Aurelia Foster & Emily McGarvey
BBC News
Getty Images
The decision to deconstruct Grenfell Tower has been met with anger by some bereaved relatives and survivors of the fire that killed 72 people there in 2017.
Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner told a meeting on Wednesday that the west London tower block would be dismantled to ground level.
But a spokesperson for Grenfell United, which represents some of the bereaved families and survivors, said no-one at the meeting supported the decision, and that ignoring their wishes was “disgraceful and unforgivable”.
There has been years of debate over the future of the 24-storey tower, with some hoping it would remain as a lasting reminder of the tragedy and others wanting it replaced with a new memorial.
Some local residents have called for it to be removed completely.
One former Grenfell resident said the section of the block that is structurally unsafe should be taken down, but retained to become a memorial as “if it’s out of sight, it will be definitely be out of mind”.
A formal government announcement on the matter is expected to be made on Friday.
The spokesperson for Grenfell United said Rayner had refused to confirm how many bereaved people and survivors had been spoken to in the “recent, short four week consultation”.
“Today’s meeting showed just how upset bereaved and survivors are about not having their views heard or considered in this decision,” they said in a statement.
“Ignoring the voices of bereaved on the future of our loved ones’ gravesite is disgraceful and unforgivable.”
Kimia Zabihyan, from Grenfell Next of Kin, which also acts for some of the bereaved families, told the BBC she had attended the meeting with Rayner.
She described the meeting as “charged”, but said Rayner appeared to have come along with the “best of intentions”.
“The deputy prime minister was very clear that she has taken this decision very seriously, that it is a serious responsibility and that it is a very sensitive decision to make, but it is one that she felt she had to make,” said Ms Zabihyan, adding that Rayner said she had made the decision based on what engineers had recommended.
The government has previously been warned the structure may be unsafe due to the extent of the fire damage.
A report in 2020 recommended the tower be propped up in various places because the concrete that reinforces it had been damaged by the weather, and that the heating and drying of summers and winters had created some instability.
The engineers recommended that the tower was brought down
Read More