IWS of Jacqueline Haynes, Lancaster West Estate
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IN THE MATTER OF THE GRENFELL TOWER INQUIRY STATEMENT OF JACQUELINE HAY1NES Preamble 1. I make this statement from my own personal knowledge and from information that I have been told by others. Where the information does not come from my own personal knowledge, I make this clear below. 2. I make this statement as a resident of the Lancaster West Estate, which comprises Grenfell Tower, Grenfell Walk, Hurstway Walk, Testerton Walk and Barandon Walk. 3. In this statement, I set out my experience of being a resident on the Lancaster West Estate prior to the fire at Grenfell Tower. I also provide evidence relating to the events of 14 June 2017 and the days that followed. 4. I have not yet provided a statement to the police about what happened on the night of the fire. I have, however, done several interviews with various television companies. I did an interview with an Italian news channel in the early hours of 14 June 2017, describing what I had witnessed. I also provided an account to BBC London Live at lunchtime on 15 June 2017 describing what I had seen on the night ofthe fire. Several days later, I did an interview with Sky News.I may have commented on the lack ofcare that I believe was afforded to residents on the estate by the Council. 5. I have been a resident at iHurstway Walk, since I was'years old. In about 1996, I moved away from the area to and returned to live in EHurstway Walk in February 2015, after the death of my father. However, I continued to visit the estate regularly to visit and care for my parents. 6. As I had been living on the Lancaster West Estate since the 1970's, I knew a number of Grenfell Tower residents by name. I had known a man called Steve, whose surname I believe to have been 1 Jacqueline Haynes Signed: Dated 5()K IWS00000127_0001 Power, since I was about 10 or 11 years of age. He was a few years older than me. Whenever I saw him on the estate, I would chat to him. I understand that Steve died in the fire at Grenfell Tower. I had also known a man named Moses since I was young. Back then, he seemed much older than me. If I saw him, I would say, 'hi' and ask him how he was. He also died in the fire. My daughter lost one of her friends in the fire. I think that her friend's name was Jessica. They knew each other from the youth club that they attended close to the estate. I remain friends with a lady who I know as Carmen, who was a close friend to my mother. They had arrived in the UK from at around the same time and struck up a friendship. I knew and continue to know her children, Carol and Yvonne Harris. Carmen survived the fire. 7. Although I no longer lived in the Lancaster West Estate between 1996 and February 2015, I continued to visit the area regularly, to care for my father and my mother who were unwell. When my father died in 2012, he left the property to me and my 2 brothers, Mark Haynes and Christopher Haynes, and I subsequently took up occupation of MHurstway Walk,together with my daughter, (D.O.B i and Mark who was already living there. 8. I make this statement because I was a resident of Hurstway Walk at the time of the fire and witnessed the events that unfolded at Grenfell Tower on 14 June 2017 and the days that followed. I have witnessed the devastation caused to my community as a result of the fire. As someone who grew up on the estate, my knowledge and connection to the community and the environment means that I have been impacted deeply by the fire and have a deep sense of the devastation that it has caused. Personal background 9. I was born on l and am nowI years of age. 10. I have a daughter, (D.O.B1M). She is now Iyears old. 1 1. 1 have a brother, Mark Haynes(D.O.B MI,who lives with me and my daughter. 12. I also have a brother, Christopher Haynes, who islyears of age and a sister, Karen Williams, who is'years of age, 13. As I make this statement in April 2018, I continue to be a resident atiHurstway Walk. 2 Jacqueline Haynes Signed: Dated ) IWS00000127_0002 EHurst-way Walk 14. I have lived at•Hurstway Walk since I was'years old, together with my mother, father and 2 brothers. My mother passed away in 2001 and my father in 2012. 15. My parents had been leaseholders of the property and, after my father's death, Chris, Mark and I inherited the property. I moved back into the property in February 2015 together with my daughter. We lived there with Mark 16. As leaseholders we were left to deal with our own problems in relation to the property and there was not a lot we were entitled to in terms of support from RBKC. I was never quite sure how much of a service we were entitled to from them. If there were any problems, we dealt with them ourselves. Having said, that, however, I do remember a time when there was a problem with a leak from the roof of Hurstway Walk. I made a complaint about it which the Chief Executive Officer accepted. We had no electricity, damage to our walls and carpet and no offers of alternative accommodation or remedy to fix the problem. To date,the wall and carpet remain damaged and we are at a loss as to how to take the compensation process forward. We have not been able to follow up on our complaint or receive compensation as a result ofthe fire at Grenfell Tower. 17. In relation to Grenfell Tower, Hurstway Walk is not far from Latimer Road Station and is on the same side as the station. The station is in front of Hurstway Walk and the Academy is on the other side of the estate. Unlike Grenfell Tower, the walkways are small tower blocks which sit horizontally on their sides, I believe, to preserve the green spaces. There are green spaces between Testeron and Hurstway Walk and again between Testerton and Barrandon Walk, the Walkways, and there is nothing in front of the Walkways which obscures our view of Grenfell Tower. 18.•Hurstway Walk is a ground floor flat with 3 bedrooms, a kitchen, living room, toilet and bathroom. Above the ground floor of the building, there are 2 further floors of flats. If you come out of my flat and through the Walkway you can see Grenfell Tower. There are flats either side of me and above. 19. In the 1970's the Lancaster West Estate provided easy access between the walkway properties and Grenfell Tower. However, in the 1980's there was a big crime reduction initiative which limited access between the finger blocks and Grenfell Tower. It was possible to access the whole estate without any barriers. The idea was to prevent people who commit crime from easily running through 3 Jacqueline Haynes Signed: Dated 1 (0/5-iit IWS00000127_0003 the estate to escape from the police. When I was a child in the 1970's, residents on the estate could access the Tower easily from the finger-blocks but this is no longer the case. 20. Before the fire, I worked as a of the estate. Because of this I am very well known within the Lancaster West Estate and North Kensington. People see me as an enabler; someone who is there to offer support. The Refurbishment of Grenfell Tower 21. I believe that refurbishments started in 2015 and ended in early 2016. By that time, I was living in the area again after the death of my father. I did not get involved in the renovations or the challenges to it. 22. I knew that Grenfell Action Group's view was that the Tower should not be refurbished and that many of the residents were concerned about it. I knew that people were worried about the refurbishments, because I had heard peoples' conversations about it and had read tweets. In our view, the Tower was built to last; it was rock solid. We liked the Tower and the way that it stood out from other tower blocks. We did not think that the outside of the building needed to be refurbished at all and thought that the area was being gentrified, purely for aesthetic reasons. We were concerned about the cladding and the fact that there was no consultation from RBKC about it. It was clear that RBKC did not have our best interests at heart and that the residents of the estate did not want it. I knew ofthe Chair ofthe Grenfell Action Group at that time, a man called Ed. Joe Delaney was also on the Grenfell Action Group and I knew him. 4 Jacqueline Haynes Signed: Dated IWS00000127_0004 23. Historically the TMO (Tenant Management Organisation) have taken shortcuts and provided a shabby service to the estate. I know this as people were consistently complaining about their repairs. There was nothing anyone could do about the service and we just accepted that it was poor because we had no power to change it. This made me and other residents feel as though the Council had no care or concern about us. Fire Safety 24.