Delay woe for families
Tenants only allowed five hours of access to homes due to damaged doors
THE misery was continuing for Garnethill residents waiting to return to their homes next to the fire-ravaged art school.
Housing bosses were forced to postpone the move-in due to security fears.
PLANS to get residents back home following the Glasgow School of Art fire have been delayed by security issues.
Dozens of people living on Dalhousie Street had expected to be able to return to their homes yesterday after the footway on the east side of the street was reopened.
But housing bosses were forced to postpone the movein process after discovering that doors to the properties had been severely damaged and have to be replaced.
Charing Cross Housing Association, which owns the majority of the homes on Dalhousie Street, was only able to assess the damage on Saturday, when work to reduce the cordon began.
It is believed Police Scotland forced entry into the buildings under instructions by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.
Housing association tenants are being given access to their homes between the hours of 10am and 3pm until the doors are replaced.
A council spokesman said “support was available” but was being managed by the tenants’ landlord.
On arrival yesterday morning, they were given dust masks before being briefed by the association’s maintenance officer and escorted to their home by a contractor who unlocked the secured doors.
Residents were strongly advised not to open their fridges due to electricity being shut off and given a ‘starter park’ of cleaning products.
Iram Shafiq, 21, her mother Rifat, 43, her brothers Amir, 23, and Kasim, 11, and her sister Rima, 17, left their Dalhousie Street home on June 16 with just the clothes they were wearing.
Both Kasim and Rima are autistic, and Rima also suffers from severe epilepsy and is both non-verbal and incontinent.
After being evacuated on the night of the blaze, the family were not allowed to return to pick up valuable or
‘‘ There were some small things missing including my wallet
personal possessions like nappies, a comforter or medication.
They were given access for thirty minutes on Saturday to grab essentials before returning yesterday, in the hope of being allowed back for good.
Iram said: “The flat really needs cleaned. There is dirt on the walls, dust and water damage that will need repaired and our door is broken.”
The family are currently living out of two apartments on Bath Street but will have to relocate on September 1.
Another Dalhousie Street resident returned to find his wallet missing and further water damage – believed to have been caused by firefighters dampening the buildings.
The Charing Cross Housing Association tenant, who did not want to be named, was initially let in wearing protective gear on Saturday.
He explained: “I had to put on a protective suit, shoes and mask. I was followed by another six people including insurers who were filming and taking pictures.
“The damage isn’t as bad as I had been preparing for but there were some small things missing, including my wallet which I left behind after removed by police.
“It’s obvious there have been people inside, whether that’s contractors or otherwise.
“I’ve got some water ingress on my ceiling and the close ceiling seems to be leaking but the water has been off so it’s possible there has been a leak.”
Charing Cross Housing Association said it has no set date for when its tenants will be able to return permanently but it will take a number of days for issues with the doors to be resolved.
Alasdair Weir, maintenance officer, has been working with Lochlie Construction Group to get the homes back in order. He said: “The police have forced access to the properties so all the doors are damaged. To what extent we didn’t know until Saturday.
“It’s going to take until the end of the week to get that sorted. There’s no power in one of the buildings, so the doors are not secured and we’ve had to board up all the closes – it’s been challenging.”
Pauline McNeill MSP said she was “furious” about the lack of co-ordination by authorities as residents prepared to return home.
She added: “The council has not taken responsibility for these poor people, it’s an absolute failure of their public and moral duty.
“They’ve got egg all over their face because it has been a monumental disaster.
“It was obvious to a child if you were out your home for 10 weeks and weren’t allowed to return there would be environmental issues, issues with locks, issues with electricity and gas. It would be obvious.
“They abandoned them as far as I’m concerned. They need some kind of support after the trauma they have
been through. More financial assistance will be needed as well.”
Businesses on Sauchiehall Street are continuing their clean up efforts after being granted access to their properties on Saturday.
The south side of the street was allowed to return, including the Blue Lagoon chip shop and Cafe Anti Pasti, which hopes to reopen on Saturday after a week of cleaning.
Glasgow City Council has made bulky waste bins available for businesses with items to throw out.
Those on the opposite side of the street including the Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA) and Bagel Mania will remain closed.
Francis McKee, director of the CCA, was granted access for an hour only to discover flooding in one of their galleries. He explained: “We’re hoping to be back in between September 3 and 7 to get things in order and repair the flooding.
“Our deep clean will take around three days and then we’re hoping to uphold our commitments in terms of exhibitions by turning the events spaces for installations that haven’t been seen yet.”
A council spokesman said: “Support has been arranged and is available. As anyone would expect, however, it is being managed by the tenants’ landlord – which owns and has responsibility for their homes.
“Residents did ask the council to arrange a number of resources, like additional waste collections, and these are also all in place.
“This is in addition to a wide range of other support and services that have been made available since the fire – including emergency and temporary accommodation and £3000 to cover unexpected costs while waiting on insurance settlements.”