RESIDENTS locked out of their homes following the Glasgow Art School fire reacted with shock and frustration yesterday when it was revealed at a public meeting that it could be months before they get access to their flats in the exclusion zone.
The meeting, addressed by a range of council, police and political representatives was the first time that Glasgow City Council leader Susan Aitken had spoken directly to residents in the 17 days since the city blaze, which has seen tens of residents made homeless.
The councillor was taken aback by the anger of residents, who rounded on her for “failures” in communication following the fire as well as difficulties in finding accommodation. Adedah Mahmood, who has been locked out of the flat in Dalhousie Street she shares with her husband and three adult children, including her disabled son, said she had been forced to move five times. She claims no needs assessment had been done to find suitable accommodation for her 20-year-old son who is incontinent and has to have a special diet. Hotel rooms allocated had no washing or cooking facilities and she still does not have a suitable offer.
Libbie Usher, 20, spent a week sofas surfing, the next moving from hotel to hotel and has finally been offered a flat that is not only too expensive but from which she could not afford to get a taxi back to after her job, which finishes in the early hours of the morning. She has now decided to return to her family home in Dundee, though this will mean she will not be earning. Others confirmed the situation meant they had not been able to work. However, one resident, who faces losing her car-dependent job because she is unable to access her car keys, said it was relief to be given some sort of timescale. “Now we know it will take months – not a few weeks we can plan for the worst,” she added.
Others found it hard to accept assurances from Aiken that the council had done everything it could to communicate with residents in the “difficult” an changing situation, claiming the felt let down, and needed better support in coming weeks and months. However, she and Raymond Barlow, of building control stressed that the site “remained dangerous” and insisted that they had provided the limited information they had at a time when so much was uncertain. She said: “We know this is a horrendous situation for everyone but we really have no choice. The decision [to make people homeless] has not come lightly, believe me.”
Agreeing that it could be “two or three months” before people were able to access their homes she said a £3000 council payment for each household should help to pay for essentials that people had been unable to access. “It’s a charitable fund,” she added. “We are looking at every possible source of funding [but] the council is not an insurer. “
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