Agenda item

Regeneration Projects Moving Forward

[To discuss Fire Safety for the Council’s regeneration projects moving forward].

Minutes:

The Director of Place confirmed that he was the Senior Responsible Officer for the Civic Hall.  Following an informal meeting he had attended with the Chair of the Fire Safety Scrutiny Group, he had gone back to the Project Director of the Civic Hall, to ask about certain points the Chair had raised about fire safety, which had included the installation of sprinklers.  As a result an independent fire safety report had been commissioned on the most appropriate fire safety measures to implement at the Civic Hall.  One of the specific questions he had asked the report to cover was over the issue of sprinklers.  They had made some enquiries with other areas which included Colston Hall in Bristol, New Halls in Bradford and a venue in Hull.  His understanding was that none of them had fitted sprinklers.  It was important that consideration was given to the stage area and the age of the building.  Wet surfaces in old buildings could lead to problems.  The Projects Directors were expected to report back to the Project Team in the next month.  The Project Timetable meant that decisions needed to be made in a matter of weeks. 

 

The Director of Place commented that he accepted the Chair’s general principal view that it was important to have the best possible fire strategy that was available for the Civic Hall, which included access/regress, evacuation procedures and the type of materials used.  The Chair commented that refurbishment made it an ideal opportunity for the installation of sprinklers and the hard wiring of fire alarms.  He agreed that there had to be a holistic approach to fire safety at the Civic Hall.  He commented that sprinklers not all used water, with some utilising a gas system.  The House of Commons, which was a listed building, were having sprinklers fitted as part of the refurbishment works. 

 

The Chair made reference to a number of buildings that had not had sprinklers fitted during refurbishment works and had since been destroyed by fire, citing the example of the Glasgow School of Art.  It had been severely damaged by fire in May 2014 and had been destroyed by a second fire in June 2018.   When the national motorcycle museum had been burnt down in Birmingham, sprinklers were fitted during the rebuilding of the museum.  He was of the view that sprinklers should be fitted as standard unless in certain circumstances, which needed to be justified.

 

The Chair expressed disappointment that over 18 months into the Civic Hall project, Officers were only now commissioning an expert report on fire safety.  A Member of the Group echoed this view, commenting that it seemed there had been a lack of generic organic thinking about fire safety for the building.  It was suggested that the group should receive an update on fire safety matters for the Civic Hall at the next meeting.  The Director of Place commented that the Council were having to manage an existing building which was listed, which inevitably put some constraints on refurbishment works.  This was not an excuse for not fitting sprinklers, but was a factor to take into consideration nevertheless.  He was conducting research into why certain cultural venues had decided not to fit sprinklers.  He did not want to be in a position where there were unintended consequences of decisions made about the refurbishment.  He did not want Members to think that fire safety was only now being considered, as this was not the case.  It was the issue of sprinklers systems which he did not think had been addressed specifically, which is why he had commissioned an expert report.  An informal meeting with the Chair recently had prompted him to commission the report, when the Chair had asked whether sprinklers would be fitted at the Civic Hall.  There was a critical path to get the Civic Hall ready for the concert season in 2021 and so by March 2019, critical decisions needed to be made about the design of the building.

 

The Chair stated that he had raised the issue of sprinklers with Officers on numerous occasions at meetings of the group and it had been discussed informally outside of meetings.  A recommendation concerning sprinklers had also been in the report, with a number of other recommendations, received by the Cabinet Resources Committee.  The point had been raised for over a year and it was evident that the message regarding sprinklers in relation to the Civic Hall had not had an effect until recently.  He accepted that sprinklers were not the answer to everything, but added that cost should not be the reason for their preclusion.

 

The Director of Place commented that he did not think it was unreasonable for the Council to make its preferences clear on the matter of fire safety when working with future developers.  The Chair responded that it was important to ensure developers did follow instructions as this had not always been the case in the past.  The Hackitt Inquiry had concluded that current building regulations were not fit for purpose.  He did not want to see developers merely abiding by the not fit for purpose regulations, he wanted fire safety to be of paramount importance.  The Welsh Assembly and Scottish Parliament had ruled that sprinklers should be fitted in all new builds.  The Council should set its own standards which went above and beyond the current legislation. 

 

A Member of the Panel asked for clarification on whether the Fire Safety Group had received a detailed report on the Westside development in relation to fire safety matters.  The Chair clarified that the Group had not yet received any details.  The Director of Place commented that he would not have yet expected the group to have received a report on Westside, but he was happy to give a written response to the Group outlining the Fire Safety Plans for Westside.  A Member of the group stated that she thought it was appropriate for the Council to be having discussions with the developers at each planning stage to embed the importance of fire safety.  She wanted to ensure that fire safety formed part of the business plan for the Westside development.  She therefore asked that the relevant Officers come back before the Group in the future to convey the fire safety plans for the Westside development.

 

The Fire Safety Inspecting Officer commented that all planning applications were still received by the Fire Service planning team at headquarters.  The Fire Service were in favour of sprinklers being fitted in buildings. 

 

Resolved: That the relevant Cabinet Member and relevant Officers be invited to the next meeting of the Fire Safety Group to report on the Fire Safety plans for the Westside development and the Civic Hall.