Kerrin Point used to be a 22 storey tower block, that stood behind the Black Prince Pub on the Ethelred Estate. But a gas explosion in the middle of the night led to the evacuation of the building and led to its eventual demolition.
Explosion
At 1.20 am on June 26, 1997, Kennington was awoken by the noise of an enormous explosion. Concrete, debris and broken glass are strewn across the Ethelred Estate and the surrounding streets. The gas-fired boiler in the basement of the 22 tower block, Kerrin Point, has exploded, causing a scene of absolute devastation.
Every window in the block has been blown out. Nearby vehicles are left crumpled and crushed by debris and the playground in front of the tower block is covered in concrete and shards of glass. Fortunately, due to the early hour of the blast, there are no fatalities and only 11 people are directly injured.
Photo by Mike Stephens/PA. 
As the SLP reported
If gas explosion had happened during the day….THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN CARNAGE
South London Press – Friday June 27th 1997
The blast was so powerful that it blew an outlet onto the roof of the 22 storey building. At a later H&S enquiry one resident who lived near the top of the high rise gave witness to say his curtains being blown in a ‘fireball’ shooting past his window.
A miracle no one was serious hurt
Most of the residents were in bed at the time of the explosion which undoubtedly helped to minimise casualties. Many woke up believing that there had been a bomb explosion and evacuated the building in a state of panic.
Eight people were treated at St Thomas’s Hospital, seven from the effects of flying glass and another had chest pains brought on by stress, while 3 others received first aid treatment on site.
After hours of confusion on the night, residents went to stay with family or friends or were housed in emergency accommodation, mostly at local community centres.
Some residents were lucky enough to be re-housed within a week, but for others, it was a much longer process. Many were never to return their homes, except under escort to collect some emergency belongings, meaning that they were to lose all their possessions in the blast.
The Kerrin Point Action group was set up by residents who later petitioned the Council to demolish the block.
Who is to blame?
The council commissioned Ove Arup, a leading firm of consulting engineers, to carry out a full-scale independent inquiry into the causes of the explosion and to advise the council on the lessons to be learnt. Officers were instructed to co-operate fully with the Health and Safety Executive in getting to the bottom of the causes of the explosion.
‘It is in everyone’s interests that the lessons should be learnt’
Councillor Tom Franklin, Lambeth’s chair of housing
Although the Council considered others responsible, it pleads guilty to charges brought against it by the Health and Safety Executive. These charges relate to deficiencies in systems of management of the boiler house and supervision of contractors.
‘This sorry episode presented an appalling case of neglect’.
The Crown Court Judge
Lambeth Council is fined a total of £75,000 and ordered to pay costs of £75,000. The Councils contractor also pleaded guilty and was fined £12,500 and ordered to pay costs of £10,000. The subcontractor also pleaded guilty, where it was determined that they ‘were not a competent person to do so and not being registered with CORGI’. The hapless subcontractor was fined £3000 and ordered to pay costs of £2000. This was clearly a case where the court imposed fines in accordance with the relevant parties’ ability to pay. The court regretted that it could not impose a greater penalty on the negligent subcontractor.
It was clear to the HSE that the contractor and subcontractor had taken on work that was well beyond their capabilities, and the lack of monitoring and control by the Council allowed the contractors to take unauthorised and negligent shortcuts. The Inspector said: “The nub of the case is that responsibility for a job which had to be done to very high safety standards, because of the risks involved, was subcontracted twice, neither contractor being in a position to satisfy themselves that they had passed the job on to a competent party.” In other words, if they had not got into a situation where they were over-reliant on others, the accident could have been avoided.
What Happened Next
In September 1997 the Council considers the options for the future of Kerrin Point, including reinstatement & repair, redevelopment but settles on the demolition of the block, that is completed in 1999.
A ballot of local residents a year later rejects the Council’s Project Vauxhall proposals for a comprehensive redevelopment of the Ethelred Estate. The site is declared surplus to requirements and was included in the Council’s Disposal Programme as part of the requirement to fully utilise space on housing estates and reinvest in the Decent Homes Programme.
The site is left as a temporary open space including a children’s play area until it is sold by Lambeth Council for new development.
Kennington Park Square
In 2008 work starts on a £42 million new development that sees the demolition of existing structures and erection of a new property ranging in height from 5 to 10 storeys in order to provide 214 residential flats, 64 car parking spaces at basement level, cycle storage and communal garden and provision of new playground areas and games court to replace those existing.
| 1 Bed Flats | 123 |
| 2 Bed Flats | 68 |
| 3 Bed Flats | 14 |
| 4 Bed Flats | 9 |
| Total Units | 214 |
Affordable Social Housing
50% of the habitable rooms in the development would be provided as affordable housing equating to 92 units. 67% of the habitable rooms in the affordable units would be for social rent (56 units) and 33% of the habitable rooms would be for intermediate housing – Shared Ownership (36 units). All the three and four-bed units would be for social rent. The remaining one and two-bedroom apartments were for sale at prices starting from under £250,000.
| 1 bed | 2 Bed | 3 Bed | 4 Bed | Total | |
| Social Rent | 16 | 17 | 14 | 9 | 56 |
| Shared Ownership | 18 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 36 |
| Total Affordable | 34 | 35 | 14 | 9 | 92 |
| Market | 89 | 33 | 0 | 0 | 122 |
| Total Units | 123 | 68 | 14 | 9 | 214 |
Threat to the new properties.
In a cruel twist, the new properties are now discovered to contain the same type of unsafe cladding that was used in the Grenfell Tower fire tragedy. The residents are now paying for a waking watch of fire wardens to keep a 24-hour watch on the properties, which costs thousands and making it difficult for them to sell or move.
Timeline
1967 – Greater London Authority approves the construction of Kerrin Point and the Ethelred Estate
1969 – Kerrin Point is the first of the 4 Tower blocks (Ward, Brittany and Elkington still remain). It was 62M/203ft high, 22 floors and contained 88 flats.
1997
26 June – Boiler room Gas Explosion causes extensive damage to the building leading to its complete evacuation.
10 July – Kerrin Point is declared structurally safe following the gas blast – Council has no immediate plans to make repairs
6 Sept – Lambeth Council considered 3 options for the future of the site 1. Building reinstatement and Repair 2. Demolition 3. Redevelopment. (The future of Kerrin Point H40 (97-98) Housing Ctte Report)
1998
15 July – Demolition confirmed and Compulsory Purchase Order made to buy the one remaining Leaseholder property to enable demolition to proceed.
1999
10th December – Lambeth Council and 2 gas contractors are found guilty and fined for breaches of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974
Kerrin Point is demolished
2000
The ballot of local residents rejects the Council’s Project Vauxhall proposals for the area
This originally proposed that the site would be incorporated into Project Vauxhall which would have involved the redevelopment of most of the Ethelred Estate. However, a ballot of residents in 2000 rejected the Project Vauxhall proposals and the redevelopment of the Ethelred estate was abandoned by the Council.
2008
Work begins on a £42 million new development that sees the demolition of existing structures and the building of 214 residential flats.
Sean Lock 15 Stories High in Kennington(Opens in a new browser tab)
