Grenfell residents anger as council charges cleaning fee for memorial to victims

Residents living next to Grenfell Tower have blasted the council for being charges to clean a memorial for the victims of the fire.

Seven years ago 72 people were killed on the high-rise blaze on June 14, 2017, and the anniversary was marked with a silent walk last night after the granddaughters of victim Tony Disson, 65, released a dove. Demands have been made that recommendations from public inquiries must not be allowed to be delayed or ignored following the tragedy. A large crowd, with many wearing green walked from Notting Hill Methodist Church with some holding placards reading “safe and secure homes for all” and “justice for Grenfell”

And as survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire have criticised the lack of progress for victims, there has also been anger that residents living nearby have been billed for cleaning a memorial. Kensington and Chelsea Council charged leaseholders on the Lancaster West estate £618.09 for work at the time of the 2022 anniversary of the fire including the removal of “excrement and other human debris” from a memorial, it is reported.

People gather at the memorial to the victims on June 14

When leaseholders requested to see their service charge invoices they found out and were then refunded in May this year following a complaint to the council, while Kensington and Chelsea Council has apologised, reported Big Issue. “Who in their right mind would think it was fair and reasonable to charge even a penny to residents and leaseholders for this?” wrote leaseholders in a complaint to the council.

And one resident David O’Connell told the publication: “That no one picked it up or thought it was wrong shows how little they’ve changed.” A spokesperson for Kensington and Chelsea council said the charge had been a mistake and the money was refunded once it was discovered.

“We’re very sorry for the mistake that led to residents being charged for some works we do in the run up the Grenfell anniversary for the 22-23 financial year. As soon as we became aware of this we refunded the money to the leaseholders who had been wrongly charged,” reportedly said a spokesperson for Kensington and Chelsea council.

“We have a new assurance step now for our service charge team to meet more frequently with the Lancaster West Neighbourhood Team to go through all transactions before leaseholders are billed, to make sure this doesn’t happen again.” The Mirror has contacted Kensington and Chelsea Council for comment.