That the Grenfell Tower went up in flames and killed so many people is an appalling event, of course it is. But what is it about it that turns everyone into entire cretins? We’re told, for example, that this shows that tenants must be intimately involved in the management of their dwelling places – Grenfell was already managed by a tenants’ cooperative of sorts.
Then we’ve this:
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] An adult education college at the heart of the Grenfell Tower community has been saved by a £32m government bailout following a campaign against plans which could have turned it into luxury housing. The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea bought Wornington college for a net sum of £25m in 2016 – almost a year before the Grenfell fire – and had plans to sell it on to a private housing developer for a potential £14m profit. Now RBKC faces a £15m loss after agreeing to sell it to the government for £10m. [/perfectpullquote] [perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] Grenfell residents – including Ed Daffarn, who predicted the fire and campaigned against the council’s treatment of its tenants – attended the college, which was also used by many women returning to work after bringing up children and attended by recent immigrants to learn English. Daffarn was part of the Save Wornington campaign and welcomed the government bailout, which he said “puts paid to RBKC’s plans to sweat yet more community assets”. [/perfectpullquote] [perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] The deal marks a major victory for the Grenfell community which, more than two years after the disaster that claimed 72 lives, has suffered a series of setbacks, including delays to the public inquiry and police investigation, and a painful rehousing process, in which some families are wrestling with serious problems with their new homes. “The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea’s culture of disrespect that lay behind the ill treatment of Grenfell residents can also be evidenced by their purchase of the Wornington college freehold in 2016,” Daffarn said. [/perfectpullquote] [perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“The announcement of the government’s intention to safeguard the future of the college is to be welcomed. Many generations of North Kensington residents have had their lives transformed through studying at Wornington and it is a fitting legacy of Grenfell that this is now set to continue.”[/perfectpullquote]Given the fire we’re short a certain number of flats, dwelling places, in that part of London. Some of those burnt out have still not been permanently rehoused.
So, the non-conversion of a building into such dwellings is a victory now, is it? Reducing the number of homes aids?
Even if you want to decry the creation of luxury flats – even then it’s an increase in available housing – there’s still that profit to the council which can be spent on other affordable places.
Seriously, what caused this mass outbreak of cretinism?
How do they vote in this borough?
It seems like quite a few of the tenants would have left Grenfell if they could due to expressed concerns. That they could not is a prime example of one of the big problems of council housing – once you are in one you can’t get out of it without sacrificing a massive rent subsidy. Resulting in low job mobility and creation of sink estates.
Did they EVER check the residents of the other three towers for subletting, multiple occupants, non-payment and cheating? Why not, all those things were exposed?
There’s no outbreak of cretinism. I think you’ll find that these people have been cretins for a very long time.