Ex-residents’ association chairman fears for lives if sliding windows are used on Bayswater's Wessex Gardens estate

Published: 03 June 2011
by JOSH LOEB

THE former chairman of a residents’ association this week warned that lives may be put at risk if sliding windows on his estate are not switched for a hinged model.

Residents of Bayswater’s Wessex Gardens estate are to be balloted on what type of window they want to see installed in their homes when refurbishment works take place later this year.

CityWest Homes, the arm’s-length management organisation responsible for maintaining the borough’s housing stock, said it wanted to give residents a choice of window.

But former Wessex Gardens Residents’ Association chairman John Brett branded the current windows “unsafe” and said they had been responsible for a death 16 years ago on the neighbouring Brunel estate.

Mr Brett, a pensioner who formerly worked in the housing sector, said he was unable to clean the outside of his windows and that a health and safety expert had concluded they were a risk as residents needed to lean out of them or balance on a ledge when washing them. He said: “Two weeks ago I learnt that in 1995 a resident cleaning the same window in Keyham House on the 11th floor fell to her death. 

“I told CityWest Homes about the incident and requested that the said windows be removed. Our residents’ association also got in touch with an independent health and safety officer who deals with industrial window cleaning, whose view was these windows above ground level are a risk.

“Leaning out, one could drop whatever is being used to clean, thereby injuring someone passing underneath, and there is always the risk of a person falling out of the window.”

Wessex Gardens estate housing panel representative Jonathan Morley said a ballot on the issue organised by CityWest and set to take place on three dates – June 7, 8 and 11 – had pitted neighbour against neighbour.

He said: “Two factions have developed within the steering committee, one of which wants to keep the sliding windows and one of which has taken the reasonable position that these are fine if you live on the ground-floor or have a terrace but are unacceptable if you live high up.

“I live on the ground floor and I like the sliding windows but I have had to accept that they are not the right choice for people who live on other floors.”

However, another resident, who did not want to be named, said: “We want like-for-like because we believe there is a security issue with other kinds of window.”

Refurbishment of the estate will also include installing new double-glazing, expected to help solve heating problems during cold snaps. 

At the ballot residents will be allowed to see pictures of three different model of window and select their first and second preference.

David Harrison, CityWest Homes’ director of property and development, said: “Some residents at Wessex Gardens have specifically asked for sliding sash windows to be included in the ballot so that a similar option is considered. These windows will be an upgraded version of the ones they’ve had for 40 years.  

“As a ballot is a democratic process, we are including all the options requested by all Wessex Gardens residents. 

“While the incident that happened on the Brunel estate 16 years ago was tragic, health and safety law and standards have improved considerably since then. 

“I want to reassure residents that CityWest Homes will be taking the utmost care to ensure that the final choice of window will be fully compliant with current building and health and safety regulations.”