Welcome Guest [Log In] [Register]


Welcome to Conversations. We hope you enjoy your visit.


You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free.


Join our community!


If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features:

Username:   Password:
Add Reply
  • Pages:
  • 1
  • 2
Grenfell Tower Fire Aftermath: 18 June 2017
Topic Started: Jun 18 2017, 12:19 PM (116 Views)
Webster
Member Avatar
Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
[ *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * ]
(The Guardian) Residents affected by the Grenfell Tower atrocity were passionate and angry during a lengthy exchange with the prime minister, according to a bishop who sat with them.

Sixteen “very ordinary people” sat in Downing Street on Saturday to bring their concerns to Theresa May in an “unprecedented” meeting and finally felt they were listened to, said the bishop of Kensington, Dr Graham Tomlin.

He is hopeful the meeting which lasted nearly two hours, attended by victims, residents, community leaders and volunteers, was the starting point for a process of “lasting change”.

He told the Press Association: “I’m positive because I think it was a real chance for local residents, people affected by this tragedy, to voice their concerns directly to the prime minister so that she could hear them. That’s why I’m positive about it, because I think in the past local residents here have not always been listened to.”

He said that feeling of being ignored is a source of much “deep frustration”, and told how people have been left feeling “that decisions are taken about their lives and their homes that they are not party to”.

He described the residents as “brilliant” in how they raised and explained their concerns to May: “I thought the way they expressed themselves with a mixture of passion and reason was fantastic, and I hope it’s the beginning of a process, not the end of a process, the beginning of a process of real listening between government, RBKC [the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea council], local residents, that will bring about lasting change.”

Following the meeting, May released a strongly-worded statement in which she said on-the-ground support for families in the immediate aftermath of the blaze “was not good enough”.

She said she had ordered daily progress reports on housing for those affected, and vowed the public inquiry into the disaster would be “open and transparent”. Tomlin said the residents had gone from living normal lives before the tragedy to bringing their frustrations to the very top of government.

He said: “Clearly it’s quite unprecedented for 16 very ordinary people, who this time last week were walking their dogs or talking to each other in the streets around here and north Kensington, actually to be in 10 Downing Street talking face-to-face with the prime minister. I think it was a good thing to do.”

Asked if there were angry exchanges, he said: “We tried to hold it well as a meeting. There was passion, there was anger, but there was good, hard, reasoned argument used by the residents.”

Tomlin said he believed residents left the meeting feeling “reassured that they were listened to”, but added: “Time will tell as to whether it makes a difference. We wait to see what action will come from it, but they were reassured that they were listened to.”
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Replies:
Webster
Member Avatar
Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
[ *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * ]
Posted Image
--The Southwark Coroner's key recommendations after Lakanal fire on "stay put" and "get out and stay out" fire safety advice.. (Alan Travis, The Guardian - 18 June 2017)
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Webster
Member Avatar
Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
[ *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * ]
(The Guardian) Andrea Leadsom, the leader of the Commons, has been asked if she feels shame over the disaster. “Totally, yes, of course, of course,” she told BBC One’s Sunday Politics. “We all think what should we have done, could we have done? It’s just unbearable. This cannot happen in the 21st century and yet it has”.

She said May’s decision to send in senior civil servants to deal with the aftermath is so “issues can be addressed much more quickly with greater experience and precision”.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Webster
Member Avatar
Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
[ *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * ]
(The Guardian) Grenfell Tower survivor 'moved three times' since fire, Kensington MP says
--Kensington’s new Labour MP, Emma Dent Coad, is a guest on BBC One’s Sunday Politics. She said it was “appalling” that survivors of the fire were being repeatedly moved around. “We are still hearing stories of people not being allocated properly,” she said. “There’s one woman this morning and her child, they have been moved three times since Wednesday into different accommodation. That’s absolutely appalling.”

On the same show, the shadow communities secretary, Andrew Gwynne, denied suggestions that Labour was stirring up emotions in an attempt to capitalise politically on the tragedy. “I don’t think that we are stirring it up. I would hope that we have been fully responsible in reflecting the concerns, the anxieties, the hurt and the worry or those residents in Kensington.”

Asked about former shadow cabinet minister Clive Lewis’s tweet stating “burn neoliberalism, not people”, Gwynne told the programme: “I think it is really important that we are measured in our approach. We need to calm things down.”
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Webster
Member Avatar
Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
[ *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * ]
(The Guardian) Survivors of the Grenfell Tower blaze are being offered temporary accommodation in high-rise hotels, according to a woman interviewed by Mail Online near the charred hulk on Sunday.

