Neighbours in a town centre block of flats have had scaffolding surrounding their building for months -and now the windows have been covered up.
People living in the Paramount building overlooking Princes Street and Beckhampton Street are becoming increasingly impatient with the slow progress of work to remove potentially dangerous cladding from the exterior of the six-floor structure.
In recent weeks, residents have noticed that a dark blue film now completely covers their windows, blocking any view of the outside world from their flats.
This, combined with concerns about fire safety that led to the work being started in the first place, has caused much frustration and worry among the tenants.
One told the Adver: “We've been putting up with scaffolding and work for what must b a year now, and today I've come home to find all my windows covered.
“I, like others, am now at my wits’ end.
“Considering what's going on with Grenfell, I’d like to know - if there is a higher risk of fire then why haven't all residents been rehomed as a health precaution?”
First Port is overseeing the work and is responsible for the building’s condition.
A spokesperson for the property management company said: “We are supporting homeowners as remediation works progress.
“The film currently applied to the windows protects the glass from the insulated render application that was recently applied. It will be removed once this phase of the project is completed.
“In line with government guidance, given the nature of the defects and the specified works, residents are not required to move out of their properties.
“We expect the works to be completed by summer 2025 and will continue to keep residents updated regularly on progress.”
After 72 people died in the Grenfell Tower fire of June 2017, the government put funding in place to cover the costs of removing flammable cladding from other tower blocks around the country.
Swindon Borough Council granted permission to replace Paramount’s combustible hazards of expanded polystyrene, foam insulation and timber cladding with material which fitted the government’s guidance and the law on buildings.
In 2022,But work did not commence right away as newly-requested changes to the colour of the replacement cladding meant that the council had to give new permission.
The scaffolding went up in early 2024 after this revised planning application was approved.
The current remediation works at Paramount are funded via the Building Safety Fund.
The wood cladding will be replaced with a darker wood effect cement cladding and the render will also be replaced.
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