Residents “should have been made aware” of combustible cladding

Owners and residents at the NEO200 Spencer Street high rise that caught fire this morning should have been made aware of combustible cladding, according to the chair of the Victorian Cladding Taskforce.

The fire started on the balcony of the 22nd floor, spreading to the 29th floor before being brought under control.

One person was hospitalised with smoke inhalation.

Taskforce co-chair, former premier Ted Baillieu, says he watched the fire with the same feeling of horror as London’s deadly Grenfell tower inferno.

He said a show cause notice to fix the cladding had been issued.

“My understanding, and this is the advice I’ve received, is that this building hadn’t got to a final panel assessment but that a notice had already been issued,” Mr Baillieu told Neil Mitchell.

“That should have been available to apartment owners.”

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