Falling cladding

Last week another piece of cladding fell from the boxing around our communal heating pipes. This has happened several times previously and the poor state of this cladding has been raised with the council many times. Following this latest fall, we have been promised an “urgent inspection” and “any identified issues will be urgently addressed “.

The poor quality of the work to box in these heating pipes has been clear for several years, now. The work was originally carried out without planning permission. When permission was applied for in 2015, permission was refused, partly because the plywood used was not deemed sufficiently robust. Some sections where bare plywood was used were subsequently replaced with metal, but no work was done where the plywood had white PVC cladding.

A rear view of Ponton House, showing the missing cladding
The cladding, with a wheelie bin, for scale