Queens Market - Newham Council Shuts Down Community Radio Broadcast

More heavyhandedness from Newham council down at Queens Market in Upton Park. I've just heard that halfway through a 90-minute show yesterday morning on a local community radio station, Voice of Africa Radio (VOAR), the outside-broadcast of a live interview with campaigners from Friends of Queens Market was suddenly stopped by the council's security.

As VOAR's team was reluctantly packing away its equipment and a crowd gathered in support, the police arrived and threatened arrests - allegedly after unnamed Newham councillors had called them to report an unlawful radio broadcast. However, Voice of Africa Radio has an FM community licence from the Radio Authority and is the only legal African radio station in the UK. Its team say it was even denied the right to broadcast on private premises - in Dee's Saloon at the front of Queens Market - with the owner's permission.

Voice of Africa Radio had invited Newham councillors to take part in the discussion but none had responded. It alleges that instead, the council arranged for the market manager to come in specially on his day off to shut down the broadcast. It has announced its intention to return to Queens Market on Sunday 28 August.

It Was Friends Of Queens Market Wot Won It!

Proving that even against seemingly insurmountable odds, local people can fight against big business interests and win, reports in the Newham Recorder and the Evening Standard have both rightly acknowledged the crucial role of campaigners in defeating property company St Modwen, who have finally abandoned its plans to redevelop Queens Market in Upton Park.

For seven years, the Friends of Queens Market campaign has fought against the developers and Newham council to ensure that fresh, affordable food remains available to local people. It's first victory, after 12,000 signatures were collected to stop the demolition of the market, was to persuade the supermarket giant Asda-Walmart to pull out of the proposed development in June 2006. The next victory involved successful lobbying of the Greater London Assembly after a multi-million pound planning application was submitted by St Modwen in May 2009, involving a 31 storey high-rise tower block on the market site with a token amount of social housing. The campaign mobilised 2,600 individual letters of objection to the plans and although Newham council drove through approval of the scheme at the planning stage, Friends of Queens Market then worked hard to persuade London Mayor Boris Johnson to throw out the 'inappropriate' development.

A year on, St Modwen and Newham council have finally parted company, claiming that they could not agree about a way forward. Campaigners are now demanding to know how much local council-tax payers money was wasted by Newham council as it repeatedly pushed ahead with the destruction of Queens Market in the teeth of local opposition.

This is particularly important because the scheme always had the fervent and unwavering backing of Newham Mayor Sir Robin Wales, who was adamant that redevelopment had to go ahead at all costs. And we know how much the Great Helmsman hates to lose...

The Friends of Queens Market campaign has a website here. My earlier posts on the campaign can be found here

'Anti-Immigrant Porn' Comes To Upton Park

According to traders at Queens Market in Upton Park, immigration officers from the UK Border Agency turned up in force at the market on the last two Friday afternoons and arrested and detained people.

They were accompanied by a film crew who were filming for UK Border Force, a ‘reality show’ that goes out on Sky One at 9pm Saturday nights and features the agency rounding up 'illegal immigrants'. These incidents are not the first time that filming for the show has taken place locally – its film crews have focused before on raids in and around Green Street.

In 2008, the Home Office paid £400,000 to a independent production company called Steadfast Television, whose other classics include CCTV: You Are Being Watched, Sky Cops, Cars Cops and Criminals, and Brit Cops: Frontline Crime. This funding for UK Border Force, a programme that is pure propaganda for the government’s hard-line view on immigration. proved so controversial that Sky decided to hand it back in September 2008 – but not before the first series had already been made.

For anyone who has never seen an episode, the programme has a completely sympathetic and uncritical approach to the UK Border Agency. It ‘embedded journalism’ ignores questions about the impact or fairness of immigration raids (even those based on incredibly flawed intelligence) or to refused entries, embraces jargon about 'clandestines' and ‘illegals’ and offers no context to wider political debate about immigration and asylum or the injustices that lead people to flee their countries to travel to the UK. The portrayal of people on the receiving end of the UK Border Agency’s activities is dehumanising and their fear and desperation is largely invisible, making the series little more than anti-immigrant porn, a brand of unpleasant voyeurism that turns people’s lives into ‘entertainment’.

If anyone spots Steadfast Television’s film crews again, please can they contact Newham Monitoring Project on 0800 169 3111

Queens Market Developers Receive Ceauşescu Award

Developers St. Modwen Properties has received second prize in the new Ceauşescu Awards for their plans for Queens Market at Upton Park.

