Grenfell Tower & 'social cleansing', Anna Minton, Tony Devenish, Kate Macintosh on C4 news скачать в хорошем качестве

Grenfell Tower & 'social cleansing', Anna Minton, Tony Devenish, Kate Macintosh on C4 news

Author of 'Ground Control' Anna Minton Tory member of the London Assembly for West Central Tony Devenish Architect Kate Macintosh High-rise blocks like Grenfell Tower can be safe. The key issue is management Anna Minton Residents of the gutted building in west London have been warning for years that a tragedy was inevitable ‘The tragic blaze at the 24-storey Grenfell Tower is not the first time one of the capital’s tower blocks has hit the headlines in the worst possible way.’ ‘The tragic blaze at the 24-storey Grenfell Tower is not the first time one of the capital’s tower blocks has hit the headlines in the worst possible way.’ Photograph: Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty Images View more sharing options Shares 941 Comments 288 Wednesday 14 June 2017 19.47 BST Last modified on Thursday 13 July 2017 15.41 BST Who could not be horrified by the images of the tower block in west London engulfed by a huge fire in the early hours of Wednesday morning, with trapped residents waving frantically for help from the upper floors? The tragic blaze at the 24-storey Grenfell Tower is not the first time one of the capital’s tower blocks has hit the headlines in the worst possible way. Almost 50 years ago Ronan Point in Newham, east London, partly collapsed after a gas explosion, killing four people. The incident marked the end of an era for building tower blocks, highlighting the shoddy methods of the mass construction system that was so common at the time, and destroying confidence in high-rise living. Guardian Today: the headlines, the analysis, the debate - sent direct to you Read more Today tower blocks are becoming popular again, particularly when they achieve listed status, as did the Trellick Tower in west London and Balfron Tower in east London, designed by Ernö Goldfinger, and Berthold Lubetkin’s Hallfield Estate in Westminster. Balfron Tower is so popular that there has been a huge row locally over plans to turn it into luxury apartments in place of social housing. Outside the capital, high-rise flats on the Park Hill estate in Sheffield and Byker Wall in Newcastle are highly sought after as places to live. The appeal of high-rise living has never been lost on the super rich, with penthouse apartments that command spectacular views of the London skyline changing hands for many millions of pounds. None of these luxury blocks has ever gone up in smoke. While it’s too early to point the finger of blame for this tragedy, it does raise the question of whether management was the problem. There is a huge battle going on in London over the future of social housing estates, and there is no doubt that this appalling incident will feed into what has become a vicious debate. All over the city, high-rise social housing is earmarked for demolition. Up to 100 estates are estimated to have been, or are in the process of being, demolished, with many more in the pipeline. Local authorities claim that repairs and maintenance mean refurbishment is unaffordable. But residents, who do not want their communities broken up, are fighting vocal battles to save their homes. The question is as much about who looks after social housing as what specifically needs to be repaired and maintained. Many residents have long been unhappy with the Kensington & Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation, a private property company contracted by the council to provide services and repairs. Over the past 20 years, most councils have given up the day-to-day running of social housing and the upkeep of housing estates. In many areas, partnerships such as the one between the KCTMO and the Kensington and Chelsea council are in operation. It’s a confusing system where lines of democratic accountability appear to be blurred as the council and the KCTMO claim they represent residents. Question marks over safety in council tower blocks have been highlighted elsewhere in recent years. In 2009, a fire at Lakanal House, a tower block in south London, broke out killing six people. Although Southwark council said it had recently spent £3.5m on refurbishment to meet fire safety standards it was revealed that the block had been identified as being at risk of fire. The all-party parliamentary fire and rescue group asked Gavin Barwell (then housing minister, now Theresa May’s adviser) to carry out a review of building regulations after the Lakanal House fire, but he failed to set a date for it. The Grenfell Action Group had repeatedly complained that health and safety laws were being breached as a result of what they deemed to be failures on the part of the KCTMO. In a blogpost last year entitled Playing with Fire, the action group wrote: “It is a truly terrifying thought but the Grenfell Action Group firmly believe that only a catastrophic event will expose the ineptitude and incompetence of our landlord.” https://www.theguardian.com/commentis...