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Hundreds evacuated from London tower blocks over fears of Grenfell repeat
Chalcots estate residents moved overnight into temporary accommodation after council said it could not guarantee safety
“Hundreds of residents of a housing estate in north London have been evacuated overnight after fire inspectors said five tower blocks were at risk following the Grenfell Tower blaze.
People living on Chalcots estate in Swiss Cottage were woken during the night and told to leave their homes immediately after Camden council became the first in the country to order an evacuation of blocks at risk of a similar fire.
Those affected described scenes of confusion as they were told the council was unable to guarantee residents’ safety, They are asked to find alternative accommodation or report to a local leisure centre, where hundreds of mattresses had been laid out. Others were offered hotel rooms for the night.
Speaking on Saturday morning, the leader of Camden council, Georgia Gould, said: “We’ve had a huge effort overnight to evacuate people. We have had 650 households who have moved out of the tower blocks. We’ve had everyone, council staff, volunteers, different councillors, all coming together with the fire service to move people safely out of their accommodation.”
She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “The last thing I wanted to do was ask residents late on a Friday night to leave their homes. I have been with them all night and people are distressed, angry and scared. It’s such a difficult decision.
“But I said to fire services, is there anything I can do to make this block safe tonight? I offered to pay for fire services to be stationed outside those blocks just so we could have a couple of days to get the works done, but the message was [that there was] nothing to do to make blocks safe that night.”
Gould had announced the evacuation after a review of the blocks found cladding similar to that which had been on Grenfell Tower, as well as fire risks on insulation surrounding gas piping.
Continued....
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/201 ... l-disaster
In 1915 in Govan, just south of the river Clyde in Glasgow, bands of women torpedoed flour bombs at creeping eviction enforcers from the towering windows of their tenements.
Grenfell locals describe fire's impact on mental health
27 Jun 2017
Layla and Hassin, who live near Grenfell tower, describe how living in its shadow is having a detrimental effect on their mental health.
Speaking to 5 live Breakfast’s Rachel Burden, Layla says her neighbours are struggling to cope, and they are "seeing counselling, but clearly it’s not enough because this has scarred us for life".
Hassin adds that he and his neighbours "feel lost".
Chelsea and Kensington Council said it is offering support to survivors and residents living near Grenfell Tower, where at least 79 people died.
Continued..........
http://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-40415935/ ... tal-health
AhabsOtherLeg » Sat Jul 01, 2017 3:32 am wrote:
Around a century before the Battle of George Square, just as an aside, three men were hung and then beheaded by the authorities for leading a movement (albeit a very militant one) which had as it's principle demand... the institution of a 40 hour working week.
On the 14th June (unopposed by the sizable garrison) the rebels entered the Tower of London and summarily executed the Archibshop of Canterbury, Simon of Sudbury (who was also Chancellor) along with three others.
His head was carried in triumph to London Bridge and displayed there.
More....
https://faculty.history.wisc.edu/sommer ... Revolt.htm
Aaron Bastani @AaronBastani 20 hours ago
'Highest guaranteed rent'. This isn't about offering a service - its legal extortion.
Richard Abbott 20 hours ago
Legal extortion. It's called capitalism. Really, really sorry my generation failed to squash it.
Grenfell survivors worry Notting Hill Carnival will overshadow latest council failure
'It's yet another kick in the teeth for those affected'
As Notting Hill Carnival attendees pay their respects to the people who died in the Grenfell Tower fire, survivors and local residents are dealing with the latest failure by the local council to respond to their concerns.
For the past five weeks, the central west London branch of care consumer watchdog Healthwatch has been collecting questions and complaints from local people and submitting them weekly to Kensington and Chelsea Council (RBKC) - who are required to respond in 20 working days.
But last week the council missed their deadline to respond to the first submission, which it received on 28 July.
Healthwatch has statutory power to hold both the NHS and the local council to account.
"It's yet another kick in the teeth for those affected by Grenfell," Clare Maloney told The Independent.
The volunteer running the Grenfell Humanitarian Information Report (GHIR), which provides up-to-date information for survivors, added that the people affected by Grenfell had used this mechanism as a platform to voice their questions and concerns in good faith.
"For RBKC to not even respond after so many grave errors and missteps on their part is a travesty and shows a monumental disregard for those affected and those whose lives were lost," she said.
The three-page document is seeking answers to a range of questions about the still uncertain death toll, rehousing options, rent payments for people still living in the neighbourhood and queries about what support is available for the families of the dead.
Local people are concerned about air quality after experiencing dizziness, getting nose bleeds, and suffering from chest pains and insomnia, it reads.
Some people living in the area are worried about an increased risk of suicide and have been requesting access to trauma counsellors.
There are also concerns about the protection of vulnerable survivors who are being pressured by self-styled "community leaders" to sign up with particular law firms, the document says.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/ho ... 15141.html
The Touching Way Meghan Markle and the Queen Marked the Grenfell Tower Fire Anniversary
Today is the one year anniversary of the tragic fire in London.