The Ceauşescu Awards have been set up by Capacities Ltd, an educational charity, who asked community organisations in London’s five Olympic boroughs to nominate development projects that they felt were:

• oppressive in size or scale
• bulldozed through the planning processes
• architectural hype

The awards are named after Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu, who had 30 000 homes, historic churches and synagogues pulled down to make way for his ‘ego’ project, a huge governmental ‘People's House’, the second largest administrative building in the world with dubious architectural merit.

A citizens panel has awarded first prize to Dalston Square in Hackney, a high rise development opposed by most local residents. Hackney’s Mayor Jules Pipes publicly denounced one opponent in classic dictator style: he accused the Children’s Poet Laureate Michael Rosen of wanting to ‘keep Hackney looking crap’.

St Modwen's second prize was for their plans to demolish a much-loved traditional street market and replace it with a indoor market hall with “copper chimneys”, all overshadowed by 18 and 31 storey tower blocks. This proposal was bulldozed through at local planning stage despite 2549 planning objections (and 3 letters of support). Boris Johnson finally used his mayoral powers to throw the plans out and save the market but Newham council and the developers remain unrepentant about the plan and furious about its rejection.

The Chairman of St Modwen Anthony Glossop will not be present to accept the wooden spoon award offered by Capacities. He is currently embroiled in controversy over his company’s payment of £100k to an agent for MG Rover that preceded St Modwen's acquisition of a sizeable chunk of Rover land.

The Friends of Queens Market therefore intend to turn out at the market on Saturday 19th September at noon to receive the ‘bad development award’ on behalf of St Modwen.

“The presentation will be a good laugh” says campaign chair Sasha Laurel, “but there is a serious side to this. The developers want to displace the shoppers who depend on this market for fresh good value food and clothes and turn it into a high rise, high rent, unaffordable area. It’s a dictator’s plan which has to be resisted.”

UPDATE: Campaigners receive award on St Modwen's behalf

Fiver Day - Every Little From Tesco Costs More

In its continuing campaign against corporate supermarket dominance in Newham, members of the Friends of Queens Market in Upton Park sent their ‘mystery shoppers’ to Green Street to compare the prices of a typical week's supply of fruit and vegetables in Tesco with the popular local market, which Newham Council remains committed to redeveloping.

In Tesco, £5 brought a reasonable selection of fruit and vegetables, but a visit to Queens Market buys triple the amount of produce for the same price. In place of two bananas at Tesco, shoppers can buy a bunch of six from the market stalls, whilst four vine tomatoes at Tesco costs the same as 18 at the market and one onion from the supermarket giant costs the same as an entire bag at Queens Market.

In May 2009 London Mayor Boris Johnson rejected plans backed by Newham's Mayor, Sir Robin Wales, for Midlands-based developer St Modwen Properties to pull down the existing market and rebuild it it as a shopping hall, whilst piling on 31 and 18 storey high-rise (mainly private sale) flats. However, St Modwen Properties have been handed responsibility by the council for the management of the market and have increased rents and allowed it to fall into disrepair. It looks a lot like running the place down to help make a case for a new development proposal. As well as opposing this, Friends of Queens Market believes the market should not be leased to developers but refurbished and kept under local control.

Speaking on behalf of the campaign, Lucy Rogers said:

This market is flourishing in these lean times. Newham is a designated ‘food desert’ and local people depend on this market for healthy food at bargain prices. Fix the market’s roof, give it a lick of paint and we will have a gold medal market for 2012.

Stall holder Neil Stockwell added

More people are coming to the market though some are spending less. And new stalls are opening up every month. This market is definitely livelier than it was two years ago.

The fruit and vegetables from the display were given to a local charity with traders adding their own gifts of more fruit and vegetables.

Yesterday's Queens Market Protest

Yesterday evening, supporters of 'Friends of Queens Market' held a picket of Newham Council's Development Control Committee, who were finally making a decision on planning permission on the destruction of the market in Upton Park by the developers St Modwens.

By the way, St Modwens are so in touch with the local community that they couldn't even get the right sodding post code for the market on a celebratory press release.

Unsurprising, the councillors voted according to the wishes of Mayor Sir Robin Wales (he who must be obeyed), with only the Green Street West Respect councillor Abdul Sheikh voting against.

Now the proposal goes to Boris Johnson, whilst there remains a possibility of a judicial review of the council's failure to conduct a proper Equalities Impact Assessment (Friends of Queens Market are working with the legal team at Friends of the Earth on this).

