So Where Do The Council Stand?

After a two-week break from our live broadcasts, Cladding Matters is back this Friday at 1pm.

And there is quite a lot to catch up on.

Before the break, we had reached what felt like an important point in the long-running situation at Royal Artillery Quays.
Steve Day had written directly to every councillor at the Royal Borough of Greenwich, asking them a very simple question.
Where do you stand?

For months, residents at Royal Artillery Quays have been presenting evidence and asking questions about the construction and fire safety of their homes.

Steve's emails attempted to bring the issue down to something very straightforward.

Councillors had been given the information. They had been shown the evidence. They were being asked individually whether they accepted what that evidence appeared to demonstrate and, importantly, what they intended to do about it.
Initially, Steve set a deadline for responses. That deadline was subsequently extended by a further week, giving councillors additional time to consider the information and reply.

We have now had another two weeks without a live Cladding Matters.

So what has happened?

Who responded?

What did they say?

And perhaps just as importantly, who didn't respond at all?

This week's programme will bring the story right up to date.

Because while the question of where Greenwich councillors stand remains important, the situation at Royal Artillery Quays has not simply stood still while we have been off air.

Further information has emerged, including developments relating to the fire risk assessment commissioned by residents and concerns surrounding fire doors at the development.

We will be discussing what that information appears to tell us and why it could add another important piece to a picture that residents have been trying to get recognised for a very long time.

There is also a wider question here.

At what point does the evidence placed in front of elected representatives require more than acknowledgement?

Residents are not asking councillors to become building surveyors, fire engineers or construction experts.

They are asking them to look at the evidence that has been produced, listen to the professionals involved and decide whether what they are being shown requires action.

That is why Steve's question to the councillors matters.

Where do you stand?

Not where does the council collectively stand.

Not what does a department say.

Where does each elected councillor stand when presented with the evidence concerning the safety and construction of homes occupied by their residents?

For those living at Royal Artillery Quays, this is not an abstract argument about regulations, paperwork or historic construction decisions.

These are their homes.

They have lived with the uncertainty, the remediation work, the scaffolding and shrouding, the questions surrounding fire safety and the continuing battle to have their concerns properly addressed.

Two weeks may have passed since our last live programme.

For the residents, the clock has never stopped.

So this Friday, Cladding Matters returns to ask where things stand now.

What responses has Steve received from Greenwich councillors?

What has happened since those emails were sent?

What does the latest information concerning the fire doors tell us?

And after everything that has now been put before Greenwich Council, perhaps the simplest question remains the most important one.

So where do the council stand?

Join Gareth Wax, Steve Day and Hamish McLay for Cladding Matters, live this Friday at 1pm, as we catch up on the developments of the past two weeks and hear the latest from Royal Artillery Quays.

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