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| How do we get over Grenfell Tower? We don't | How do we get over Grenfell Tower? We don't |
| (17 days later) | |
| Outside the Rugby Portobello club, one of the community centres coordinating support for the Grenfell Tower victims, the street was thronged with people carrying donations, some arriving in vans from Brent, Slough and Essex. Across the street, a glut of press were operating cameras behind a small cordon. The intense attention, and outpouring of generosity, paid to victims in the aftermath starkly differed to their reports of the treatment they’d received before the fire, raising concerns about the safety of the building. | Outside the Rugby Portobello club, one of the community centres coordinating support for the Grenfell Tower victims, the street was thronged with people carrying donations, some arriving in vans from Brent, Slough and Essex. Across the street, a glut of press were operating cameras behind a small cordon. The intense attention, and outpouring of generosity, paid to victims in the aftermath starkly differed to their reports of the treatment they’d received before the fire, raising concerns about the safety of the building. |
| Many residents who spoke to me, from Grenfell and the neighbouring streets worried about what would happen once public interest subsided. There is a huge case to answer in Kensington, on how preventable the fire was, and why residents felt they were ignored. | Many residents who spoke to me, from Grenfell and the neighbouring streets worried about what would happen once public interest subsided. There is a huge case to answer in Kensington, on how preventable the fire was, and why residents felt they were ignored. |
| How do you move on, as a society, from a tragedy on such a scale? Simply, you don’t. | How do you move on, as a society, from a tragedy on such a scale? Simply, you don’t. |
| Many people have asked what they could do to help those affected by the blaze. Social media has been filled with pleas from community groups not to continue bringing items they were overloaded with. Huge sums have been fundraised for those displaced and injured. In the long term, action by individuals, the press and community groups will be just as important. | Many people have asked what they could do to help those affected by the blaze. Social media has been filled with pleas from community groups not to continue bringing items they were overloaded with. Huge sums have been fundraised for those displaced and injured. In the long term, action by individuals, the press and community groups will be just as important. |
| This moment is key, but so are the weeks and months that follow. Of paramount importance is keeping up the pressure on the local council to ensure and promise that those who have lost everything in the blaze are housed permanently, and equally importantly, locally. The Lancaster West estate is a tight knit community. Nearly everyone I spoke to in the street knew a friend or relative in the block, many knew several families in the building. Suffering such an ordeal is unspeakable: then being forced to leave the community you have become a firm part of is utter cruelty. | This moment is key, but so are the weeks and months that follow. Of paramount importance is keeping up the pressure on the local council to ensure and promise that those who have lost everything in the blaze are housed permanently, and equally importantly, locally. The Lancaster West estate is a tight knit community. Nearly everyone I spoke to in the street knew a friend or relative in the block, many knew several families in the building. Suffering such an ordeal is unspeakable: then being forced to leave the community you have become a firm part of is utter cruelty. |
| In 2009, a similar blaze occurred at Lakanal House, in Camberwell. Earlier this year, Southwark council was fined over the fire, in which six people lost their lives. People spoke about ensuring this did not happen again. But it did. The fact that then housing minister delayed a review of building regulations on fire safety has caused understandable outcry. Public anger should be harnessed to force the government to properly consider and enforce the safety of residents across the country. | In 2009, a similar blaze occurred at Lakanal House, in Camberwell. Earlier this year, Southwark council was fined over the fire, in which six people lost their lives. People spoke about ensuring this did not happen again. But it did. The fact that then housing minister delayed a review of building regulations on fire safety has caused understandable outcry. Public anger should be harnessed to force the government to properly consider and enforce the safety of residents across the country. |
| Inevitably, people of a certain political bent will cast tower blocks as dangerous and call for high rises to be demolished, but will remain curiously quiet on where people are moved to after demolitions. Tower blocks do not have to be unsafe. The “stay put” fire advice given to Grenfell Tower residents works if, and only if, the building is not structurally compromised. The issue certain people have with tower blocks is not safety, but the fact that poor people live in them, that they exist at all. Any call for demolition of blocks will de facto mean mass evictions and hyper-gentrification. | Inevitably, people of a certain political bent will cast tower blocks as dangerous and call for high rises to be demolished, but will remain curiously quiet on where people are moved to after demolitions. Tower blocks do not have to be unsafe. The “stay put” fire advice given to Grenfell Tower residents works if, and only if, the building is not structurally compromised. The issue certain people have with tower blocks is not safety, but the fact that poor people live in them, that they exist at all. Any call for demolition of blocks will de facto mean mass evictions and hyper-gentrification. |
| We should clamour to make everyone’s home safe | We should clamour to make everyone’s home safe |
| Instead, we should clamour to make everyone’s home safe, require hyper-vigilance on building regulations and installations, and demand that everyone have the right to a safe and permanent home. | Instead, we should clamour to make everyone’s home safe, require hyper-vigilance on building regulations and installations, and demand that everyone have the right to a safe and permanent home. |
| Bottled water, clothes and cash will help the Grenfell Tower residents in the short term, but in the long term, people must campaign for housing rights locally and nationally. Email your local council today asking whether all tower blocks are fitted with fire safe doors. Send freedom of information requests asking for details on how statutorily homeless people are dealt with, where they are housed, and for details on estate regeneration schemes that seem more like attempts at eviction. Write to your MP and turn up to their surgeries demanding to know what they’re doing to secure housing rights in your constituency. Join your local residents’ association, and reach out to others nearby to find out what is happening with housing in your local area. | Bottled water, clothes and cash will help the Grenfell Tower residents in the short term, but in the long term, people must campaign for housing rights locally and nationally. Email your local council today asking whether all tower blocks are fitted with fire safe doors. Send freedom of information requests asking for details on how statutorily homeless people are dealt with, where they are housed, and for details on estate regeneration schemes that seem more like attempts at eviction. Write to your MP and turn up to their surgeries demanding to know what they’re doing to secure housing rights in your constituency. Join your local residents’ association, and reach out to others nearby to find out what is happening with housing in your local area. |
| Every resident I spoke to in the Lancaster West estate said they felt ignored. Providing scrutiny of local and national decisions on housing is one way you can help people in housing need, and ensure that your actions will keep up the pressure and hopefully help prevent more tragedies, evictions and injustices. | Every resident I spoke to in the Lancaster West estate said they felt ignored. Providing scrutiny of local and national decisions on housing is one way you can help people in housing need, and ensure that your actions will keep up the pressure and hopefully help prevent more tragedies, evictions and injustices. |
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