Greenwich Labour ‘blocked’ call to help cladding row residents

Greenwich Labour has been accused of blocking a call for stronger fire safety protection at a riverside housing development after a councillor withdrew her support at the last minute.

Chris Lloyd, the Liberal Democrat councillor for West Thamesmead, had hoped that the council would pass a motion criticising the developer that built Royal Artillery Quays.

He said that residents are facing higher insurance bills because of the type of cladding that Barratt Developments plans to apply to the building. Recently-built developments across London are having to be reclad with safer materials following the Grenfell Tower disaster seven years ago.

Leaseholders are already having to pay for extra “waking watch” patrols – with service charges of up to £6,000 a year – and have often been unable to remortgage or sell their properties.

Lloyd, the council’s only Lib Dem, had hoped to secure Labour backing for the motion, calling on Barratt to install “gold standing” cladding to cut insurance bills.

Matt Hartley, the borough’s Conservative opposition leader, had offered to second the motion, which would ensure it was heard, But Labour’s ‘Lade Hephzibah Olugbemi, Lloyd’s fellow councillor in West Thamesmead, agreed to put her name to it last month.

But last Tuesday, five hours after the deadline for submissions, Olugbemi pulled out, saying she needed to get approval from her fellow Labour councillors.

Now the motion will not be put to the council at its meeting on Wednesday. Council officers ruled it as invalid despite Hartley offering to replace Olugbemi as the seconder.

One town hall figure accused Greenwich Labour of “sharp practice” in ensuring the motion would not be heard because it was proposed by a rival councillor. Labour has 51 councillors in Greenwich, compared with three for the Tories and one Lib Dem.

However, after The Greenwich Wire started making enquiries about the story last week, it is understood that the council leader, Anthony Okereke, has been in touch with residents about the problems they face. Residents will be at the town hall for the meeting.

Lloyd is now hopeful that the council will help residents campaign for better protection. 

Royal Artillery Quays, which is just a stone’s throw from the Royal Arsenal estate in Woolwich, consists of eight blocks of eight and 14 storeys, built in 2003. But since the Grenfell Tower fire there has been a long-running row over making its cladding safe.

Sir Keir Starmer visited the development in 2021 to meet residents. Matt Pennycook, now the housing minister, also spoke up for leaseholders while he was the local MP.  Boundary changes mean that Royal Artillery Quays is now represented by Abena Oppong-Asare, the Erith & Thamesmead MP.

Residents say that the new cladding Barratt Homes wants to install – rated B1 on safety certificates – will lead to a lifetime of higher insurance bills. They want the developer to install A1-rated cladding instead.

Lloyd told The Greenwich Wire : “This issue’s been going on for years and residents have been crying out for help.

“It felt as if nobody else at the council wanted to touch it – Matt Pennycook had helped residents when he was their MP and they’ve now met Abena Oppong-Asare. 

“But the council didn’t want to pick it up until I started doing something. I just hope the council can get on board with me and the residents.”

Olugbemi did not respond to a request for comment. After being asked if he told her to withdraw the motion, Okereke said: “I can’t speak to the arrangements the Liberal Democrats put in place to bring forward motions. Their motion was invalid because, at the point the council agenda was published, it was not supported by the required two signatories according to the council’s constitution.

“This is a pressing matter for the residents of Royal Artillery Quays, so I’m listening keenly to their concerns. I will work to support them in finding a resolution and will continue to work with ward councillors on the ground.”

A council spokesperson said: “We are committed to upholding the integrity of our democratic processes. Any councillor can submit a motion to a full council meeting. The procedure for doing so is set out in the Constitution. Unfortunately, in this case the motion that was submitted was ruled as invalid. 

“However, the councillor can resubmit the same motion for a future full council meeting and we will consider it, if it is valid.” 

Barratt Developments told The Greenwich Wire that while some combustible material would remain in place at Royal Artillery Quays, its fire engineer had said there was not a sufficient risk of a fire spreading to necessitate its replacement. 

The developer said that it would continue to press the government on the issue of increased insurance payments and wanted to begin the cladding work as soon as the Building Safety Regulator had given it the go-ahead.

A spokesperson for Barratt said: “As founding signatories to the Building Safety Charter, we have always been clear we will carry out any necessary remediation at historic buildings at no cost to leaseholders. 

“Any remediation will be carried out in line with a PAS 9980 fire risk assessment undertaken by a qualified fire engineer, and approved by the Building Safety Regulator, as prescribed by the government as part of the Developer Remediation Contract we signed in March last year.”

The row comes as Okereke plans to spend £85,000 on employing political assistants for the borough’s councillors, following an inquiry last year that found there had been a “blurring of the boundaries between Labour Group or Labour Party activities and that of Royal Borough of Greenwich business”.

Relations between Labour and Lloyd are particularly sensitive. He was originally a Labour councillor and had been a member of the party for 19 years. He was briefly a general election candidate for Labour in Swindon before pulling out in December 2022. 

But he left Labour in December last year, accusing the local party of not dealing with a complaint about homophobia. Lloyd joined the Liberal Democrats in May, becoming the party’s first councillor in the borough for 14 years.