Council paying £3000 per day to keep crisis-hit tower blocks 'safe'Senior council official said making the two building safe would cost millions of poundsNewsElliot Jessett Local Democracy

Reporter16:59, 04 Jun 2025Beech Rise in Kirkby(Image: Liverpool Echo) Crisis-hit tower blocks in Kirkby are costing the council £3,000 per day to keep safe, according to a senior local

authority official.

The £21,000 weekly cost is to maintain a 'waking watch' service recommended by Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service which declared Beech Rise and Willow Rise to be in breach of fire safety

headlessor of both Willow Rise and Beech Rise is Rockwell (FC100) Limited.

‌ The leaseholders elect a board who then contract a management company to take care of health and safety issues, general maintenance and service charges. Dempster Management Services

Limited (DMS) took on this contract after reaching an agreement with the board, Parklands Management Company Ltd, in 2023.

At the start of May, Dempster informed all residents and leaseholders it had decided to terminate its contract with Beech Rise and Willow Rise, effective immediately. It means residents have

been living without a management company.

The Liverpool ECHO previously reported on a letter sent by Knowsley Council to 160 households at Willow Rise and Beech Rise confirming they will have to permanently vacate their homes in a

matter of weeks.

Article continues below The local authority explained MFRS has been forced to serve a prohibition notice due to the management company's failure to complete essential repairs.

Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service (MFRS) said it had worked with successive management companies to ensure fire safety obligations were being met and issued enforcement notices demanding

remediation works be carried out.

However, a MFRS spokesperson said these works had not been progressed a prohibition notice would be served and residents must leave immediately.

‌ MRFS added: "This means the buildings will no longer be safe for residents to live in after the current waking watch ends."

Willow Rise in Kirkby(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo) 'Waking watch' involves 24/7 monitoring recommended by Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service (MFRS) where trained personnel patrol a

building to detect fire and manage evacuation. This service was paid via Dempster using funds accrued from leaseholder contributions, but funds expired earlier this month and without it,

both tower blocks cannot meet their fire safety obligations.

‌ To ensure safety obligations are met in the run up to the blocks being vacated, Knowsley Council stepped in and have been paying for the waking watch scheme - at a cost of almost £3,000

per day.

Knowsley Council’s Cabinet Member and Executive Director responsible for housing, Cllr Tony Brennan said: "“Residents in these two blocks, which are privately owned, have suffered from years

of mismanagement and a lack of maintenance.

"This has now culminated in such serious health and safety issues that the Fire Service feel the building is unsafe to occupy without a 24/7 waking watch – which we are currently providing

at a cost of almost £3,000 per day.

‌ “With the management company confirming that they have no funds to carry out the works which would be needed to bring the buildings up to a safe standard – which would run into millions of

pounds – we have had no choice but to advise residents that they should now seek alternative accommodation as soon as possible."

Cllr Brennan was commenting after attending a meeting in Westminster with Knowsley MP Anneliese Midgley, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Ministry of Housing, Communities

and Local Government, Alex Norris MP and Knowsley Council's Executive Director responsible for housing, Dale Milburn.

Article continues below The meeting was arranged at short notice and in response to the unfolding 'catastrophe' at the Kirkby tower blocks. Ms Midgely added: "This is a deeply distressing

situation that has left 160 households in my constituency at risk of homelessness through no fault of their own.

"The immediate priority must be to ensure everyone is safely rehoused. The private companies responsible must be held to account. It’s encouraging to see the Government engaging with this

issue and exploring ways to help."