Nadia Isla, who lives close to the 24-storey tower, said she knew of one man and his family who “freaked out” when they saw a picture of the hotel they had been asked to stay in.

Isla told Mail Online: They wanted to put him in a building which is a high-rise building. He freaked out because he doesn’t want to put his children in a high-rise building - would you?

They have been trying to re-house them in the building but they [the survivors] do not want to go in it. Would you? Do you blame them?

He freaked out, he said he does not want to put my children in that building. His wife, I hugged her, she cried in my arms for five minutes. The wife said: ‘I don’t want to go higher than the first floor’.


Isla also said some of the survivors had been offered rooms in Manchester and Birmingham.
-Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4615054/Survivors-freaked-offered-accommodation.html
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Webster
Member Avatar
Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
[ *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * ]
Posted Image
(The Guardian) Residents who live in the low-rise blocks at the foot of Grenfell Tower are angry at the continued absence of help from the council.

Nina Masroh said the only contact she had had was two texts telling her she could return home but that there was no hot water or gas.

She remains worried about whether her flat and the block is safe, amid conflicting advice from police officers stationed around the site. We don’t feel safe. We are closer to the tower than the school and the tube line and they are both closed because of the risk of falling debris. There’s debris on my balcony. We’ve had no one here to tell us if it is safe. It is ridiculous. We feel so angry.

Masroh works at Kensington Aldridge academy, the school by the tower, which remains closed.

Although there was a commitment to make more officials available on Sunday to help families affected, she said she had seen no one and had had no contact from the council since they sent her the two texts on Friday afternoon.

Families with children who have returned to their flats at the foot of the tower were concerned about the risk of pollution and about the structural safety of the tower and wanted reassurance from someone official but complained that there was no one in the area.

“It feels like the ineptitude is continuing,” Masroh said.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Webster
Member Avatar
Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
[ *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * ]
Posted Image
(The Guardian) The reason why the low-rise flats around the foot of Grenfell Tower have no hot water is apparently because the central water supply system was in the basement of the burned tower.

Residents were told they could go to the Westway sports centre for showers and food, but there is frustration about the lack of information from the council about the longer-term plans for the block and about the current safety of the area.

Some residents of nearby houses are offering their support, however, (as shown above).
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Webster
Member Avatar
Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
[ *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * ]
(The Guardian) Musicians contributing to a charity single to raise funds for those caught up in the blaze include the X-Factor winner Louisa Johnson and Emeli Sandé, the Press Association reports.

They were reportedly seen at Sarm music studios where the single, a cover of Simon and Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Water, is being recorded.

Others said to be involved in the project, which is organised by Simon Cowell, include the Stereophonics frontman Kelly Jones, Rita Ora, Pixie Lott, Leona Lewis and Britain’s Got Talent 2017 winner Tokio Myers.

Johnson said: “The amount of people that have actually agreed to it and gone out of their way to do it is incredible, especially how busy some of these people are.”

Gareth Malone, the choirmaster and TV presenter who is putting together an ensemble of 300 people from local people and choirs, said he hoped it might “raise some money” and “touch a few hearts”.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Webster
Member Avatar
Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
[ *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * ]
(The Guardian) The leader of Kensington and Chelsea council, Nicholas Paget-Brown, said council officers had been working “round the clock” since Wednesday to put support structures in place, despite claims by some that council staff were not in evidence.

“I’ve been out this morning at the Westway sports centre. I’m told the council is never in evidence, it’s all disorganised. That was not my perception,” he told BBC News.

“What people do need to know is that Kensington and Chelsea council officials have been working around the clock since Wednesday.”

Paget-Brown denied that council officers had been told not to wear hi-vis jackets for fear they would become targets. The perception of lack of council staff on the ground was “possibly because council officials aren’t identifiable”, he said.

“The last thing after a tragedy of this enormity is to wonder whether we’ve got the right hi-vis jackets,” he said.

The tragedy raised a number of issues about towers and the way housing had been designed over the last 50 or 60 years, he said. “Over the longer term there is a real challenge about how estates are regenerated.”

He dismissed accusations that the Grenfell Tower refurbishment had been to “gentrify” and “prettify” an “eyesore” to make the area more attractive. Residents had complained the block was too cold in winter and too hot in summer, he said.

“Quite rightly we will have to look into the cladding which was used,” he said, adding that these were matters for the public inquiry. “The council would expect all regulatory standards are complied with.”

