Deputy prime minister promises bereaved community will be “at the heart” of decision process
Angela Rayner will make a decision on whether to demolish Grenfell Tower next month, the government has said.
The shell of the 24-storey building is still covered in the protective wrapping which was installed two months after the fire which ripped through the tower in June 2017, killing 72 people.
The communities secretary has now said she will decide the future of the building in February in an update from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
The department added that there will be “no immediate changes” to the site if Rayner decides the tower should be taken down.
The update said in a statement directed to the local Grenfell Tower community: “The deputy prime minister [Angela Rayner] has recently shared with you that she plans to continue the conversation about the tower to understand your views and come to a decision in February 2025.
“She has made a firm commitment that you will continue to be at the heart of this process.”
It comes three years after plans by former communities secretary Robert Jenrick to demolish the building were shelved by his successor Michael Gove following an outcry from bereaved families.
An international design competition to design a memorial to the victims of the fire was launched last July, with a winner due to be announced this spring.
A report published in 2022 by the Grenfell Tower Memorial Commission included several suggestions from members of the Grenfell community on what the memorial could look like.
These included retaining the tower as a “vertical garden” with a high level platform and hanging plants on its walls.
The government has set aside a site of just under 3,000sq m for the memorial, which includes the ground on which the tower block stands in North Kensington and adjacent land on either side.
A 32-page brief for the project has outlined how the memorial should be of “significant stature” and a “respectful, bold, lasting and sustainable memorial that honours those who lost their lives”.
It said the design should also include water, lighting, the colour green and the names of the 2017 fire’s victims prominently displayed.
The Commission has also called for a building or structure providing a place to shelter from the weather, a multi-faith prayer and reflection space and possibly a community or education space.
Some of those consulted suggested a museum on the site, although others expressed concern that this could turn the memorial into a tourist destination.
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