A protest was held this Saturday in front of the Senedd
steps in Cardiff Bay to demand action by the Welsh Government on the cladding
scandal. The meeting was organised by the Welsh Liberal Democrats and is the
first hosted by a political party in Wales.
Groups attending included: the Welsh Cladiators, Ripped Off
by Redrow and Cymru Cladding Crisis.
Victims of Cardiff’s cladding scandal, unveiled during the
wake of the Grenfell disaster are facing bills up to £60,000 each for safety
work to fix their unsellable, fire defective homes.
Although the Welsh Government have agreed to fund the
recladding of social housing, many private leaseholders are still facing both
the costs of recladding and interim safety costs themselves.
The Welsh Liberal Democrats have called on the Welsh
Government to introduce a Welsh Building Safety Fund to deal with all fire
safety defects as quickly as possible and ensure no tenant or leaseholder is
left out of pocket.
Commenting Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds MS
said:
“It is utterly appalling that over four years on from
Grenfell we still have people being trapped in unsafe buildings and let down by
those in power. People should absolutely not be forced to front the cost for
the serious mistakes of property developers.
“The Welsh Government needs to urgently step in and
provide funds to fix all fire safety defects as soon as possible. It should
then be up to the Government to pursue property developers to claim the money
back. We cannot have people living in limbo and unsafe buildings while they try
and chase property developers for funds.
“The stories we have heard at this protest are really harrowing and the Government urgently needs to engage with those affected and step up to the situation.”
Councillor Rhys Taylor, the Leader of Cardiff Lib Dems
added:
“This is a national scandal and yet most politicians are
mostly silent on the issue. People have waited far to long for action and are
trapped in potentially unsafe homes. These leaves not only the possibility of
another disaster on the horizon, but is having hugely negative impacts on the
finances and mental health of those affected.
“Welsh Labour urgently need to introduce funding for
those in private leaseholds to fix cladding issues. Many of the people we’ve
spoken to simply cannot afford to make the changes themselves, let alone wait
while they chase property developers. The Welsh Government on the other hand has
the financial power to do this.
“We heard from one protestor who was paying over £500 of
her £8000 pension out in service charges and repair charges for her flat.
“It was disappointing to hear from so many at the protest
about the lack of engagement from the Welsh Labour Government and Labour-run
Cardiff Council.”
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