Asked if he had considered resigning, he said his immediate concern and pre-occupation was to ensure support for the distressed and vulnerable people affected.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Webster
Member Avatar
Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
[ *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * ]
(The Guardian) Kensington and Chelsea council has confirmed that Avondale Park primary and St Mary’s RC primary schools near Grenfell Tower will be opening on Monday. St Francis of Assisi RC primary school will also be open but operating from the Sion-Manning site, while Kensington Aldridge Academy will be moving to Ark Burlington Danes Academy.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Webster
Member Avatar
Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
[ *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * ]
(The Guardian) London mayor Sadiq Khan said it is crucial tower blocks across the country be checked, and if needed made safe “as soon as possible”. Regulations needed to be looked at, he told BBC News, after attending a service for victims at St Clement’s Church, west London.

Of Grenfell Tower, he said: “Is it the case that the cladding currently appears to be lawful according to the regulations, but isn’t fit for purpose? Is it the case the way the cladding was fitted was faulty? How many tower blocks have this cladding? How many tower blocks have had cladding fitted properly or improperly?” The government needed to examine these questions, he said.

He added: “If it’s the case that some tower blocks are – forgive me for language that may cause concern – if some tower blocks are death traps, we need to know which ones they are. And action needs to be taken, to provide housing for those people in their communities in the same area, and if necessary, those tower blocks repaired and refurbished in a safe way, not cutting corners, or those tower blocks pulled down as soon as possible.”
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Webster
Member Avatar
Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
[ *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * ]
(The Guardian) The Home Office, which has assisted the family of a Syrian national Mohammed Alhajali, the first victim to be formally identified, to travel to the UK to attend his funeral, said it had “established processes in place which allow us to consider visa applications outside the Immigration Rules on compassionate grounds”.

It is also launching a 24-hour advice line for people directly affected by the fire who are seeking guidance on UK passports and visas. Many will have lost passports and personal documentation. Those affected and seeking guidance on UK passports, visas or immigration can call the advice line on 0300 222 0000, which will allow callers to arrange a call back by specialist teams. Anyone calling from outside the UK should include the UK dialling code: +44 (0) 3002220000. The dedicated line is in English.

In addition, the Home Office said it had staff with immigration expertise at the scene in west London to support survivors with guidance about UK passports, visas or immigration queries.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Webster
Member Avatar
Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
[ *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * ]
(The Guardian) Residents who met the prime minister in Downing Street following the Grenfell Tower fire have criticised estate managers of the building as having been “invisible in the aftermath of the tragedy”.

The group, made up of victims, residents, community leaders and volunteers, said they were grateful to Theresa May for listening to their concerns but demanded “real action and immediate results” moving forward.

In a statement to the Press Association they criticised Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation for its reaction to the disaster.

The group said: “In our meeting at Downing Street, we explained to the prime minister the anger of all residents towards the management of the estate over a long period of time, paving the way to this tragedy. With the exception of very few junior officers, the estate managers have been invisible in the aftermath of the tragedy.”
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Webster
Member Avatar
Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
[ *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * ]
(The Guardian) Downing Street has just announced that all residents of the tower will receive £5,000 in emergency funds and support workers will help them access it. We’ll have more details on that shortly.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Webster
Member Avatar
Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
[ *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * ]
(The Guardian) The emergency money will be made up of £500 in cash and £5000 delivered through the department of work and pensions into bank accounts or similar in a single payment. This comes from the £5m that the prime minister announced on Friday.

The £500 cash is already being made available to those affected and further payments are available immediately from the council at Westway centre, or from Monday through the post office in Portobello road, as and when families need it.

The £5000 will be made available from Monday and support workers will assist households in accessing it – including those who don’t have bank accounts.

The discretionary fund is also being made available to meet funeral costs, and to top up payments for those households with complex or additional needs. The fund will be kept under review and will increase if necessary.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
Webster
Member Avatar
Wasatch Storyteller & Resident Forum Curmudgeon
[ *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * ]
(The Guardian) Here’s more from the group of victims, residents and community leaders who spent two-and-a-half hours with Theresa May. They hit out at the “longstanding neglect” of council buildings in the area.

The statement said: We are devastated by this tragedy. We are angry about the inadequacy of the response and the longstanding neglect of our buildings by the council and building management.

We are grateful to the Prime Minister for listening to us and for the assurances she has given us but now we need to see real action and immediate results with centralised coordination of the relief effort with residents closely involved.

The Government must also take a serious look at the neglect and chronic underfunding of social housing over decades.


They added that local residents should be “consulted at all stages and that we should be listened to” in dealing with the fallout from the tragedy.
Offline Profile Quote Post Goto Top
 
1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous)
ZetaBoards - Free Forum Hosting
Enjoy forums? Start your own community for free.
Learn More · Register Now
Go to Next Page
« Previous Topic · The News Hub · Next Topic »
Add Reply
  • Pages:
  • 1
  • 2

Aquös by tiptopolive of the ZB Theme Zone