Residents evacuated from a structurally unsound tower block claim they have been given little support by Bristol city council, which urged them not to protest over their treatment.
Some of the 400 people moved out of the stricken Barton House tower block on Tuesday gathered in the foyer of Bristol city hall on Friday demanding an independent investigation into what happened, compensation and a local rehousing plan.
“They have risked our lives,” said Shaban Ali, a Barton House resident. “They have gambled with our families’ lives. They have rolled the dice like a Las Vegas casino. They have left us and our children in danger. Shame on them. We no longer trust the council. We need an independent investigation.”
The evacuation of the block was ordered after a survey revealed that if there was a fire or an explosion, it could cause disastrous damage to the structure of the building.
Ali pointed to government advice sent to all councils in 2017 to check large panel system buildings, such as Barton House. He said the council could not be trusted to “mark its own homework”.
The community group Acorn, which organised the protest, said it had invited the Labour mayor of Bristol, Marvin Rees, who is at a conference abroad, Tom Renhard, the council cabinet member for housing, and the local MP, Thangam Debbonaire, to come to talk to residents, but no representatives showed up.
Rayhan Ismail, 36, said his family of four had been placed in a two-bed hotel room last used to accommodate homeless people during the pandemic. “They have not been used for years,” he said. “They are unmaintained and unclean. There is a damp smell. The toilets are very dirty.
“The council is not doing anything. They have just brought people in to calm us down. They are not helping. There is no action.”
Ismail and other residents said the council had urged people not to protest. “They came to the dinner last night encouraging people not to attend. They were saying: ‘You’ve got everything you need ... you’ve got your hotel, you’ve got food and drink and whatnot.’”
Fadmo Farah, 34, who lived in the block for 11 years, said it was inappropriate for the council to put pressure on people not to protest. “They didn’t want any attention [on them]. They wanted people not to say anything. They want it to go smoothly for them but it is not going smoothly for us.”
Farah, a single parent with two daughters aged 23 months and 11 years, said she was worried about money. “It is financially draining [staying in a hotel]. You have to spend money on taxis. You have to spend money on parking,” she said. “Money is my main worry at the moment. I don’t have much savings. If something goes wrong, what am I going to do?”
She said her youngest child had become ill due to the living conditions in the hotel: “She is coughing non-stop. She is constipated because she is not eating proper food. I normally cook for them.”
Nuh Sharif, 42, whose family of four has also been crammed into a single room, said his daughter’s allergies had been triggered by the damp in the hotel. A video of his room shows a dirty carpet littered with pieces of rubbish. “She is sneezing and coughing a lot. She is struggling to sleep. It is so stressful for us,” he said.
Sharif has not been able to work since the evacuation. He is driving his children to school from the hotel. He said the taxis to take the children arranged by the council were unreliable and often failed to turn up. “I’m a taxi driver. I’m self-employed. How am I going to support my family?”
He said he would not move back to Barton House until there had been an independent investigation. “I don’t want to go back. I don’t want to risk my kids.”
Ali said that if the emergency had been in a wealthy neighbourhood of Bristol, such as Clifton, it would have been handled differently. He said the attitude of those in power was: “They are just Barton House residents ... low income ... we don’t care.”
The council has been approached for comment.
