Long-awaited Hanover Tower report to be released

The cladding on Hanover Tower, on Exeter Drive, Broomhall, failed fire safety tests introduced in the wake of the Grenfell disaster in 2017.

That year the council launched an independent investigation into why it was put on the building. A number of promises were made about when that report would be released, none of which were met, but more than three years later it is finally due to be shared.

In a full council meeting, councillor Angela Argenzio, representative for Broomhill and Sharrow Vale ward, asked Coun Paul Wood, cabinet member for neighbourhoods and community safety: "Can I have your word of honour that these reports are going to be out within the next couple of weeks because we have heard this so many times. I’ve asked you in the chambers a few times and I’ve always been assured it was ready ‘we just need a few things’. It’s over three years later and the report is not out yet. Can you publicly give me your word the report is actually ready to be published?"

He replied: "The report will be out, I am told by the council officers which is the only confirmation I can give you, tomorrow. That’s what I’ve been told. It will be given to residents tomorrow and you as the local councillors. At the very latest it will be Friday. It will be posted publicly on the council website next week because we are also going to publish the documentation that goes with it and that takes a little longer to do. I've been told it will be in your hands and the tenants' hands by the end of this week and that's what I've been promised."

Around 350 residents were believed to have been put at risk by the cladding, which was changed from the type originally agreed during a refurbishment, over a period of seven years.

The council removed it in 2017 and since replaced it with safer materials.

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