Community divided over fate of Grenfell Tower

"I don't accept it has to come down, because there are a lot of outstanding matters – justice the families need to see."

Nabil Choucair, who lost six family members among the 72 killed in the Grenfell Tower block fire in June 2017, made the comment after Housing Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner told a meeting that the government planned to dismantle the tower.

The announcement received a mixed reaction from those who survived or lost loved ones, and those who live in its shadow.

Some agree with Mr Choucair, others say it should remain as a reminder of what happened while others say it is a safety risk for it to remain as it is.

Speaking to BBC News, Mr Choucair said: "A lot of families are upset that it has to come down but we're hoping it can stay up a lot longer because there are a lot of people who haven't been prosecuted."

He said the decision had been rushed, adding: "It's a very sensitive, delicate matter so it needs to be thought out well."

The sentiment was echoed by Damel Carayol who was at Wednesday's meeting with Rayner. He said he was taken by surprise by the announcement.

"I don't think anything should be done to the building before justice is served and those who are responsible go to court and are tried," he said.

"It would be extremely painful if anything happened to the tower before the criminal investigation was concluded."

Mr Carayol, who is with the Humanity For Grenfell group and lost a niece and cousin in the fire, said some families saw the tower as a "burial ground".

Bernadette Bernard, one of the many bereaved relatives, said: "The tower for me is actually where my brother was cremated, so it's his resting place, it's his grave.

"It's more than just a building and Angela Rayner's decision, for me, is a desecration of my brother's grave."

Mr Lasharie, chairman of the Lancaster West Residents Association (LWRA), told BBC News he was "very pleased" with the deputy prime minister's decision.

He said safety concerns meant "there is no other option" and that the majority of residents were in favour of the tower's removal, although a "small minority" wanted it to remain as a "symbol to remind people" of what happened.

Another member of the LWRA, Abbas Dadou, said the building was "haunting us every day".

Mr Dadou, who lives about 50m (165ft) away from site, said: "It is easy for other people who do not live in the area to say it should be there forever. Structurally, it is not safe and it needs to go at some point."

Emma Dent Coad, who was Labour MP for Kensington at the time of the fire, said the decision made her feel "relieved".

"I see it every day, and it hurts me every single day," she said. "It triggers me sometimes, and sometimes when I look at it, I don't see the shroud, I see what happened on that day."

In 2020, a report recommended the tower be propped up in various places because the concrete that reinforces it had been damaged by the weather. The heating and drying of summers and winters had created some instability, it added.

Report engineers recommended for the tower to be brought down - and in 2019 the government was told the tower should be taken down above the 10th floor.

Grieving relatives fear their voices are being ignored, according to Grenfell United, which represents bereaved people and survivors.

Local resident David O'Connell said there had been so many failures surrounding the June 2017 fire that people were wary their concerns might be "swept under the carpet".

Mr O'Connell, who can see the tower from his home on the nearby Lancaster West Estate, said: "I personally would like to see a monument that is 200ft (60m) tall, just like the tower, and it should be permanent.

"There should be something there that cannot be removed to remind people what happens when systems fail, and that 72 people lost their lives."

He added: "I know a lot of people wanted the tower to stay but fundamentally it is not safe, it would deteriorate and something had to be done - but people do not want things to be swept under the carpet and dismissed.

"The people who should have the most say about this are the people who live here but, above all, it should be the bereaved because it is their relatives who died."

With additional reporting from PA Media

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