Tag Archives: Grenfell Tower

Hold very tight: will Buss give Brick by Brick a rough ride?

Posted on October 7, 2020 by insidecroydon

Our Town Hall reporter, KEN LEE, on how the local council troubleshooter who was brought in to deal with Kensington and Chelsea’s finances in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire has now been hired by Croydon In the final … Continue reading →

Posted in Alison Butler, Brick by Brick, Business, Colonnades, Croydon Council, Croydon Park Hotel, Jo Negrini, Katherine Kerswell, Paul Scott, Simon Hall, Tony Newman | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

‘Utter disgrace’: 2,000 buildings still at risk from cladding

Posted on June 12, 2020 by insidecroydon

Three years since 72 people died in the Grenfell Tower disaster, more than 2,000 high-risk residential buildings are still covered with dangerous cladding, according to a parliamentary committee. The situation has been slammed as “an utter disgrace” by the Fire … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing, London Fire Brigade | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

‘Barren’ Barwell is not fit to sit on housing association board

Posted on December 31, 2019 by insidecroydon

Gavin Barwell, a “not very successful career politician”, should never have been appointed to the board of Clarion, the country’s largest housing association. That’s the view of Rob Gershon, a prominent activist for tenants’ rights, in a devastating critique of … Continue reading →

Posted in Gavin Barwell, Housing | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Residents living in fear of fire in council-run housing blocks

Posted on August 23, 2019 by insidecroydon

Despite condemning office-to-flat conversions, Croydon Council has been using three such buildings to provide temporary housing. A year after a Fire Brigade inspection found the blocks unsafe, improvement works have still not finished, leaving residents forced to live on a … Continue reading →

Posted in Alison Butler, Croydon Council, Croydon North, London Fire Brigade, Norbury, Planning, Thornton Heath | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Mayor refuses to say if Barwell was questioned over Grenfell

Posted on July 26, 2019 by insidecroydon

Unlike most people when newly out of work, gaffe-prone Gavin Barwell didn’t spend his first day of unemployment looking for a new job. The £150,000 per year Downing Street chief of staff until Boris Johnson’s coronation on Wednesday, Barwell spent … Continue reading →

Posted in Caroline Pidgeon, Gavin Barwell, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Policing, Sadiq Khan, Steve Reed MP | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

MP Jones calls on government to spend £1bn on sprinklers

Posted on July 3, 2019 by insidecroydon

Today marks 10 years since the Lakanal House fire in Southwark, where six people – including young mothers and their infant children – were killed when flames and smoke spread through a council-owned high-rise. Yet an investigation conducted by Sarah … Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon Central, Gavin Barwell, Sarah Jones MP | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Did Barwell have his collar felt over the Grenfell fire tragedy?

Posted on June 21, 2019 by insidecroydon

Political editor WALTER CRONXITE on the continuing interrogation of senior Tory government figures over their inaction and incompetence Is it possible that Gavin Barwell, one of a string of Tory housing ministers who before the 2017 Grenfell Tower tragedy failed … Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon Central, Croydon North, Gavin Barwell, Sarah Jones MP, Steve Reed MP | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Barwell and the ignored warnings that led to Grenfell tragedy

Posted on June 13, 2019 by insidecroydon

Gavin Barwell, the former housing minister and sometime Conservative MP for Croydon Central, could be hauled up before the public inquiry into the Grenfell disaster after an investigation by the website Inside Housing today published correspondence which shows that he, … Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon Central, Croydon Council, Gavin Barwell, Sarah Jones MP | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Abuse and insults fly after ‘not guilty’ plea over Grenfell effigy

Posted on May 3, 2019 by insidecroydon

Millionaire property owner Paul Bussetti this week entered not guilty pleas at Westminster Magistrates’ Court to charges brought following the filming and sharing last year of a sick video of a burning effigy of Grenfell Tower. This week’s court hearing, … Continue reading →

Posted in South Norwood | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Manchester and Birmingham join Croydon’s sprinkler campaign

Posted on March 26, 2019 by insidecroydon

The council press office described it as “doorstepping” the Prime Minister, as MP Sarah Jones and council deputy leader Alison Butler were part of a group which handed in a letter signed by 15 local authorities to try to shame … Continue reading →

Posted in Alison Butler, Croydon Central, Croydon Council, Sarah Jones MP | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Hundreds march through South Norwood to support Grenfell

Posted on November 15, 2018 by insidecroydon

More than 300 people, plus TV crews and newspaper reporters, turned out in South Norwood last night to show solidarity with Grenfell and reject racism. But who was the only one to talk to the reporter from The Sun? KEN … Continue reading →

Posted in Clive Fraser, Community associations, Ken Towl, Niro Sirisena, Patsy Cummings, Paul Scott, South Norwood, South Norwood Tourist Board | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Grenfell bonfire effigy prompts South Norwood silent march

Posted on November 8, 2018 by insidecroydon

Residents and community groups in South Norwood are coming together for a silent march next Wednesday, in solidarity with the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire and to demonstrate their rejection of the racist bigotry displayed earlier this week in … Continue reading →

Posted in Community associations, South Norwood, South Norwood Community Kitchen, South Norwood Tourist Board | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Grenfell Tower and the impact on communities, CVA, Sep 20

