Agenda item

Report of the City Surveyor.

The Committee received a report of the City Surveyor containing details of the two public escalators/lifts that were in service for less than 95% of the time.

A Member questioned if the Millennium Bridge Inclinator was subject to a new maintenance contract yet. He also questioned the vandalism of the Blackfriars Bridge lift and what steps might be taken to avoid this reoccurring.

A Member expressed concerns around the amount of time that the Millennium Inclinator had, again, been out of service and questioned if it would be possible for Members to see a service history for the Inclinator.

The City Surveyor state that the Millennium Inclinator was not yet under a new maintenance regime which was still to be resolved. Kone had not fixed the Inclinator on this occasion and the company that had affected the repairs were also now being consulted on maintenance going forward. She added that providing a full service history for the Inclinator would be problematic but that Officers remained optimistic that a new maintenance regime would resolve the ongoing issues.

With regard to Blackfriars Bridge, the City Surveyor stated that vandalism was a real issue here with the doors being forced open to gain access and specialist parts required to fix this. The installation of CCTV cameras had been considered as a solution.

A Member referred to the lift between London Wall Place and Salters Hall which was frequently out of service and questioned whether this was one of the City Corporation’s lifts. The City Surveyor undertook to look in to this matter and report back but stated that she believed that this lift was part of the development. Another Member added that this lift had been an important part of bringing the walkway here back in to use but that there had been some debate around who maintained this.

A Member questioned if, when the City Corporation accepted responsibility for these lifts (or in the case of the Blackfriars Bridge lift, when these were forced upon the organisation) money was also exchanged to help meet the costs of maintaining these. The City Surveyor stated that there was funding towards maintenance and that Officers were working closely with installers to ensure that the equipment used could be more easily sourced going forward.

RECEIVED.