editor
hiraethified
I truly wasn't offended, so you're OK "dear"
Brixton Somerleyton Road development, Ovalhouse and Brixton Green - funding, proposed rents etc
- Thread starter ViolentPanda
- Start date
CH1
"Red Guard"(NLYL)
I can't remember all the ins and outs of Brixton Green - maybe a lot is earlier in this thread.
TRUST or CHARITY?
BG is not a charity in the sense of a charity registered with the charity commission. Charity Commissions rules/conventions may not apply therefore.
Trustees would be selected according to the applicable constitution or trust deed. May not be expected to have full knowledge of the finances. I don't know, or know anything about Dennis Gyamfi so not sure what issue you are raising here.
ACCOUNTS
I am not sure that all trustees need to be listed on accounts if the organisation is an Industrial/Provident society charity (which is what Brixton Green is).
Do I take it that one has paid £12 to download the accounts?
Looks like the people who control the rules on reporting accounts and if necessary trutees are in this case the FCA and ultimately the Bank of England.
Unless we have any chartered accountants used to dealing with Housing Associations or Credit Unions on board. (They would be under similar rules)
cuppa tee
Well-Known Member
..............so the Green Man Skillzone is involved
ref........ http://www.singleparents.org.uk/organisation/green-man-employment-skills-zone-lambeth
and the people behind the Green Man set up are part of the council....
http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/sites/default/files/brl-lib-peck-business-rate-letter.pdf
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Gramsci
Well-Known Member
I had a chat with Maria on the way home tonight.
She said Michael Groce head of Green Man turned up and tried to chuck her out of Number 6. Then he called police. They turned up and she showed them her paperwork giving her the right to have a office there. BG have not given her official notice to terminate this. The police told Groce its a civil matter. ie its not a dispute they can get involved in. Police said its a matter for the owner of the land in the end- Lambeth Council. Groce was most upset about this. He got angry about it.
So its not over yet. She said she does not want to go quietly. She is refusing to give in to intimidation. And intimidation is what it was.
Not sure how much I want to post up on open board. But what is happening at number 6 is not good.
As I have posted up and Maria told me again tonight BG were keen to use her now they want to get rid of her.
Yes it does sound like chaos. I am surprised by what she told me? Not really. This is down to BG in the end.I am not sure that the Council are fully aware of how BG have been behaving. I asked her if I could post this up. She said yes as it needs to be known.
As she says she did a lot to make Number 6 a nice place to be and know its ended up like this. Through no fault from her side.
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editor
hiraethified
They called me and asked me to come down when it was happening. It was a disgraceful way to treat someone who has worked so hard for the local community. And good for her for standing her ground. Naturally BG didn't show their faces during al this.
Gramsci
Well-Known Member
Good that you went down. BG were not there they as they were using Groce of Green Man to try to kick her out. From what she said he was quite aggressive. Throwing a chair across the room in his anger. When he did not get his way. Then locking her in the building.
Michael Groce of Green Man gets good press on Future Brixton, the Councils propaganda website for all the wonderful ways it consulting us.
Gramsci
Well-Known Member
I really need to distance myself form Somerleyton after all that has happened to my community there. But when I hear Maria telling me of the way that BG have treated her it really annoys me.
My Coop were a reasonable bunch who were prepared to go when the Mansions was needed for redevelopment and take part in the consultations on the site.
But we got our community broken up. The Council would rather work with the kind of people who run Brixton Green. I really resent it. I would not mind so much if it was just the Council doing the whole project.
And Maria confirmed to me that BG objective number one , as I knew all along, was to get control of the site. People like her are used and discarded when no longer required. Yet this is the "community" group the Council has chosen to represent the communities interests in this development.
My Coop were a reasonable bunch who were prepared to go when the Mansions was needed for redevelopment and take part in the consultations on the site.
But we got our community broken up. The Council would rather work with the kind of people who run Brixton Green. I really resent it. I would not mind so much if it was just the Council doing the whole project.
And Maria confirmed to me that BG objective number one , as I knew all along, was to get control of the site. People like her are used and discarded when no longer required. Yet this is the "community" group the Council has chosen to represent the communities interests in this development.
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brixtonblade
Well-Known Member
I am struggling to keep up
Are the stated aims of the redevelopment (which I understand to be redevelopment and renewal with high proportion of social housing) being delivered in a cack handed way or is there a suggestion that there are other motivations?
I seem to remember that there wasn't to be as much social housing as hoped / expected - is this turning into more commercial development?
Are the stated aims of the redevelopment (which I understand to be redevelopment and renewal with high proportion of social housing) being delivered in a cack handed way or is there a suggestion that there are other motivations?
I seem to remember that there wasn't to be as much social housing as hoped / expected - is this turning into more commercial development?
Tricky Skills
Well-Known Member
Phillipe Castaing of Brixton Green is also now heavily involved in Pop Brixton.
Coincidence?
