand deliver a letter confirming the procedures in the event of a fire.

Staff have also spoken to Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) who advise residents to comply with the fire risk assessment of their blocks.

This says that the "stay put" policy is still the preferred option for the vast majority of incidents in high rise flats which have fire-resistant construction. These include all FCHO's tower blocks.

They also said that no tower block has the same controversial cladding as Grenfell Tower.

Dave Woods of First Choice Homes said: "Safety is paramount and we work closely with the GMFRS to ensure all safety measures are in place.

"We are aware that there has been a lot of concern raised about the cladding used on Grenfell Tower. We can confirm that the cladding used on our blocks is a different product.

"We must stress to all our tenants that incidents of this scale, involving people's homes, are extremely rare.

"We would however, urge our residents to ensure they play their part in fire safety by reporting hazards such as fly-tipping and hoarding and that they ensure cigarettes and candles are always safely extinguished."

The housing association also has a compliance team responsible for fire safety who ensure that all high rise blocks are regularly inspected.

This includes reviewing not only installed safety features but also looking for any hazards in communal areas in line with GMFRS advice.

Cath Green of First Choice Homes Oldham said: "Tenants can be assured that if any recommendations come from the incident in London, we will review our practices in line with this."

Councillor Barbara Brownridge, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods and Co-operatives, said: "There are seven high rise blocks in Oldham. Two of the buildings are owned by Oldham Council and managed by Inspiral Oldham.

The partners in this agreement, Great Places Housing Group and Wates, are contacting all tenants to offer re-assurance about our fire safety practices.

"First Choice Homes is responsible for the other five high rise tower blocks in Oldham and is doing the same for those tenants.

"All of the high rise buildings in Oldham are inspected on a regular basis, reviewing the safety features and checking for any hazards or risks in communal areas.

"If there are any recommendations from the incident in London, we will of course review our own practices and policies."