The demolition of the Royal Albion has been hampered by the hotel’s basement and stormy weather, its neighbours have been told.
Since a blaze destroyed large parts of the listed seafront hotel, people living in the neighbouring Lace House have been unable to return to their homes.
At a meeting with council officers in September, they were told the demolition was taking so long partly because of the need to preserve or record what is left of the hotel – and partly because of weather and site logistics.
The wall next to Lace House – which at the time weighed about 300 tonnes – could collapse at any time, which would destroy the flats and kill anyone inside.
The council told them last month it hoped it would be safe enough to return in a couple of weeks – but stormy weather means this date is likely to slide even further.
The chair of the council’s housing committee, Gill Williams, said: “”We are very aware that three months on from the Royal Albion Hotel fire, there is understandable frustration from residents who still cannot access their homes.
“We had been hoping that the Lace House residents would be able to access their properties again by the end of next week. However, we’re sorry to say Storm Ciaran could cause further delays to the demolition.
“Our over-riding priority in managing the situation has always been public safety. The hotel building is in such a profoundly unsafe state that it represents a very real risk to people’s lives.”
Work did not start in earnest for several days as work was done to create 3D scans of the hotel and log heritage features, in consultation with Historic England.
Once it began, demolition crews had to take each piece of the upper floors of the hotel down individually for safety reasons.
Workers in cages lifted by cherry pickers have been using hand tools to dismantle the walls.
Work was complicated because the heavy machinery could not get close to the hotel because of fears the pavement could collapse into its basement below, which stretches into Pool Valley.
This work is on the verge of being completed, and after that the lower floors can be demolished much more quickly by machine.
At this point, a demolition curtain – a barrier between the hotel and Lace House – can be put in place to stop debris falling onto the flats.
But this can’t be used during stormy weather, and so the current spell of extreme weather has to pass before it can be put in place.
It is frankly unbelieveable that it has taken four months at public expense to do this, They also removed a facade at the front which looked completely saveable. They need to be shoring what’s left up at this point, not continuing to demolish.
Are you a qualified structural engineer?
Just because something looks saveable does not mean it is.
I remember this back in July because I was going to trans pride but after the smoke came in my lounge window I decided to stay home because the Royal Albion hotel Brighton is riddled with asbestos
I feel for the people who are homeless waiting to go home.
The insurance company must be making a packet out of it
It looks so sad driving past and then we have the roads ruined by the fire
It’s ironic how many big storms we have had since the fire and another one due soon
#asbestos
Absolutely joke on the public
Literally the slowest demolition in history, someone is making a mint out of this. Residents should be properly compensated.