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FIVE TOWER BLOCKS with 800 homes are being evacuated in Camden over concerns around fire safety.
The cladding on five of the Chalcots Estate towers is similar to the materials on Grenfell and have been widely blamed for the rapid spread of the massive blaze last week that is presumed to have killed 79 people.
The dramatic snap decision follows urgent testing of the towers’ exteriors, which were installed by the same contractor as the Grenfell Tower. As a result, Chalcots residents were being sent to hotels across the city
It was originally reported that just one tower block was being evacuated, but that was later extended to all tower blocks the council had checked with London Fire Brigade.
Speaking to reporters, Georgia Gould, leader of Camden Council, said the the London Fire Brigade had told the Council that they “could not guarantee” the residents’ safety.
“And so I’ve made to really, really difficult decision to move the people living there into temporary accommodation while we do the urgent works to guarantee safety,” she said.
Gould said the Council had made the decision to evacuate residents “about two hours ago”.
Anger
Speaking to reporters at the scene of the evacuation, residents expressed anger that the council had left it until 8pm on a Friday night to start moving them.
Michelle Urquhart, who has been living in the Chalcots Estate’s Bray tower, said the situation was “frightening”.
“I don’t know where we are going to go.
“One man in a suit said to me ‘you can’t stay here tonight’.
We have been living in these flats for the last 10 years with this cladding.
Chalcots resident Shirley Philips told Sky News television she had been given no notice before being told she must leave her home.
“It’s absolutely disgusting.
I had a fire safety check done today. Why have they left it till 8:30 on Friday night to start getting residents out? Where do they think we’re all going?
“Hugely distressing”
In an earlier statement Gould said the council was determined ensure the safety of its residents.
She said that the the “Taplow block needs to be temporarily decanted while we undertake urgent fire safety works so that residents can be fully assured of their safety”.
This means that we need to move residents from their homes and into temporary accommodation.
The council said that it anticipated that these works would be completed in “three to four weeks”.
“We realise that this is hugely distressing for everyone affected and we will be doing all we can, alongside the London Fire Brigade and other authorities, to support our residents at this difficult time,” Gould said.
“The Grenfell fire changes everything – we need to do everything we can to keep residents safe.
You will appreciate that this is an emerging situation and we will be providing regular updates.
Cladding is material that is put on the outside of the buildings to improve its energy efficiency and insulation.
It has been implicated in the Grenfell Tower fire in London last week in which 79 people are believed to have lost their lives.
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Do these surveys not take into account the big bills? Such as gas, oil, petrol or electricity.
They are the bills that keep me in the red and they are not going down!
And mortgage bill too! Doh..
The CPI is down 0.4% for prices in November however we are still 0.8% above what prices were at this point last year. Here’s the full report.
Cheers Sean.
The cost of housing, heating, electricity and other fuels have risen.
I don’t really care if a bag of apples went down by 5cent when my gas bill is higher than I ever remember.
its not going down people are spending less because thy don’t have it. end of.
Cost of living going down WHERE
Wages going south aswell with increased prsi…
Wait until the property tax hits in!!!!…I cant believe people are moaning about a €10 a month for some kids allownace….ITS THE PROPERTY TAX WHICH IS GOING TO DO THE MOST DAMAGE TO FAMILIES….WAKE UP PEOPLE!!! AND START TO PROTEST THIS UNJUST TAX!!…you are going to get hit with more tax in water charges as well… & pretty soon they will own YOU and your FAMILY and your HOUSE if you dont do anything about it….WAKE UP!!
Nope children’s allowance is bigger for me. 3 kids means €38 per month or 450 odd a year. That’s on top of the 480 I lost last year.
Actually the prsi change is costing nearly as much as the property tax (avg figure).
The price of tobacco fell by 20% on Moore street last year
black market fags
55 euro for 200
Irish 98euro for 200
Has the Author of this article been asleep for the past six years??
Thomas these people are not asleep its called deception they keep telling you that it is raining while they p—- all over yuo
No, the author of this article has not been asleep for the last six years. (Though, on average, I’d say if you added it up I’ve been asleep for a little under two years out of the last six.)
Rubbish
I must be living in another country ! Every time I go to the shops for food there are price increases abet for only a few cents at a time . But added up on a lot of products this all adds up ! There are of course ‘special offers’ but in my experience the cut of these prices is added to different products around the store !
I don’t know what the idiots who did this survey are living on – fresh air? I wasn’t asked…no way has the cost gone down!?!?
Leave it out!!!!!!
Highest purchasing power… That means given our net tax income and cost of living we are materially better off than all of Europe excluding Luxembourg and the Netherlands… Interesting and no wonder they’re annoyed with this constant whining how we are squeezed to the limit….we must seem like a nation of hypocrites.
the cost of living has gone down and diminished to an all time low in this generations time
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