Gramsci
Well-Known Member
If only it was as simple as the Council building Council housing and Oval House building a theatre.I wish they would just do this and get on with it.
No its the Nu Labour Council experimenting with new ways of doing things. A partnership between the community ( as represented by Brixton Green. Chosen by Council to represent community), Ovalhouse and the Council. An example of the Cooperative Council in action. Its why people like me get annoyed with it all.
The motivation of Brixton Green is to have control of the finished site once the Council have built it.
Gramsci
Well-Known Member
Phillipe Castaing of Brixton Green is also now heavily involved in Pop Brixton.
Coincidence?
They all know each other. Its all about networking and going to the right dinner parties.
As several people told me I do not have the right networks.
Gramsci
Well-Known Member
To answer this question.
It is a good one to ask. We keep getting promised social housing on the site but have had no real detail yet. Only aspirations.
Like with Pop Brixton a lot of aspirations and promises are made but in the end people are disappointed.
Yes I think that is possible on this development in long term.
brixtonblade
Well-Known Member
A possibly naive question then: is it possible to find out from the council why brixton green have been chosen and to get the councils opinion on them not responding to questions?
Tricky Skills
Well-Known Member
Good luck with that one.
Shifting responsibility and accountability from a democratically elected Cllr to a wishy washy Third Way group pretty much sums up what the Co-operative Council is all about.
If it was Lambeth Council directly managing Six Brixton then it would be easier to find a solution. The Co-operative Council has 'trusted' the likes of the mysterious Brixton Green to tinker around with a Nu Labour model, as well as walking away from any direct responsibility.
When it all goes wrong - as it clearly has - residents are unsure as to who to turn to.
leanderman
Street Party: July 2
The usual flurry of assumptions, accusations, adverbs and adjectives here - with little to substantiate them.
editor
hiraethified
And surely the blame for any of that lies solely with Brixton Green's shocking inability to communicate and engage with the community they purport to represent?
CH1
"Red Guard"(NLYL)
I agree with you that poor, weak or indirect management makes a solution difficult.
I could cite a similar situation back in the 1990s where Lambeth were directly in control of a tenants hall and a weak and divided TA led to sub-letting , legal disputes and then dereliction. The whole thing took over 10 years to sort out. So Old Lambeth was not necessarily better.
ViolentPanda
Hardly getting over it.
And the sort of "control" that will probably mean BG taking a cut from management fees, even if they do fuck-all. As was said 2-3 years ago, this is about people cashing in, under the dubious premise of supposedly representing Brixton opinion and needs. IIRC they have about 200 members - a tiny amount of people who are highly unlikely to represent the entirety of Brixton opinion.
snowy_again
Slush
They claim 1000 members now - http://www.brixtongreen.org/qa/ or at least 1000 shareholders, which isn't the same as 1000 active participants.
Given the situation with No 6. it's also particularly insensitive to have the picture on their front page: http://www.brixtongreen.org/
Given the situation with No 6. it's also particularly insensitive to have the picture on their front page: http://www.brixtongreen.org/
editor
hiraethified
Some of those shareholders are children, the no-longer living here, the idly curious and - from my own anecdotal evidence - seriously miffed off people who thought they were buying into something entirely different to what they got.
Although they're partial to suggesting that those 1,000 shareholders are all on-message with BG's ever-shifting and always-opaque plans, it's as credible as claiming that urban75's 40,000 signed up users are all speaking with one voice.
But at least we respond to emails.
editor
hiraethified
I see that the chef's school is still in the mix.
Gramsci
Well-Known Member
Does that include my posts?
editor
hiraethified
Pretty damning stuff here. It's great that this non-communicative 'community' group are taken to task for their actions:
Somerleyton Road street party poster defaced with allegations about how money for the project has been spent
Somerleyton Road street party poster defaced with allegations about how money for the project has been spent
snowy_again
Slush
Tricky Skills hello there, can you clarify what you mean by this:
Brixton Buzz understands that the Big Lottery Fund is investigating the spending of a £9,486.42 grant handed out to Brixton Green.
Brixton Buzz understands that the Big Lottery Fund is investigating the spending of a £9,486.42 grant handed out to Brixton Green.
CH1
"Red Guard"(NLYL)
Sorry to interject, but that sort of figure rings bells in my head as some some of funding from the Mayors Office re developing community led or community built housing. Can't see any reference on Brixton Green's website, but there might be stuff on the Urban 75 Can anybody tell me about Brixton Green? thread.
Of course the Big Lottery MAY have also given money to Brixton Green, but I'm wondering if this is a mistaken attribution?
Tricky Skills
Well-Known Member
Exactly this: The Big Lottery Fund is investigating what happened to the £9,486.42 it awarded to Brixton Green. The projects should have been completed by April of this year.
Tricky Skills
Well-Known Member
ViolentPanda
Hardly getting over it.
He may not be able to clarify, if the information was sourced from someone requiring confidentiality.
