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| Andrew Pope at a Very Wet Shirley Towers Photo: Southampton Independents |
UPDATE (22/2/26): There was a fire at Shirley Towers today. Andrew Pope was canvassing for the Shirley by-election nearby and saw the fire appliances and firefighters on site. He spoke with the first and second Incident Commanders of the fire service, and asked whether they knew that the ground floor sprinklers had been out of action since the fire in the bin area in December. They both said that they were not aware before attending, and thanked Andrew for the information. This information was from Andrew listening and acting for residents, and speaking to Council housing officers. Labour councillor for housing Andy Frampton has once again been found wanting - let's not forget he refused to answer Andrew's questions for residents about fire safety and damp and mould.
UPDATE (20/2/26): A fire "drill" appears to have been carried out at Shirley Towers. Andrew Pope says:
"I will keep up the pressure on the Council to protect residents and leaseholders. I should not have to use the media to pressure the Council, but I have had to again.
I acted to protect people in 2017 with my campaign for sprinklers in all Council tower blocks and I continue to act to protect.
It is terrible that Labour's Councillor Andy Frampton refused to act when I asked him to. Thankfully, there are some good officers of the Council who care and the Fire Service care too. Labour have to go."
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Following up on his previous campaigning on fire safety in Council tower blocks, Andrew Pope has been investigating the concerns of Shirley Towers residents.
What he has found is very disturbing, considering that he campaigned for sprinklers to be installed in all twenty Council tower blocks.
Two firefighters - Alan Bannon and James Shears - died in a fatal fire at Shirley Towers in 2010. A memorial plaque was unveiled in 2023.
Andrew says:
"The Labour Councillor and Cabinet Member for Housing Andy Frampton is trying to avoid accountability for ongoing fire safety breaches. It is unacceptable that he refused to answer residents' concerns when I contacted him directly.
As in 2018, when I brought BBC Radio 5 Live to Southampton, fire doors are compromised and not fixed in a timely manner. When I reported it to officers, they asked if it had been reported.
It is the responsibility of the Council to regularly inspect and fix.
And now, I have learned from multiple residents that some sprinklers are not working and have not been since December, after a fire in the bin area.
I have not seen any media report of that fire, so I am bringing it to the media's attention.
Residents are worried, so I am trying to get action and answers.
It has been difficult to even reach the right people to get action taken or get reassurance.
I will not stand by and let residents be put at risk again."
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| Compromised fire door in Shirley Towers Photo: Southampton Independents |
Andrew's campaign for sprinklers in all Council tower blocks began before the Grenfell disaster in 2017, and after the Redbridge Towers fire when he was Independent Redbridge ward councillor.
As documented on the Southampton Independents website, his campaign encountered stiff resistance from Councillor Warwick Payne of the Labour-run Council who said that residents did not want sprinklers and
here on Youtube you can hear Payne claim that he did not have the money to do what Andrew was asking him to do for residents.
Our campaign led by Andrew Pope forced the Council to do it for all 20 Council tower blocks. Left to the Tories or other big political parties, it would not have happened.