People living in flats are putting their own lives and those of neighbours at risk by cramming stairwells with rubbish and chaining bikes to bannisters, a councillor has claimed .
Canvassing during the recent elections Bathgate SNP Councillor Willie Boyle said he was “shocked and appalled” at the state of some common stairs in blocks of flats.
“Some of it was mild, with a wee plant on a plant stand," he said. "In others there were bags of rubbish, and bikes chained to railings. I was shocked at how bad it was. Some of the worst I have seen was in Whitburn, but I'm not singling out Whitburn. It was all over."
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“I was appalled at the lack of understanding by the public living in flats regarding the detritus that’s stored on landings and stairways that’s potentially blocking fire exits.”
How would people escape from a smoke filled stairwell with these hazards blocking their way, he wondered.
“It's in the event of a fire, you get a stairwell full of smoke. You don’t see all that obstacle as you’re feeling your way about to find the safe exit that’s maybe a window three stories up,” he added.
Local fire station commander Roy Bradley told the meeting that before the formation of the fire service into one body the former Lothian and Borders Brigade did have the power to police and enforce tidy stairwells in blocks of flats. Scottish Fire and Rescue no longer has the power of enforcement.
He added: “Home fire safety visits are fully up and running again. If we identify combustibles in common stairwells we will pass that on to the housing department to expedite their removal. We would also leaflet all the addresses in that stair to highlight the dangers of storing combustibles in a common stair.”
Local Housing manager Graeme McKee told the meeting that pre pandemic estates officers checked stairwells fortnightly and the housing department planned to reintroduce those visits as housing officers return to normal working patterns.
In the interim the Building Services teams who maintain council stairwells have been checking and reporting areas of concern.
Councillor Boyle asked what the council would do where flats were privately owned and let.
Mr McKee said: “ We would contact the resident and ask them to remove the material. If they didn’t we would pass it onto Environmental Health. We don’t have the power of enforcement over private tenants.”
Councillor Boyle said he shared the disappointment of the fire chief that the fire service was no longer primarily in charge of enforcement of fire safety but added that was a decision for “higher up the chain.”
