Catastrophic waterfall-like flood in town centre high rise prompts contract questions

Questions continue over Gateshead Council’s contracting process following a catastrophic “waterfall” like flood in a town centre high rise.

The ex-tenants of Priory Court, on Hopper Street, were evacuated and later re-housed after the building was left in disrepair by water damage. Gateshead Councillors gathered this morning to discuss the authority’s annual update on its handling of emergency incidents.

Among the incidents included a flooding event at Priory Court, which saw dozens of households evacuated, never to return, on June 6 this year. The emergency planning report went on to state: “Questions have been asked about the suitability of the subcontractors working on the building, who’d caused the ingress of water.”

In earlier reporting, The Local Democracy Reporting Service approached the council to ask what questions were raised and by whom. The council responded: “Due to the cause of the incident at Priory Court still being investigated and subject to legal process, we are unable to disclose any information in this regard.”

Questioning council officers, Gateshead Council’s Lib Dem opposition leader coun Beadle asked: “On the key learnings from Priory Court, you mention about the appropriateness of the sub-contractors, I understand there may be some legal action going on, but are there any lessons being learned in terms of the contracting process so that if it turns out we contrasted with people we really shouldn’t have allowed in that we will have learned about how we contract as a result of that?”.

Coun Beadle acknowledged the question may not receive a response. The council’s resilience and emergency planning manager Michael Reynard stated he could not answer that question. On October 8, Gateshead Council announced that nearly all of the households, 33 out of 36, that had to be evacuated from Priory Court had either already been moved or were about to move into new homes.

In the statement, Coun Chris Buckley, cabinet member for housing, said: “This has been a deeply regrettable situation and I want to thank the tenants of Priory Court for their understanding and patience during what has undoubtedly been a very difficult time.”