On Tuesday 5th September, a derelict bingo hall in Pitsea, Essex shot up in flames. A full investigation has now been demanded after fears the former Gala Bingo hall was plastered with asbestos. Six fire engines, an aerial ladder platform, at least ten police cars and a hazardous response team arrived at the scene within minutes.
Both councillors and residents are wishing for clarification on just how serious the situation is and one of which is the Conservative councillor for Pitsea South East; Craig Rimmer. Speaking to a local media outlet, Rimer revealed that he had penned a letter to Basildon Council’s chief executive, Scott Logan for answers.
“It needs to be fully investigated to see if there is asbestos there and what the risk is. I have demanded answers, I think authorities were too slow to act. I think someone’s head should roll for this. Someone needs to come forward and assure the public or inform them about any asbestos risk there.”
Rimmer continued:
“We are demanding transparency, quite frankly it’s the least the residents deserve. People are telling us they are extremely angry and concerned at the asbestos issue and the general situation with the site.”
Don’t Know-Don’t Care Attitude?
Residents are up in arms at the fact that the incident has been brushed under the carpet and nobody is revealing the level of threat or even acknowledging the severity of the fire. Deirdre Cox from Tennyson Drive (Pitsea) wasn’t afraid to voice her comments:
“There is hugeconcern in the community that the fire and the smoke has spread the asbestos into the air.We could all be breathing this in, and we don’t know. I think it’s disgusting that we’ve not been informed, we need and deserve that reassurance. I don’t see why there hasn’t been a proper investigation into the situation. They can’t just leave it, we need to know if we are at serious risk from asbestos, the silence is almost deafening.”
An evacuation of properties close to the former Gala bingo hall took place on the day of the fire. Umar Hussain, the landlord of the building spoke of the fire to a local tabloid newspaper:“We lease the building to Hereigns Events Management, if there is any asbestos in the building, they will be dealing with it.”
Assessments of the site are due to be carried out shortly with Andrew Ansell, the vice-chairman of the neighbourhoods and public spaces committee, confirming that the sitewill be made safe: “There is no reason to suspect at this stage that there is any cause for concern over the integrity of any asbestos containing materials on site. Potential enforcement action will be unaffected by the events which took place.”
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