PHOTOS OF THE PICKET:

Queens Market Campaigners Publish Submission to GLA

The campaigners trying to stop the redevelopment of Queens Market in Upton Park have published their submission to the Greater London Authority's "Review of London Markets'

The submission sets out the hard-fought campaign and can be downloaded from here.

Queen's Market - Asda Throws In The Towel

In a stunning victory for local campaigners, the supermarket chain Asda, owned by the US conglomerate Walmart, have announced that they are pulling out of the hugely controversial scheme for Queen's Market in Upton Park.

It is clear that sustained pressure coupled with compelling data produced by the New Economics Foundation has resulted in Asda throwing in the towel.

Newham Council's plans for London's most ethnically diverse market have been fiercely resisted from the outset. To many the proposals championed by Newham's mayor are seen as a genuine threat to social cohesion. It has also become clear that the council scheme fails to make economic sense. Some 12,000 shoppers have signed a petition (the largest in Newham's history) against the plans.

Traders and campaigners alike are ecstatic about the news that Asda-Walmart have pulled out and now believe that it is only a matter of time before the whole project is scrapped. The proposed developers, Edgbaston-based St Modwen Properties Plc is already facing problems over Edmonton Green Market and Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre. St Modwen had planned to demolish the existing covered street market and replace it with an Asda-Walmart superstore, over 220 executive apartments and a market-in-a-mall. Local people feel there has been minimal consultation and are angry that the Mayor of Newham seems intent on foisting his detested scheme on their market.

A press statement by Friends of Queen's Market said:

"This is a stunning victory when you think of what we are up against. We have seen off Asda, now we need to see off St Modwen Properties, for they have already ruined Edmonton Green Market and we're not going to allow them to ruin our thriving market. As for Sir Robin Wales and Newham Council, well their arrogance and pigheadedness beggars belief. Sooner or later they will have to face up to reality, people don't want this appalling and ill-conceived scheme and we will fight this all the way."

Councillor hides as council and developers get another slating over Queens Market

Public Meeting, West Ham Football Club, Tuesday 15 November

After the aborted Green Street Community Forum public meeting on 20 September (see earlier report), local residents were promised that Cllr June Leitch, who leads on the Queens Market development for the council, would return for a meeting in November devoted solely to the Market's future. Sadly that wasn't to be, the promise as worthless as the many others that the council has given on this important issue. Ms Leitch didn't have the courage to show her face, leaving Deputy Chief Executive John Wood and Nick Kay from the developers St Modwens to face the anger of those who turned up at West Ham Football Club last night.

Predicably, whilst claiming that no final decision has been made, John Wood rejected any solution other than a PFI style agreement with St Modwen and warned that "the point of no return" was fast approaching. Equally predictably, Nick Kay tried to make out that the proposed development was some sort of 'act of benevolence' by his company and that Asda's involvement in the plans is really incredibly selfless, rather than part of their efforts to challenge the dominance of Tesco by copying its retail model. And, at the end of the meeting, there was a call for an indicative vote of those who supported the development plans, and not a single hand was raised. Most people could have predicted that too.

But after stitching up an opinion poll by MORI (which failed to ask those it surveyed whether they wanted the Market to be improved rather than decimated), it is clear that Newham Council isn't interested in what local people think. Any sense that there is a long history attached to the Market, that people genuinely care about its future and that consultation should be meaningful has long been abandoned.

It was interesting speaking to one of the local councillors after the meeting, who privately admitted his opposition to the redevelopment but said that he had no power to stop it and no willingness to risk the vengeful wrath of Mayor Sir Robin Wales by making his views public. He tried to argue that the Market is 'not a political issue' and that he just wanted to do what the majority wanted - but in truth it is probably the most political local issue in Newham in the run up to next year's local elections. The development of the Market is Sir Robin's project and it has exposed how the creation of an elected Mayor has been a disaster for local democracy. It will be interesting to see whether the other parties, especially Respect as the left alternative to New Labour, decide to campaign for a new referendum to abolish the post and reject the enormous power placed in the hands of one individual, as part of handing back decision-making to the people of the borough.

Meanwhile, Friends of Queens Market is launching an Alternative Plan for Queens Market at a public meeting on Tuesday 29 November, at 6.30pm at Katherine Road Community Centre. Some of us are already running a book on whether our autocratic Mayor will ban councillors from attending.