By Caroline Hallemann
Jun 14, 2018
Meghan Markle and the Queen appear to be having a lovely time on this morning's royal visit to Cheshire. But the day of events also featured one sadly poignant moment. Meghan and the Queen observed a national moment of silence at noon in memory of the people who died in the Grenfell Tower tragedy.
https://www.townandcountrymag.com/socie ... niversary/
Washington, D.C. Set To Battle $1 Billion Gentrification Lawsuit
Lydia Arevalo | June 18, 2018 - 6:13 pm
Seven years ago, The New York Times reported that, for the first time in history, black residents no longer comprised the majority population of our nation’s capital. Within the last month, civil rights lawyer Aristotle Theresa filed the lawsuit against the district on behalf native D.C. residents for the discrimination of age, source of income, race, family, religion, and matriculation in their agenda to “attract the Creative Class.”
According to the lawsuit, over the last 12 years “planning agencies have used land-use policy as a primary tool to implement this agenda.” Rather than implementing city-wide initiatives that cater to the needs of current residents, “these land-use policies leverage amenities to attract the targeted [anti-black] demographic group.”
More specifically, “new attractions such as the Wharf, a $2.5 billion mix of luxury housing, hotels and fine dining along the Southwest Waterfront” are being added in locations that are better suited for family units and affordable housing, wrote The Washington Post. In the pursuit to attract the creative class, the D.C. zoning commission, housing authority office of planning and office of the deputy mayor for planning and economic development are being sought after for damages and displacement that are expected to exceed $1 billion.
The City has no comment at the time. Their response is reportedly due to be filed by June 25.
https://www.vibe.com/2018/06/washington ... n-lawsuit/
‘This is not me’
The rise of tent encampments is changing the face of American homelessness. Inside one, Monica Diaz struggles to keep her full-time job — and her dignity.
Monica Diaz came close to falling asleep while standing as she spoke to a lawyer who offered to help her pro bono with a complaint regarding city workers throwing away her belongings, including her identification cards. She had worked all night and not slept because of construction noise near her tent.
Story by Terrence McCoy
Photos by Michael S. Williamson
March 22, 2019
Before 10 a.m. on another cold Thursday, Monica Diaz stirred in her tent, filled with dread. It had been two weeks since the last cleanup, and city workers would again be here soon, with their dumpster truck and police cars, to clear out the encampment. Every morning was awful, but these were the worst of all, when Monica, who’d otherwise be resting before work, was forced to confront publicly what she did her best to hide: that she’s homeless. That she lives in a tent. That she just turned 40, and that this is somehow her life.
“You ready?” Monica asked her husband, after a sleepless night at the base of Union Station, near CNN’s Washington bureau, where the noise never stopped and they’d huddled together with their dog, Sassy, against the cold.
“Somewhat,” said Pete Etheridge, 31, sighing.
They looked around their tent, which not only held the sum total of their world but also reflected a way of life that has, over the past decade, fundamentally changed the face of American homelessness. As housing costs climb ever higher in booming urban areas, the significant growth in tent encampments nationwide has become one of the most visible signs of the nation’s failure to alleviate widening inequality. In Orange County, Calif., more than 700 people were cleared out of a tent city along the Santa Ana River last year after thousands signed a petition and Anaheim declared a state of emergency. Seattle, meanwhile, has allowed some tent cities to operate as de facto communities — long-term, regulated, even with phone numbers and addresses. And in the District, the number of encampment cleanups has surged, according to city data, rising from 29 in 2015 to 100 in 2018.
Monica, a stout, wavy-haired woman now living in her seventh tent after cleanup crews tossed the others, looked down the busy street and tried to gird herself for the indignities to come. She needed to place her clothing and blankets into black trash bags, take down the blue and gray nylon tent and wheel everything out of eyesight in a shopping cart. Then she would watch as workers wiped away any trace of her from First Street NE, wheel it all back, pitch her tent again, take an ibuprofen p.m. and then sleep it all away until it was time to go to the fast-food restaurant for work.
“We got to take it all the way down there,” she said, pointing toward the next street. Pete looked over everything that needed packing and was quietly shaking his head when a man in a brown coat approached. He’d come to cover the cleanup for Street Sense, a publication about homelessness, but now told them that the move had been canceled. The city was worried about hypothermia. Monica and Pete wouldn’t have to dismantle their lives — at least not today.
“It’s canceled?” Monica said, putting a hand over her mouth and closing her eyes. “Oh my God! We were just about to move all of our stuff!”
She hugged the man, and then Pete, the two of them overcome with such sudden relief that they began to cry.
“I love you, baby,” he said, pressing his face to hers.
“We’re going to make it,” she said, reaching up to wipe the tears away from his face.
Behind them was a sign screwed to a metal post. It showed the date of the next cleanup.
Feb. 28, it now said. Ten a.m. Two weeks from today.
MORE...https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/loc ... 9e26c558a1
“Acknowledge us!” she said. “We’re human beings! Please, just acknowledge us!”
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