Barton House evacuation: 'Structural issues' were flagged to Bristol City Council in 2022
Watch as Barton House residents speak to ITV News' Max Walsh
Structural issues at the Barton House tower block in Bristol were flagged to the city council in August 2022, more than a year before the building was eventually evacuated.
Council staff decided the risks detailed in a report “could be mitigated”, but then in November 2023 engineers reviewed the report and sounded the alarm.
More than 400 people - including around 100 children - were told to pack a bag of clothes and leave their homes in the tower block on the evening of Tuesday 14 November.
Council bosses were told a fire in a single flat could lead to the building collapsing.
Now it has been revealed that the government wrote a letter to councils in 2017 urging them to check their large-panel system buildings after large cracks appeared on tower blocks in London built in the same way.
The council commissioned a report into Barton House and other LPS buildings.
However, it didn’t receive this report until August 2022, when staff decided that the risks at Barton House could be managed.
Arup, an engineering consultancy, then conducted a peer review of the survey in November 2023 and came to a very different conclusion.
Green Party co-leader and Councillor Carla Denyer believes the severe impact of the evacuation on residents could have been avoided.
Ms Denyer said: "It seems like the sudden upheaval of residents leaving Barton absolutely could have been avoided.
"The impact has been severe on their mental health. I was visiting the hotel where many of them were staying at the weekend. I spoke to the mum of the teenage girl who was self harming and speak to another mum whose pre-teen boy was not eating properly and cannot go to school.
"I'm not a mental health expert but it seems like those young people are suffering from the trauma as a result of the experience."
A written response to a public question at a full council meeting on 9 January revealed new information showing that the council knew about structural issues at Barton House, but chose not to evacuate the tower block until well over a year later.
The response said: “We remain in conversation with the government about their 2017 letter and the actions taken since.
“Different kinds of surveys have been undertaken at Barton House and other high-rise blocks since that time, with the information on each acted on to deliver improvements where necessary.
“The council commissioned a structural survey of Barton House and other LPS, or LPS-similar constructed buildings, following receipt of the 2017 letter from the government on the safety of large panel system buildings.
“This report was received in August 2022. This report flagged structural issues at Barton House.
“On receipt of the report, Bristol officers determined that the risks presented could be mitigated.
“Indeed, at the time there were already mitigations in place, including no piped gas supply to flats and a waking watch in place. In November 2023, this report was peer-reviewed by Arup which significantly escalated the structural risks at Barton House.”
A freedom of information request for the report has been refused. The council said it will be published online once the final report from the latest building survey has been completed.
More detailed surveys have since revealed the problems were not as severe as thought, and safety work, including the installation of a central fire alarm system, additional fireproofing in 42 flats, and testing for Legionella bacteria is now underway to make the building safe for residents to return from 23 February.
Despite this, nearly half of the households at the protest on Friday 26 January said they do not want to return.
The council has been contacted for a comment.
Credit: Alex Seabrook, Local Democracy Reporter Service