精东影视

Sir Robert McAlpine boss Neil Martin has promised to give an MP a site visit of a hotel which has seen loose panels close a road below and cause local politicians to publicly lambast the contractor.

The firm has built a 23-storey Hilton Hotel in Woking, part of a wider development known as Victoria Square, which has been plagued by problem cladding panels for more than three years.

Several fell in autumn 2021 causing the A320 to be closed while two years ago cladding replacement works began.

A number of incidents since have caused further closures of the A320, with one of the latest following December鈥檚 Storm Darragh.

The road had only reopened after that storm before the arrival last month of Storms Eowyn and Herminia within 48 hours of each other loosened another of the hotel鈥檚 cladding panels.

In an update yesterday, Woking council鈥檚 leader Ann-Marie Barker said safety inspections and repairs on panels at a hotel that has closed a road below might are unlikely to be completed by McAlpine until next month.

In a letter sent earlier this week, Martin told the Liberal Democrat MP for the town, Will Forster, that he would meet him to discuss the situation 鈥渋n more detail鈥�.

Forster, who on X said the meeting would take place later this month, had written to Martin last month demanding an explanation for the problems, adding that he was writing 鈥渢o express my deep anger, disappointment, and frustration regarding the repeated issues with cladding from the Hilton Hotel on Victoria Way, Woking鈥�.

Martin, who said the panels were fitted and installed by Prater, told the MP: 鈥淭he compounded impact of Storm Eowyn quickly followed by Storm Herminia caused one panel on the western elevation to become loose. It is imperative that we complete the remaining repairs before we reopen the road.

鈥淚n parallel, we 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�

He added: 鈥淲e 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�

Meanwhile, in her own update yesterday, Barker said: 鈥淭he loose panel has been secured and additional temporary fixings are being applied to all panels. Panels are prioritised according to exposure and susceptibility to high winds and I鈥檓 sorry to say that the work to secure them could extend into March.鈥�

She added: 鈥淟ast week, Victoria Square Woking Limited, the owner of the hotel building, was formally notified by building control officers of the actions it needs to take protect the safety of the public, and of the enforcement powers we have under the 精东影视 Act.

鈥淎mong the actions for Victoria Square Woking Limited is identifying a permanent resolution to the cladding issues. Whilst the temporary fixings will hopefully solve the immediate issue and enable the road to reopen, they will not be suitable for the medium/long term.鈥�

The 拢540m Victoria Square development has been developed by the council and Moyallen Group.

As well as the four star Hilton, the development includes 125,000 sq ft of retail space, 429 residential apartments in two towers, a flagship Marks and Spencer store, two public plazas and a medical centre.