This is an email sent to Brent councilors today by Cllr John Duffy (Kilburn)
Dear All,
As you
know the tragic events that took place on 14th June at Grenfell Tower has cost
over a hundred lives has left a mark on our city. Over the years we have seen
many similar tragic events, but normally they are in factories (sweat shops) in
Bangladesh or a collapse of building on the outskirts (shanty -town) of a South
American city. The only difference between this the others tragic events is the
fact it happen only a few miles in a neighbouring borough right on our
doorsteps do we are one of the wealthiest countries in the world.
In the
early hours of 14th June I received two phone calls one from a women who was
going down to the fire area to look for friends and offer them a place to stay,
and another from a women crying who just wanted to talk about the tragic events
she had witnessed on TV. The following day (15th) a friend of nearly 50 years
call in on me and told me about his son and family, who live in one of the
other twin blocks of Grenfell tower estate and who had witnessed the fire
throughout the night, and how his partner was talking to her son on the
phone as the horror unfolded in that long night .
As the
days passed it became clear they the fire did not only wreak death and
destruction it also exposed inequalities.. Kensington and Chelsea is the wealthiest
area in London (and maybe the world) and has many high rise expensive
hotels and private apartment blocks. These high rise hotels have the maximum
fire protection and have been erected using non-toxic building material
etc. I do not object these people having the maximum fire protection. What I
object to is the different way society treats the so called "Creators of
Wealth" who stay in the big hotels and are pampered in comparative way
that same society threat the "Orphans of Wealth" who they hide in
Tower blocks with insufficient fire protection and there needs are ignored .
John
McDonnell the Shadow Chancellor, said that politicians are guilty of murder. I
am not sure if he said that just for affect. However it did highlight the fact that
politicians are responsible for decisions and I have always believed apathy is
not a political decision - its a cop-out. That is why I called for special full
council meeting on 3th July .The meeting would have endorse a strategy for
officers to follow and the officers in turn would been up-to date with local
information from Councillors. Officers would have been able to explain what
we're been doing , and the resource implications .This would have ensured
councillors were not just observers waiting for the next bulletin, but were
local representatives , representing local people. The CEO, Head of Legal, the
Leader and the Mayor decided to limit discussion and to kick it to the 11th
July. The decision was wrong, anti-democratic and not transparent.
Since the
disaster , I have exchanged numerous emails mostly private with Officers
and the CEO, here are some of them.
Time line
14th June
at 09:22, I wrote about
the visible deterioration of some of the new blocks in South Kilburn
and tried to identify short -life up property we could get up
and running . I understand Cllr Kalwala was doing the same thing in
Stonebridge looking for voids to be ready to help K+C . I am proud of what
others and myself did to ensure Brent was ready to support the residents of
Grenfell Tower if needs be.
15th June
at 4-30PM, I went down to South
Kilburn to have a look the blocks and ensure the area was cleared
of any fire hazard. I understand Cllr Shazard and Cllr Colacicco were doing something
similar in Mapesbury. I looked at all the blocks including George and
Swift house (which are owned by a housing association) that had been of concern
to residents for some time, including issues about the failing exterior.
I informed the CEO of my concerns .The CEO instructed officers to investigate
my concerns about George House.
24th June
at 11-16 AM, I requested an emergency
full council meeting ( which I later changed to a special meeting )
the requisite number of councillors agreed to call the meeting and the CEO
asked The Leader and another officer to discuss with the Mayor.
26th June at 3pm. The CEO wrote to all councillors, misleading all
councillors saying that I had not got the 5 councillors you
need to requisiteion a meeting naming myself , Cllr Pavey , Stopp , Warren . However
the CEO, the Mayors office and the The Leader of the council were well aware
that Cllr Chan and Cllr Hector had also supported the request for a
meeting by email to the Mayor, the Leader of the Council and Labour group
leadership on the 24th June .
The CEO
then advise the Mayor that he should not use his powers to call a
special meeting , instead we should have a drop-in section, which would not be
open to the press or public and would not be minuted, replacing a
democratically called meeting. The CEO also promised time to ask questions at
the drop -in , but the Head of Legal said half an hours of questions is
enough for councillors to ask questions and she would not agree to officers
staying on after the 7pm deadline.
28TH June
at 11-15 am. My fears were confirmed, just as I had alerted the CEO on the 15th June
the cladding at George house failed the fire test. However the
FB did not recommend immediate evacuation of the block and 24 hrs wardens are
now in place to walk the scheme.
Now
because of the CEO intervention we have not got a Full Council meeting tonight,
where we could publicly support and reassure residents in South Kilburn and
support officers action. We have a drop-in for councillors and they are
only allowed half an hour to ask questions about the fabric and
material, the short term safety, and medium and long term solutions- while
the public are banned.
This lack
of transparency shown by senior officers and the attempt to highjack the democratic
process and limit debate is why I will not be turning-up tonight. I have
instead arrange a meeting for 2pm tomorrow Tuesday) with the housing
association who manage George House which I invite all
councillors to. I am also inviting Peter Gadsdon or one of his colleagues
(he and his officers are doing a good job) if he or one of his colleagues is
available to attend. I will inform the public meeting tomorrow (Tuesday) evening (see notice above) about the outcome
of the meeting and hopefully will be able to give residents an update.
There are
obvious lessons to learn about fire protection, which will emerge, but there
are other issues about how council meetings and decisions are
conducted and implemented. Over the next few months the council will have
to be more transparent and the CEO and Cabinet will have to start to listen to
local councillors. There can be no more mistakes like trying to
close the Granville Community Centre without understanding the consequences of
regeneration on an area like Kilburn. Poorer areas also need a guarantee that
they will retain all the funds they are due from the Community Infrastructure Levy
(CIL) from the related 106 income and it will not passed onto wealthier areas,
who have not suffered the from the consequences of the redevelopment/
regeneration programme.
Fairness
and transparency is needed if we are going to avoid creating more Orphans Of
Wealth .
The Council has tabled an item on the agenda of the next Full Council meeting on July 10th (7pm Civic Centre). There are 17 items on the agenda -Fire Safety in High Rise Towe Blocks is number 15. LINK
