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Issue 72 | March 2021
Covering Beeston, Belle Isle, Cottingley, Holbeck, Hunslet, Middleton, Riverside & Stourton
CLADDING: THE NIGHTMARE CONTINUES nightmare of spiralling costs”, on a “road to ruin” with even greater costs ahead. The “huge toll” of living under stress and uncertainty. Anger at the developers for “cutting corners” and “building firetraps”, then successfully wriggling out of responsibility, whilst still in some cases receiving huge government grants for current developments, and via schemes like Help to Buy. And anger undoubtedly with the government too, for their “failure to understand”, for failing to hold the developers to account, and for seeking just to placate them with “wholly insufficient” funding. Mo insisted: “The government are treating us as
by Ed Carlisle
T
housands of local residents remain locked in a bitter and urgent battle for major safety renovations on their flat blocks – and to avoid having to foot the punishingly high costs themselves. Last month (10 February) saw the government’s longawaited £3.5bn Building Safety Fund (BSF) announcement, to tackle the national ‘cladding crisis’ (on top of £1.6bn previously designated funds). However, this falls far short of the £15bn widely recognised as needed to properly remedy the situation – meaning that many regular leaseholders will still have to pay tens of thousands of pounds each, for the historic failings of developers and planners. And as we went to press, the Fire Safety Bill is due in Parliament on 24 February, with fiercely contested debates likely on proposals including the McPartland-Smith Amendment which – backed by a range of MPs from all parties – reject the government’s position, and argue that regular leaseholders should not be
Leaseholders are not impressed with Government plans held responsible for historic confused, or simply too shelldefects. shocked to share their stories; Local developments others asked that we change particularly affected include their names for this article; and Leeds Dock (formerly Clarence some have even been forced to Dock), Greenhouse in Beeston, sign gagging orders, to not and many of the blocks in speak with the press. Holbeck ‘Urban Village’ and Of those we did speak with, along the city centre waterfront. we heard very similar stories. But many residents spoke of Pride and delight at having feeling overwhelmed, drained, bought a home, turning into “a
stakeholders, alongside the industry that’s done this to us – but in reality, we’ve been wronged, we’re the victims.” Ben added: “We – the leaseholders – are the only innocent party in this situation, but we’re the ones being held responsible. It’s madness.” The cladding crisis follows the tragic 2017 inferno at Grenfell Tower, in west London – in which 72 people died. This was followed by a national survey of all apartment blocks, which discovered that the construction industry and developers had been operating below safety standards on apartment blocks for years – particularly around external Continues on page 2
Cladding Stories | Phil: “I was delighted to be able to buy my flat two years ago, but it now feels like I made a terrible decision. I got a fire safety report during the purchase, but it’s now clear that substantial work is needed to replace unsafe materials and insert fire breaks. The BSF is currently unlikely to cover all that, so we’re facing ruinous costs – estimated at over £40,000 per leaseholder. The Covid pandemic have really put a strain on my mental health, and now – through no fault of my own – I feel trapped in an unsafe building, and facing the threat of potential bankruptcy, and even losing my home. It’s completely overwhelming.”
In this issue:
It’s Heidi @Little LitterSociety
page 5
Signs of Spring photo comp page 7
Healthy holidays in Holbeck page 10
Coping with loss and loneliness pages 16-17
NEWS
2-9
SCHOOL LIFE
10
COMMENT HISTORICAL LIVES
12-14 15 16-17
ART LIFE
18
WHAT’S ON
19
SPORTING LIFE 20
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