Posted on September 12, 2018 by insidecroydon

Off The Record Youth Counselling service, in association with the Croydon BME Forum, is staging a panel discussion next week on the impact on the community response to last year’s Grenfell fire in north London, which claimed the lives of … Continue reading →

Posted in Activities, Community associations, Croydon BME Forum | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

First residential tower block in borough gets sprinkler system

Posted on March 2, 2018 by insidecroydon

If the contractors who this week finished retro-fitting sprinklers on a residential block in Upper Norwood continue their work at a similar pace, it would be 2035 before all of Croydon’s towers have the fire safety system fitted. Fortunately, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Alison Butler, Croydon Council, Crystal Palace and Upper Norwood, Gavin Barwell, Housing, London Fire Brigade, Property | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Xmas4Grenfell: Fund-raiser at Ruskin House, Dec 9

Posted on December 5, 2017 by insidecroydon

Xmas4Grenfell this Saturday, December 9, at Ruskin House is all about the spirit of the season — raising awareness and expressing solidarity with the residents of Grenfell Tower who suffered unimaginable tragedy in the summer. Throughout the day, there will … Continue reading →

Posted in Charity | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Tory government still refusing to pay for fitting sprinklers

Posted on October 10, 2017 by insidecroydon

Work has begun to install sprinklers in 1,250 council-managed flats in tower blocks in Croydon, but the Tory government continues to refuse to provide any financial assistance towards the £10million costs, despite the horrific tragedy at Grenfell Tower earlier this … Continue reading →

Posted in Alison Butler, Croydon Council, Housing, London Fire Brigade, Planning, Schools | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Tory ministers ignore councils’ pleas for help on fire safety

Posted on August 13, 2017 by insidecroydon

The Tory government is refusing calls to provide funding to help make residential tower blocks safer following the Grenfell Tower fire. Croydon Council has committed to spending £10million of public money on retro-fitting sprinklers in the borough’s residential blocks, a … Continue reading →

Posted in Alison Butler, Croydon Council, Housing, London Fire Brigade | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Developer removed stairwell from office-to-flats conversion

Posted on August 1, 2017 by insidecroydon

A property speculator has removed the staircase from a residential block as part of its conversion from offices to flats, halving the available fire escapes in the building for the residents of its 119 homes. The 1960s office block Green … Continue reading →

Posted in Business, Croydon Central, Croydon Council, Fairfield, Gavin Barwell, Green Dragon House, Housing, Inspired Homes, Planning, Property | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

‘This land is classist’: Croydon rapper seeks justice for Grenfell

Posted on July 24, 2017 by insidecroydon

A Croydon rapper has produced a track, Justice for Grenfell (See All The Links), which seeks to provide context to the tragedy in Kensington last month. Sense (real name Jenniah Brown), who grew up in West Croydon, often performs at … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Poetry | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Action group calls for urgent arrest of Barwell over Grenfell fire

Posted on July 21, 2017 by insidecroydon

Hard-hitting report calls for transparent investigation among the ‘links in the chain of culpability’, as it alleges a cover-up has already begun Gavin Barwell, who until last month was the Conservative MP for Croydon Central, should be arrested immediately and … Continue reading →

Posted in Gavin Barwell, Housing, London-wide issues | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Tower developers used loophole to avoid fitting sprinklers

Posted on July 12, 2017 by insidecroydon

BARRATT HOLMES reports on the half-million-pound-plus Croydon flats which are 40 storeys up but which were built without any sprinkler system The private developers who built Croydon’s tallest residential tower block used a loophole in planning laws and so avoided … Continue reading →

Posted in Broad Green, Business, Fairfield, Housing, London-wide issues, Planning, Property, Saffron Square | Tagged , , , , , | 6 Comments

Tower block families left waiting for fire safety results

Posted on July 4, 2017 by insidecroydon

Residents of Balaam House, the 60-flat tower block in Sutton, have good cause to be confused and worried this morning as, three weeks since the dreadful events at Grenfell Tower in Kensington, they still await some degree of certainty from … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing, London-wide issues, Niall Bolger, Nick Mattey, Sutton Council | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Sutton residential tower block fails fire safety tests

Posted on June 27, 2017 by insidecroydon

A nine-storey residential tower block in north Sutton which had a multi-million-pound “upgrade” completed only last October, has failed fire safety checks on its exterior cladding. The residents of 96 homes in Chaucer House received letters today informing them of … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing, London-wide issues, Niall Bolger, Outside Croydon, Sutton Council | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Council writes to residents to state its blocks are safe

Posted on June 26, 2017 by insidecroydon

A senior Croydon Council official has written to all residents in the borough’s residential blocks to reassure them and confirm that the hazardous cladding which is suspected of contributing to so much death and destruction in the Grenfell Tower blaze … Continue reading →

Posted in Croydon Council, Housing, London-wide issues, New Addington, Property, South Norwood, Waddon | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Tower residents have three-month wait for sprinkler action

Posted on June 20, 2017 by insidecroydon

Croydon Council last night announced that it is to fit sprinklers in all of its residential tower blocks which are 10 or more storeys tall, in a scheme expected to cost £10million. It makes Croydon the first local authority in … Continue reading →

Posted in Alison Butler, Croydon Council, Housing, London Fire Brigade, London-wide issues, New Addington, South Norwood, Waddon | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments