NEW cladding on council houses in Machynlleth has been confirmed as safe following the tragic Grenfell Tower fire, the county council has confirmed.

Machynlleth’s Bryn y Gôg estate was one of the accommodation blocks across the county that had undergone new cladding work recently.

Following the tragic Grenfell Tower inferno, which has claimed at least 79 lives, Powys Council launched a major safety investigation across all of its properties.

Those checks have proven that materials used in the work on council properties are safe, and this was confirmed by Simon Inkson, the council’s head of housing.

Machynlleth councillor Michael Williams said he was pleased that the council had taken such swift action to provide security and assurance for residents following the Grenfell Tower fire.

He said: “The head of housing is confident there are no such problems with the cladding of buildings in Powys. It was a worry for constituents who saw the horror of Grenfell Tower.”

In a statement, Mr Inkson said that checks had confirmed that the way the cladding was used in Powys was different to the way it was used in London.

He said: “The service confirmed that the insulation material used in our external wall insulation is an expanded polystyrene system, with a render finish applied to the external face.

“However, the way in which the material is encapsulated on our properties is very different to the way it was reportedly used at Grenfell Tower. The external wall insulation product is fixed to the dwellings with no significant void between the property and insulation. This means there is no continuous void to act as a chimney or oxygen source.

“Therefore, we are reassured of the safety of the cladding we have fitted to our properties.”

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