Woking鈥檚 leader confirms meeting will take place early next month
The leader of Woking council has said Sir Robert McAlpine has agreed to send a representative to a council scrutiny meeting next month to discuss the problems of loose panels on a hotel in the town which has closed a road below for more than three weeks.
The firm has built a 23-storey Hilton Hotel in the town, part of a wider development known as Victoria Square, but which has been plagued by problem cladding panels.
The latest incident occurred last month, in the wake of Storms Eowyn and Herminia arriving within 48 hours of each other, meaning the A320 has been closed since.
In an update on its website, Woking鈥檚 leader Ann-Marie Barker said: 鈥淚鈥檓 pleased that SRM has now agreed to send a representative to a council scrutiny meeting and an invite will be issued for the Environment and Place Scrutiny committee on Tuesday 4 March.鈥�
She said the firm was more than halfway through the work to complete a temporary fix to south and west sides of the hotel although the road is expected to remain closed until next month.
She added: 鈥淚 know many of you also have concerns about the long-term solution to this repeated problem. Stakeholders met with cladding experts this week to discuss the urgent permanent solution. I will provide further detail when I know more.鈥�
McAlpine has previously said: 鈥淲e have commissioned a bespoke wind model of the entire building and its surroundings which will go beyond the standards, allowing us to understand the microclimate of the area and permitting finite analysis of the loads the cladding has been originally designed to accommodate.
鈥淥nce again, we apologise for any inconvenience caused by the closure of Victoria Way. We fully understand the effect that this is having on Woking and empathise with the frustration felt by the residents and local businesses.鈥�
The panels were designed and installed by Prater which has been contacted for comment.
No comments yet