Ipswich Cardinal Lofts: Residents hold protest after being told to leave tower block
Uncertainty now lingers for people affected by fire safety concerns at Cardinal Lofts in Ipswich
Last updated 18th Mar 2023
Residents of an Ipswich tower block at the centre of a dispute over fire safety have held an impromptu protest days after being told to leave their homes.
Suffolk Fire and Rescue issued a Prohibition Notice for Cardinal Lofts earlier this week, meaning access to the entire building is now restricted.
A separate Prohibition Notice was issued back in November, forcing residents to evacuate from the top three floors.
Representatives from Suffolk Fire met with residents yesterday to outline their concerns, which include the type of cladding fitted to the building and the 'voids', or spaces in the structure between the flats.
The voids would allow fire to spread between different apartments within the building, something that should not happen in a properly constructed high rise.
Residents returned to the tower earlier today, as they stepped up campaigning against the building's owner Grey GR.
They unveiled banners at the top of the structure as part of their calls for immediate work to make Cardinal Lofts safe.
One tenant, Siobhan, who had been renting a flat at Cardinal Lofts told us :
"Its been a nightmare, one day you are at work and then you are told to go live in a hotel for 22 days"
"We're emotionally, physically, financially; we are all in ruin because of it" .
The building's owner Grey GR told residents to leave last month after commissioning its own risk assessment, but Suffolk Fire and Rescue stopped short of legally obliging residents to move out until this week.
In a statement issued earlier this week, Grey GR said: “Grey is fully committed to remediating Cardinal Lofts and to return residents to a safe home.
"This building is extremely complex, and whilst some work has started, it would be wrong to provide imprecise estimates at this time how long it might take to fully correct all the issues.
"This is a very challenging time for residents, and we are sincerely sorry for the disruption. Our priority is to ensure resident safety and we want to have residents back in safer homes as soon as possible.”