'We're trapped here for years to come'

GROUP HITS OUT AT 'BADLY MANAGED' REFURB WORKS

- By ADRIAN ZORZUT

A RESIDENTS' association on the same estate as Grenfell Tower has said "not a penny more" should be spent on refurbishment works after the council highlighted an £85m funding blackhole.

David O'Connell, from the Lancaster West Walkways Residents' Association (LWWRA), one of two RAs operating on Lancaster West Estate (LWE), said there must be independent oversight of the project to update all 826 properties on the estate before any more money is handed over.

He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): "They have done very noisy intrusive works and turned our homes into building sites with very little impact assessment. I don't think it is possible to do this level of refurbishment with people in situ. Especially for already traumatised residents who went through the horrors of the fire."

It comes as a report by Kensington and Chelsea Council (RBKC) shows the estimated cost for refurbishing Lancaster West Estate jumped from £118 million in 2018, when works were designed, to £244m last summer. Of the revised budget, £85m is not currently secured.

The report said the rising cost is due to the high standard of refurbishment being undertaken and the "hyperinflation" of construction costs. The council said "historic neglect" of the site and the complex nature of the redevelopment were also to blame.

The report read: "Alongside the inflationary aspects felt by all the sector there has been a need to build in risk cost into budgets to recognise historic neglect of the stock and the increased costs which are borne once projects arrive on site and the true extent of works is known. There are a number of examples of where the condition of LWE homes and blocks has been worse than assumed through visual surveys alone, which has increased costs when on site."