Councillor censured for refusing to discuss Queens Market

On Tuesday, Green Street Community Forum's steering group passed an unopposed motion of censure of Cllr June Leitch, who refused to answer questions relating to the proposed redevelopment of Queens Market at the Forum's public meeting on 20 September (see earlier report)

Cllr Harvinder Virdee, the Forum's chair, has been asked to write to Mayor Sir Robin Wales communicating the steering group's feelings, although on previous form, it is extremely unlikely that the Mayor will even respond. This is the most obvious weakness of the ten Community Forums in the borough - in theory they are central to the council's cnsultation with local people, but in practice they are ignored.

The Green Street Community Forum has also agreed to organise a public meeting specifically on Queens Market. This has been provisionally scheduled for 15th November, but given the level of local interest, the Forum plans to try and hold the meeting at West Ham Football Club, so the date may change.

Public Walk Out in Disgust as Newham Council Refuses Debate on Queens Market

Public Meeting, 20 September, Forest Gate E7

A quick reportback from this evening's public meeting of the Green Street Community Forum, which descended into chaos as almost the entire audience walked out because Newham councillors refused to allow discussion on the future of Queens Market.

The Forum, one of a number of consultation bodies across the borough, agreed earlier in the summer to hold a public meeting on the proposed development of Queens Market in Upton Park. By the time a date had been set, this meeting had been expanded to include other issues covered by the council's Public Realm department but this was accepted by the Forum steering group because the future of the Market is clearly a major issue for both the council and the local community. On 15th September, steering group members were asked what questions they would like to see answered in the public meeting and made it very clear that Queens Market would form an important part of the event.

However, having indicated earlier in the day that she may not attend at all, Cllr June Leitch, who leads on the Queens Market development for Mayor Sir Robin Wales, showed up at the public meeting and flatly refused to answer any questions on the Market, although she was willing to talk about other issues. In doing so, she showed complete contempt for the wishes of the steering group and local people, most of whom therefore decided to walk out in disgust.

One of the main aims of the Green Street Community Forum is to coordinate the local expression of views, particularly on major regeneration projects. However, the Chair of the Forum, Cllr Harvinder Virdee, accepted and defended his fellow councillor's disgraceful behaviour, leaving the overwhelming impression that Newham's Labour councillors are concerned only with protecting their political allies, rather than with encouraging public debate.

Newham Council is now severely rattled by the briiliant campaign run by Friends of Queens Market, which needs the active support of radical activists in the borough. The campaign can be contacted on 020 8418 0927 or by e-mail at friendsofqueensmarket@yahoo.co.uk

Messages of opposition to the destruction of the Market and complaints about the conduct of Cllr Leitch should be directed to mayor@newham.gov.uk

Make Property Developers History

Public Meeting, 20 September, Forest Gate E7

Property developers selected by Newham Council to take on the lease of Queens Market in Upton Park were forced to endure a grilling from the steering group of Green Street Community Forum last night.

St Modwens have been given the task of transforming the market from a lively centre of the community into a soulless corporate shopping centre, complete with an superstore for their favoured commercial partners Asda. The problem they and the council face is that local people are not just unhappy about their plans - increasingly, questions are being raised about the very idea of 'regenerating' an area by handing it over to property developers.

Unable to get straight answers from Newham Mayor Sir Robin Wales, campaigners presented a petition of 12,000 signatures to Ken Livingstone at City Hall on Wednesday (see photo above)

The chance to interrogate Cllr June Leitch, Sir Robin Wales' representative on the Queens Market development, looks like it will be even more lively than yesterday's discussions. Radical activists in Newham should therefore try and get along to

Green Street Community Forum Public Meeting

Tuesday 20 September, 6.30pm
Katherine Rd Community Centre
254 Katherine Rd, London E7

Opportunities to question developers and council about Queens Market

Thursday 15 September and Tuesday 20th September, 6.30pm, Forest Gate

St Modwens, the proposed developers of Upton Park's Queens Market, will be speaking at the steering group of the Green Street Community Forum at 6.30pm on Thursday 15th September at Katherine Road Community Centre, 254 Katherine Road, Forest Gate E7 8PN.

Steering Group meetings are open to the public so anyone who wants to come along and ask Asda's favourite developer about their plans for the market are most welcome.

There is also the chance to question Cllr June Leitch, who is pushing the development on behalf of Newham Council, at a Forum public meeting on Tuesday 20th September at 6.30pm. This meeting is also at Katherine Road Community Centre.