Decision to demolish Grenfell Tower would put disaster out of sight and out of mind, says survivor
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Angela Rayner said work to demolish the remains of the tower would start in JuneA survivor of the Grenfell Tower fire has said the governments decision to demolish the remains of the building would put the tragedy out of sight and out of mind for those responsible.Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner told a group of bereaved and survivors yesterday that work to take the 24-storey block down to ground level would start this June to make way for a permanent memorial.But the decision has been met with anger from some members of the Grenfell Community, who said their views had been ignored.Emma OConnor, who lived on the 20th floor of the west London tower, said its upper floors, which have been declared structurally unsafe by engineers, should be demolished but rebuilt as a memorial.> Also read:Grenfell Tower: what happens next will define how we rememberShe told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: To me, it just seems like if its out of sight, its definitely out of mind for the people that are actually responsible for the lack of respect to human beings.OConnor added that government officials in the meeting did not give full answers to questions and would not say whether the decision to dismantle the tower was reversible.Grenfell United, a group which represents the families of victims, said that Rayner had refused to confirm how many bereaved and survivors had been spoken to during a four-week consultation carried out ahead of yesterdays meeting.Todays meeting showed just how upset bereaved and survivors are about not having their views heard or considered in this decision, the group said.> Also read:Construction sleepwalking to repeat of Grenfell due to culture of silence, says industry organisationIgnoring the voices of bereaved on the future of our loved ones gravesite is disgraceful and unforgivable.The government is expected to make a formal announcement on the decision tomorrow.The shell of the building is still covered in the protective wrapping which was installed two months after the fire which ripped through the tower in June 2017, killing 72 people in what was the UKs deadliest residential fire since the Second World War.The tower pictured in the weeks after the fire, before it was covered in a protective wrappingThe final report of a public inquiry into the disaster published last September found the combustible cladding on the building which allowed the fire to rapidly spread to upper storeys was the result of systematic dishonesty from those who manufactured and marketed the materials.Inquiry chairman Martin Moore-Bick concluded that the disaster was avoidable and caused in most cases through incompetence but, in some cases, through dishonesty and greed.Rayners decision comes three years after plans by former communities secretary Robert Jenrick to demolish the building were shelved by his successor Michael Gove following an outcry from bereaved families.An international design competition to design a memorial to the victims of the fire was launched last July, with a winner due to be announced this spring.> Also read:RIBA names five teams on shortlist to design Grenfell Tower memorialThe government has set aside a site of just under 3,000sq m for the memorial, which includes the ground on which the tower block stands in North Kensington and adjacent land on either side.The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has been contacted for comment.
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