A 12-year-old girl living in a tower block evacuated last year begged council bosses to rehouse her family. She was left in tears during a heated row in City Hall as her family and neighbours remain stuck in Barton House, despite suffering trauma from the evacuation.
Hundreds of residents of Barton House, in Barton Hill, were ordered to leave their homes by Bristol City Council in November last year, due to fears that a fire could cause the building to collapse. In February they were told to return to the tower block and that the building was safe.
The ongoing scandal was brought up during a meeting of the housing policy committee on Friday, December 13. Speaking to the committee, Aaliyah, a 12-year-old resident of Barton House, began saying: “One day I hope to become a lawyer or a barrister so that I can defend…”
But then she was interrupted by Conservative Councillor Richard Eddy, vice chair of the housing committee. He insisted that the allotted time had already passed for members of the public to make statements, and wanted a council officer to read out a response to her question instead.
“We’re in questions, it’s not statements,” he said, talking over the 12-year-old girl who was now crying. However, after the insistence of her mother, Cllr Eddy relented and allowed Aaliyah to finally speak. Cllr Eddy was chairing the committee as Green Cllr Barry Parsons, chair of the housing committee, was unable to attend the meeting.
Aaliyah continued: “Until recently I had always lived in Barton House, it was my home for as long as I can remember. I loved living there and knew all my neighbours, we were like one big family. I played with their kids and when we ran out of salt and sugar we would knock on each other’s doors to borrow some, and they did the same. That’s how close we were.
“Everything changed on November 14, 2023. That was the day my mum picked me up from school and we came home to find news crews outside. Everyone was talking about how the building might collapse. We were evacuated and since then life has been unbearable.
“Barton House no longer feels like home. Every night I sleep fully clothed in my jacket just in case the alarm goes off again, like it did last weekend. I don’t feel safe. The trauma of living in a building that might collapse is taking over our lives. I wake up three times every night because I can’t sleep. Each time I go to my mum’s room to cuddle her, because I feel scared.
“I’m tired of seeing my mum try her best and getting nowhere. She deserves better. I deserve better. The way we’ve been treated has made us feel invisible and unheard. I don’t want to live in Barton House any more. Please, I beg you to rehouse us as soon as possible. We can’t go on like this.”
Cllr Eddy then apologised “for the confusion” regarding the statements. Aaliyah was told by a council officer that applications to the housing register — i.e. to get put in a new flat, not in Barton House — can include information about the impacts of trauma linked to current housing.
Fadumo Farah, the girl’s mother, is the ACORN block representative for Barton House. She said the family’s doctor told them they need to be rehoused due to the anxiety and mental health effects of the evacuation and living in the block of flats.
She said: “What is enough? We have offered everything we can to the council, and we’re not going to stop. We’ve got the doctor’s notes, the school’s notes, we’ve got letters from the community. We’ve had enough of being treated like we’re idiots. You look down on us.”
A new report about the accommodation needs of tenants living at Barton House was recently prepared by council staff, but this has not been made public. The report also failed to assess the impact on people with protected characteristics, such as ethnicity or gender.
Cllr Eddy said: “I can appreciate your passion and your concern. I’m pleased to say that Cllr Parsons and I, at our PCC [policy committee chair] briefing, we had our first report about Barton House and accommodation needs. We believe and the officer confirmed that it was inadequate, because we hadn’t received an equalities impact assessment.
“That’s due to come to us very shortly. That meeting was attended by one of your two ward councillors. We’ve asked that both ward councillors should be available and attend on your behalf in the new year, when we have the report.”
This did not appear to be accepted by Ms Farah, who began shouting questions about whether the council would launch an independent investigation into Barton House. Many residents have previously spoken about feeling unsafe in the block, despite the council insisting on its safety.
She said: “The more you keep us there, the more we fight and the more we’ll find out. They’re hiding everything. They’ve caused so much pain. It’s unacceptable the way you treat people. We’re not going to stop fighting. The reason we’re still here is because 90 per cent of us are ethnic minority. You look down on us. We’ve had enough of your excuses.”
A specialist health and housing team assess applicants’ health-related housing needs. These medical professionals consider cases where a lot of health-related information has been provided. According to the council, “it’s not possible to state what information is enough” to receive high priority, as this varies case by case.
Many other tenants have also reportedly applied to be rehoused elsewhere, but the city faces a dire shortage of alternative social housing and a waiting list of 22,000 households. A new investigation into Barton House was brought up later in the meeting by Green Cllr Lisa Stone.
She said: “I’ve been asking Barry, the chair, this many times. I thought this was going to be on the agenda, but it’s been dropped off. If we can learn from an investigation into Barton House, we can actually implement this into things that come up in the future.”
Council bosses have already “done a lot of work on learning the lessons”, according to John Smith, the executive director of growth and regeneration. He added: “In terms of any further investigation, that’s something to discuss with the chair [Green Cllr Barry Parsons].”