Amesbury fire councillor slams Stonewater housing

The fire burned through the flats at Sandell Place, Amesbury, on Friday, June 9.

The fire broke out at Sandell Place at approximately 7.09pm with eight fire crews from across Wiltshire and Hampshire attending.

Cllr Mark Verbinnen, town and Wiltshire councillor for Amesbury, told the Journal that he made "multiple attempts to contact Stonewater on the night of the fire, including calling their emergency number", yet he says he received no response from them.

He said: "It's not good enough in my perspective."

READ MORE: 'I'm traumatised': Amesbury residents share horror of losing their homes in fire

Dave Lockerman, director of housing operations at Stonewater, said: "As soon as we were aware of the fire, we followed established protocol in liaising directly with the council’s emergency planning team. Our priority was to contact residents, which we did.

"We had colleagues on site very quickly, making sure everyone had somewhere to go and offering immediate practical help. Fourteen colleagues worked on this over the course of the weekend. We will follow-up with Cllr Verbinnen to better understand his concerns."

A number of residents were evacuated and are now living in temporary accommodation, or with friends and family. 

Cllr Verbinnen said "All of the residents have been temporarily housed in either hotels, or they've made the decision to stay with friends and family.

READ MORE: Food bank supporting families after 'horror' fire that ripped through flats

Cllr Mark Verbinnen (Image: Matt Rooks-Taylor)

"All the residents are being supported by Wiltshire Council, they've been given some money to pay for food and things on a daily basis for as long as they are out of their properties.

"Moving forwards we now just have to wait and find out how long they are expected to be out of their properties, and that will then determine what accommodation we have for these residents moving forwards."

Some flats have been completely destroyed. 

Cllr Verbinnen continued: "Some residents will be permanently out. There are four flats that look to be uninhabitable for a long period."

A weekend away from their homes, the reality of having lost everything is starting to affect residents. 

READ MORE: Amesbury resident sets up GoFundMe to help neighbours

Cllr Verbinnen said: "The residents' realisation to not having access to their own homes and possessions is starting to kick in, there is a bit of anxiety and pressure starting to sink in.

"I really would like to put on record and pay tribute to the Baptist Church, who have had their doors open all weekend and today to let residents stay there and they've offered food, drinks and everything the residents may need while they're here.

"Also to the Town Council, who on the evening of the fire activated their emergency plan and put some temporary beds up in a local community centre, and got people to donate bedding.

"Thankfully we managed to find everybody accommodation that night in hotels, which is obviously better, we didn't need that, but the fact they mobilised and did everything they needed to is really great.

Stonewater's Mr Lockerman added: "As well as arranging alternative accommodation, we’re supporting residents with cash payments, vouchers and personal assessments so we can best respond to their individual needs. We’re meeting with people on a regular basis and working to get them back into their homes as soon as practically possible. As a social landlord, we’ve gone above and beyond our statutory duty and are providing far more support to residents than a private landlord or insurer might.

“We’re also very grateful for the support shown by the local community, council and other agencies. We need to let the fire service do their job in investigating the detail of what happened and we will, of course, implement any recommendations or actions required."