Technical

Cordage View’s Tank-fuelled learning

Cordage View offers independent living opportunities to meet the area’s adult social care needs. The project, for North East Lincolnshire Council, started in April 2020 and was completed in February 2021.

It consists of 15 one-bed apartments, a communal area and nurse station, and is ‘futureproofed’ to enable easy apartment and wheelchair access in all flats, wet rooms, with tracking concealed in pelmets to support future installation of hoists. Other features, such as electronic entry and monitoring systems, make the scheme ready for adaptations.

As a company we take pride in supporting the development of young people within the industry, and Cordage View was a fantastic opportunity to partner with another local firm, Orchard Training & Education, which provided nine local learners to work on the project.

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The apprentices gained relevant work experience as part of their construction traineeship programme. Facilitating this experience on a live site meant that five learners went on to progress in apprenticeships.

The project was nationally successful, winning the Best Partnership award at the 2021 Inside Housing Development Awards in London, and was shortlisted in the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) Northern Awards – Working in Partnership award. The nomination commended it for its innovative thinking and partnership working.

Lessons learned

We faced challenges, like most building projects. However, the most significant one stopped the entire build in its tracks before it even started!

To commence with building works, we had to achieve a land validation certification. Unfortunately, we located an old fuel tank under the ground site which belonged to a service station on the site years before. This was despite extensive investigative work including ground penetrating radar (GPR).

Leaving the fuel tank in situ and having it decommissioned was breaching North East Lincolnshire Council’s policy for sub-terrain tank removal. However, we challenged this on the grounds that removal would cause significant disturbance to the community, lengthen the build process and increase the cost drastically. Thankfully, after a lot of research and seeking authority higher up the industry chain, we were given the go-ahead to proceed with the decommissioning.

The process equipped me with a whole new understanding of the complexities of fuel tank removal. The experience also allowed me to always be prepared to expect the unexpected. And be prepared to challenge boundaries to make the most cost-effective and least disruptive decision in the best interest of all stakeholders.

John Pomfret MCIOB is managing director of JC Pomfret Construction.

John Pomfret CV

2013-present Managing director, JC Pomfret Construction
2012-2013 Construction director, TDM Construction and Design
2001-2012 Self-employed builder
2000-2001 Construction director, GF Interiors, Brighouse West Yorkshire
1998-2000 Director, J&A (Northern), Grimsby
1993-1998 Self-employed Builder
1988-1993 Pomfret and Shepard Design and Build (Partnership)
1983-1988 Self-employed Bricklayer for various companies in the Grimsby area
1979-1983 Indentured apprentice, Ashby and Horner Humberside
1978-1979 Junior Leaders Regiment, Royal Engineers