By James Simons-
Residents of 600 high rises in England using similar cladding to Grenfell Tower will need to be rehoused, Theresa May said today, Thursday.
Following close examination of tower blocks in England, Downing street has raised the urgency level in raising awareness about their findings. After finding three combustible samples, Downing Street said it would reveal more results within the next 48 hours.
A spokeswoman from Downing Street said in a statement: “So far, three samples have been found to be combustible.
“We are in touch with all the local authorities to encourage them to urgently send us the samples and then we will carry out the checks that we need to see where we are with that.”
She added: “Obviously nobody will be living in buildings that are unsafe. They will be rehoused if they need to be and landlords will be asked to provide alternative accommodation where that’s possible.” What determines whether residents of the 600 houses needs to be rehoused will vary from resident to resident. Those who live on the first two floors of such buildings may fancy their chances of getting out of a fire in time where they have a fire alarm. Some residents who live on the lower floors like the third to the fifth floors may have good reason to be willing to wait for the correct claddings to be fitted in and not want to leave.
However, residents who live on high floors like the seventh upwards, may not want to stay there one more night. The risk is just too scary to contemplate. Most risk averse individuals would rather be rehoused than risk loosing their lives because of the foolish actions of another resident, who may escape the consequences of their own actions.
The news from Downing street comes following criticism the government has faced over the fire that killed 79 people, and all the issues that accompanied one of the worst disasters in Britain to hit a residential tower block.
RESIGNATION
On Wednesday, the boss of Kensington and Chelsea Council, Nicholas Holgate, resigned after his organisation was negatively in the spotlight with a cloud of judgment and criticism hanging over him.
Theresa May has supported his decision to resign, saying that ‘’the council couldn’t cope in the aftermath of the fire’’. Councils across the country have bene asked to submit details of the cladding they use by Monday. It is good that these steps are being taken to prevent the chance of another similar fire to that of Greenfield.
All residents of tower blocks are expected to be be extra careful with their daily activities and handling of electrical appliances, but many individuals are prone to carelessness actions especially when drunk.
The decision not to take chances is a positive one, moving councils in the direction of prevention rather than the impossible task of curing a disaster.