The firm behind the Woking Hilton Hotel cladding fiasco should “be blacklisted” and councils warned against working with them in the future, senior councillors have said.

The chaotic issues at the Victoria Way site began in 2021 when panels fell from the town centre tower onto the streets below during stormy weather, forcing road closures and causing widespread disruption in the town.

The sorry saga has repeated itself several times as wind continues to dislodge panels from the building. 

It led to Woking Borough Council inviting the developer, Sir Robert McAlpine to attend a meeting of its Environment and Place Scrutiny Committee.

An invitation the developer declined, leading members to “empty chair” the discussion – and the firm being warned that “other councils will do well to see how Sir Robert McAlpine has chosen to treat” Woking Borough Council.

In a written statement provided after the meeting Sir Robert McAlpine apologised for any inconvenience caused, said it fully understood the effect the situation was having on Woking and empathised with the frustration felt by the residents and local businesses. 

Committee chair Councillor John Morley (Liberal Democrats; Horley) said: “We had agreed as a committee to ask Sir Robert McAlpine to attend this meeting.

“Sir Robert McAlpine are the contractors working on the cladding on the Hilton hotel.

“I have invited them twice and they had declined to attend, fairly categorically it has to be said.

“I think that is, disappointing would be a very polite way to put it,  and I personally think that we should at least note the fact that, if you will agree, that the committee is very disappointed in their refusal to attend and be scrutinised over something that is affecting so many people in the town.

“Obviously you still have the road closed. So given that we have two empty chairs for the people from Sir Robert McAlpine  who decided not to come and answer we can use this time potentially to formulate some questions or suggestions which could go to the executive.”

In the company’s absence, the January 28 committee agreed to ask for an independent safety assessment of the panels and the building with Sir Robert McAlpine to foot the bill as well as  contractual assurances and guarantees over any future issues.

They have also called for access to previous safety assessments and for compensation to be given to businesses affected by the road closures and disruption.

Councillor Melisa Kuipers (Liberal Democrats: Horsell) said: “Something that gives value to residents that the council can not afford.”

Vice chair Cllr Chris Martin (Liberal Democrats:Pyrford) added his voice for an independent assessment of the work “so that somebody who is competent at building” is able to assess what needs to be done.

He told the meeting: “Then we can start to push to get Sir Robert McAlpine to pay for it to be done rapidly and to reopen the road as soon as possible because this is beyond unacceptable.

He added: “Can companies be blacklisted by the council for shoddy work practices in the past and can I request the consideration of adding Sir Robert McAlpine to that blacklist be put forward to whoever holds those strings.

“I would also like to ask Sir Robert McAlpine  why they decided not to attend tonight because I think that’s quite poor practice, avoiding scrutiny is always the first sign that you know, we know,that they know, that something’s not right, and that’s why they’re not here.”

Officers told the meeting  steps  for managing the building “were going the right direction”  and that they were satisfied the investigations were taking place at the correct pace. 

Regular meetings are taking place between the council’s building control team and  Sir Robert McAlpine.

Cllr Morley finished: “Other councils will do well to see how Sir Robert McAlpine have chosen to treat this council.”

In a written statement, a spokesperson for Sir Robert McAlpine said: “We have seen a relentless succession of powerful storms and high wind events this winter, which caused some damage to the cladding. 

“After Storm Darragh, our team committed to working throughout the festive period, including at weekends, bringing in specialist equipment and dedicated expertise from projects across the country, to make the cladding safe.

“The original cladding panels on the building were manufactured in accordance with BSEN 1991-1-4 standards and National Annex. They were designed and installed by Prater Ltd. 

“Over the past six weeks, those adverse weather conditions frequently prevented the use of the building maintenance unit to access elevations safely, making it impossible to repair all of the panels that require an additional fixture within that timeframe. 

“On January 15, we deemed it safe to reopen Victoria Way because we had applied additional fixings to all the panels considered at risk within the designed high load wind zone, where the vortex created by the winds exerts the greatest force.

“On January 26, the compounded impact of Storm Eowyn quickly followed by Storm Herminia caused one panel on the western elevation to become loose, immediately triggering our safety plan and the closure of Victoria Way.

“The safety of passers-by and drivers has always been our number one priority and it is imperative that we complete the remaining repairs. 

“In parallel, we have commissioned a bespoke wind model of the entire building and its surroundings which will go beyond the standards, allowing us to understand the microclimate of the area and permitting finite analysis of the loads the cladding has been originally designed to accommodate.

“Once again, we apologise for any inconvenience caused by the closure of Victoria Way. We fully understand the effect that this is having on Woking and empathise with the frustration felt by the residents and local businesses. The team continues to work diligently around the clock, and currently exploring options to work throughout the night safely, to open the road as soon as possible.”