Contingency planning? Anyone?

We've already published two posts about the situation at Barton House, a block of council flats in the east of Bristol that had to be evacuated because of concerns about the structural integrity of the building. They are: A council getting their priorities totally wrong... 17.11 and: The consequences of neglect... 16.11. Hopefully the titles of the posts are self explanatory. This post will be looking at the state of Bristol City Council's contingency planning.

State being the operative word here because it's in an utter state. As we've already mentioned, back in 2017, the Government’s building safety department told council chief executives across the country to investigate blocks of flats built using the Large Panel System (LPS): Government warned Bristol City Council about Barton House and four other blocks in 2017 - Tristan Cork | Bristol Post | 16.11.23. The council have been aware of the need to investigate the structural integrity of Barton House and other blocks built using the LPS for six years at least. Given the issues that were found at Barton House way back in 1970, it could be argued that they've had over half a century's warning about the need to act.

As anyone who has been following this situation will be only too well aware, the response of Bristol City Council to the need to urgently evacuate residents from Barton House has been an utter shambles. This article documents the fear and uncertainty felt by residents as they were told they had to evacuate the building at short notice: Barton Hill tower block residents’ lives turned upside down by emergency evacuation - Sean Morrison | The Bristol Cable | 15.11.23.

From consistently poor communication, the lack of proper translation for those residents whose first language isn't English through to inadequate hotel accommodation for displaced residents, it's been one screw up after another from Bristol City Council. Screw ups that could have been avoided if there had been a robust contingency plan in place to deal with having to evacuate residents from housing blocks because of structural issues. It's not like the council haven't had enough advance warning that there could well be structural issues with Barton House, and potentially other blocks as well, is it?

Understandably, residents are frustrated with, and angry about, the way the evacuation has been carried out and the piss poor communication that has been a constant feature of the operation so far. We're talking about parents who need to get their kids to school but have found themselves miles away, facing difficult journeys. We're talking about people who need to get to work and find they now face longer journeys. We're talking about people who because of the stress they're under, cannot get on with their lives because the uncertainty about how long they'll be out of their flats for makes any medium to long term planning nigh on impossible.

Barton House residents protesting at City Hall - Image: B24/7

To express their frustration and anger at the way Bristol City Council are handling the crisis, a number of residents took part in a picket at City Hall called by ACORN Bristol on Friday 17.11: Barton House residents protest inside City Hall - Blaise Cloran | B24/7 | 17.11.23. A protest that was abruptly cut short when rumours started circulating that council workers were removing the belongings of some of the residents. Upon hearing these rumours, people understandably swiftly returned to Barton House to try to find out what was going on: Barton House residents refuse to leave building as police arrive - Mia Vines Booth | B24/7 | 17.11.23.

Given the abysmal level of communication from Bristol City Council throughout the duration of this crisis to date, the already low level of trust residents had in the council has sunk even further. In a climate of fear and suspicion where people feel the council are faceless, all too often incompetent, bureaucrats who do things to them arbitrarily rather than work as partners, it's hardly a surprise that rumours will develop and circulate. Rather than blaming the residents for this, the council need to take a good look in the mirror and ask themselves why they are continually screwing up.

It has emerged that this is not the first time Barton House has had to be evacuated. Way back in 1970, residents in the block had to move out temporarily as it became clear that there were structural issues that needed to be dealt with: It's not the first time Barton House residents have been evacuated - Tristan Cork | Bristol Post | 18.11.23. It would appear that this particular evacuation was not handled that well. Were any lessons learnt from this now historical experience? Of course they weren't, that would require holistic, joined up thinking which seems to be somewhat lacking in local government these days.

In this piece, I addressed the gnawing feeling that we’re heading towards some kind of collapse, both literal and metaphorical: Collapse, metaphorical and literal 4.9.23. This is what I had to say:

Here in the UK, it feels like we're living in a country where nothing really works properly any more and things are, literally falling apart. It feels like society has become so complex that no one has any real idea of how it all fits together, with the consequence being that we're increasingly being caught on the hop by physical and digital infrastructure failures. This is despite, as previously mentioned, there being relevant professionals who have anticipated problems and issued warnings, only to find they're being ignored.

There are times when I'd love to be proved wrong because the predictions I'm making about the future we're heading into are just too depressing. This is one of those times. However, given the inability of Bristol City Council to develop a contingency plan to deal with an issue they've been aware of for years, if not decades, worryingly, it looks as though I'm at least partially right about where we're heading...