Letter: 'Shocked about fire safety matters at Crown Heights'

As a regular commuter to London from Basingstoke station at the time I witnessed the commercial building that once housed IBM in Alencon Link being converted to residential use and was quite alarmed to see, in the latter stages of this conversion, large 100mm slabs of what looked for all the world like polystyrene being fixed to the outside of this building, presumably to provide extra insulation. These slabs were later painted or rendered to look like a more substantial stone/concrete application. This building is adjacent to those mentioned in your article and is now known, somewhat grandly, as Skyline Plaza.

READ MORE: 'We live in fear': Residents worry about 'potentially dangerous' cladding after fire

My concern at the time was such that I wrote to the Basingstoke MP, Maria Miller, citing my fears on the use of this material in this manner and for her to look into this matter. The reply from her office was reassuring and for me not to worry, as there were no buildings in Basingstoke clad with any flammable cladding, including the one in question. No source for this information was given. Quite obviously, and as your front page seems to suggest - somewhat late in the day - quite the opposite is true. Of course, there is a chance that the builders of Skyline Plaza were using some magical form of non-flammable polystyrene – I somehow doubt that this exists, however.

David Dry

Allnutt Avenue

Basingstoke

Send letters by email to newsdesk@basingstokegazette.co.uk or by post to Editor, Basingstoke Gazette, Absolutely Offices, Lutyens Cl, Lychpit, Basingstoke RG24 8AG.

All letters and emails must include full names and addresses (anonymous letters will not be published), although these details may be withheld from publication, on request.

Letters of 300 words or less will be given priority, although all are subject to editing for reasons of clarity, space, or legal requirements. We reserve the right to edit letters.