Matthew Steeples suggests the giant coffin and stain on government that is the Grenfell Tower should be demolished immediately
The giant, grim carbuncle that is Grenfell Tower is a stain on the councillors of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and it should be torn to the ground immediately.
Allowing this monstrous edifice to bad government remain standing is wrong. Ash and debris from it blow across the surrounding environs and for survivors of this tragedy, that it still stands can only bring back hideous memories of witnessing friends and neighbours burn to death.
Two stories to keep beside you
Grenfell Matters
Matthew Steeples reports on the strength of feelings shown at the Kensington Town Hall demonstrations and suggests tension will only rise unless figures in authority communicate Yesterday, over 350 people gathered outside Kensington Town Hall to voice their frustration at the council’s failure to communicate with them in the wake of the Grenfell Tower […]
Grenfell Ineptitude
Matthew Steeples suggests it is time to bring down the Grenfell Tower in the wake of news that £30 million has been spent on temporary accommodation for survivors Today The Independent revealed nearly £30 million had been spent on hotel rooms for surviors of the Grenfell Tower tragedy. Whilst this is utterly shocking – […]
Of the building, an unnamed resident recently told The Independent: “The block needs to be tore down. It’s haunting, there used to be faces in those windows.” They are right and that suggestions have been made to cover the structure in tarpaulin simply do not cut the mustard. A proposal to demolish at the end of 2018 will leave the Grenfell Tower insensitively dominating a damaged community far too long and any useful evidence, surely, must by now have been gathered. This giant coffin should be terminated far sooner and it should be blasted to smithereens as soon as is physically possible.
Follow Matthew Steeples on Twitter at @M_Steeples.
Readers have their say
14 comments
You are right. It is a giant graveyard and the remains of those they could find have already been recovered. All that remains is a charred structure that is depositing bad memories of a tragedy on its surrounding community. Knock it down now.
For once Steeple Times is spot on!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wrecking ball urgently required!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How much will f***ing tarpaulin sheeting cost?????????? How much will scaffolding cost???????? More waste!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Disgraceful!!!!!!!!!!! Jail the councilors!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Come on Teresa May —– I am a fan of yours but this is not good enough woman!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Is there not a way to turn it into a memorial to the poor dead?
Matthew Steeples sums it up perfectly. Why waste money on covering it up to only later take that covering down? Get on with demolition toot suite!
This tower is a symbol of what is wrong about British social housing. It was badly managed, the residents were ignored and then it burnt to the ground. It and all others like it should be torn down.
I prefer the idea of making it into a giant screen for artwork to be projected onto. That would be lovely.
Oh Yolanda. Just stick to being a bloody “property professional” will you?
I would make the whole thing a giant shrine to the incompetence of the lazy ass, good for nothing councillors. All the people that died in this unsafe rabbit warren should not be forgotten. It should be made safe and setup as a very bad example of what, not to do for public housing, and the borough of Kensington should hang its head in shame. Lest we forget.
I think they still have a lot of forensic examination to do and remove all debris for the search for human remains.They can’t blow it up and have to erect dust proof sheeting over it to demolish and that means scaffolding. I know it is painful to everyone but sometimes we have to offset our personal feelings and get on with the job. If there is lurking corruption there let’s find It, catch, and imprison. It happened in the Blitz and on Twin Towers. I hope the land becomes a treasured and beautiful public park and a garden of remeberance.
The lesson here is for developers, councils, urban planners etc. to respect human life. It starts with constructing buildings that do not scrimp on safety and amenity, and take into account real care for quality of life, not just number and money-crunching.
It’s surely far too unstable a building to keep it up for anything. Demolish before it falls down and kills some more, for goodness sakes.
It is a different construction to Twin Towers, Margaret. There is no loss to constructional integrity. It is not going to fall down and there is no risk that it might.
Are you sure about that? The people that cladding on it probably said it wouldn’t burn the way it did and listening to them cost 80 odd people their lives.
Combining Yolanda and Dodge’s ideas, why not pull the monstrosity down, and turn the “footprint”, an annoying New Age phrase, into a memorial with some artwork. Possibly even with a plaque that gives the names of the dead (cf Twin Towers Memorial).