November 14 2024 – this coming Thursday – marks 12 months since the Barton House tower block in east Bristol was suddenly evacuated, forcing hundreds of residents to leave their homes over fears the high-rise could collapse.
The shocking event, and its messy handling by Bristol City Council, instantly drew the focus of both national and local media. In the weeks and months that followed, the conditions many displaced tenants had to put up with, in cramped and dirty hotel rooms, meant scrutiny continued. Conflict between the council and the community union ACORN, which many Barton House residents are members of, helped keep the situation in the public eye.
As winter drew to a close, the council declared the tower safe. Many people were understandably reluctant, to put it mildly, to return to homes they no longer had confidence in. But given the choice between doing so and making themselves homeless – with their landlord not offering rehousing – most went back, and the spotlight that had shone on Barton House mostly moved on.
But the impact of the evacuation, on people who had already endured years of appalling living conditions in the block, has been a lasting one. When Cable journalist Priyanka Raval returned to speak to Barton House residents in late summer 2024, she heard multiple accounts of ongoing trauma: mental health issues, adults struggling to sleep and children developing behavioural problems. These form the focus of the cover story of the latest Cable, which has just been distributed across Bristol.
Priyanka’s story will be published in full on the Cable website this week. But in the meantime, in this latest episode of the Debrief, she chats to Alex Turner about how we got here, recaps on the events of last November and their ongoing impact on Barton House residents – and asks what justice would look like.
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