Brixton Village, Market Row, Pope's Road, Lost In Brixton, Club 414 & Ton Of Brix - Taylor McWilliams and Hondo's Brixton Empire

[Rushy]

414 update

Brixton Jamm set to take over Brixton’s legendary 414 Club

I may well be missing something but I'm not sure that this will necessarily be successful based on this particular application. For a certificate of lawful use to be granted the use not only needs to have carried on continuously for 10yrs but that breach needs to be ongoing at the time the application is made. The application appears to gloss over the fact that it is not currently in use and has not been for a couple of years. It's complicated and I'm not a planner so I would be interested to hear what Stephane Sadoux (the academic quoted in the article) thinks.

That said, if they did start up as a club again, assuming that there has been no intervening use, they could then make the application. They would need to show that on a balance of probabilities the two floors had been in use for 10 years with no intervening uses. This might be more difficult if the owners at the time of the use were not prepared to cooperate. This route involves some risk because they would have to start up without a guarantee of success. I am not sure whether it has any bearing that another use was granted whilst it was closed but suspect not if the development did not lawfully commence (which does not require very much to happen).

 

[editor]

I may well be missing something but I'm not sure that this will necessarily be successful based on this particular application. For a certificate of lawful use to be granted the use not only needs to have carried on continuously for 10yrs but that breach needs to be ongoing at the time the application is made. The application appears to gloss over the fact that it is not currently in use and has not been for a couple of years. It's complicated and I'm not a planner so I would be interested to hear what Stephane Sadoux (the academic quoted in the article) thinks.

That said, if they did start up as a club again, assuming that there has been no intervening use, they could then make the application. They would need to show that on a balance of probabilities the two floors had been in use for 10 years with no intervening uses. This might be more difficult if the owners at the time of the use were not prepared to cooperate. This route involves some risk because they would have to start up without a guarantee of success. I am not sure whether it has any bearing that another use was granted whilst it was closed but suspect not if the development did not lawfully commence (which does not require very much to happen).

Thanks for this - I'll forward it to Stephane.

 

[Stephane]

I may well be missing something but I'm not sure that this will necessarily be successful based on this particular application. For a certificate of lawful use to be granted the use not only needs to have carried on continuously for 10yrs but that breach needs to be ongoing at the time the application is made. The application appears to gloss over the fact that it is not currently in use and has not been for a couple of years. It's complicated and I'm not a planner so I would be interested to hear what Stephane Sadoux (the academic quoted in the article) thinks.

That said, if they did start up as a club again, assuming that there has been no intervening use, they could then make the application. They would need to show that on a balance of probabilities the two floors had been in use for 10 years with no intervening uses. This might be more difficult if the owners at the time of the use were not prepared to cooperate. This route involves some risk because they would have to start up without a guarantee of success. I am not sure whether it has any bearing that another use was granted whilst it was closed but suspect not if the development did not lawfully commence (which does not require very much to happen).

Hello Rushy. Thanks for your comment, you are right in many ways. First and foremost because the issue of continuity is certainly one aspect that should be taken into account when assessing this type of application. This particular one will be an interesting case since, as you mention, the building has not been in use for some time - since June 2019. This is something the applicants actually acknowledge in their letter, which is available to the public as part of the application you can see on the Lambeth Council website.
It is worth pointing out that the process whereby such applications are examined must rely on factual information and legislative frameworks only. There is little scope, if any, for interpretation. The outcome uncertain. Which is why I referred to the granting of a certificate as a possibility, rather than something that is inevitable. I hope this answers your question.

 

[editor]

Plans announced for the 414

Exclusive: Brixton Jamm and Percolate reveal their plans for a new club at 414 Coldharbour Lane, Brixton

 

[jimbarkanoodle]

They seem to be saying all the right things, very positive. I won't darken their doors though unless that slippy bastard of a staircase is reinstalled, mind.

 

[editor]

So Hondo managed to wangle it so that the upstairs space at the 414 can be used as part of the club.

 

[Rushy]

Hello Rushy. Thanks for your comment, you are right in many ways. First and foremost because the issue of continuity is certainly one aspect that should be taken into account when assessing this type of application. This particular one will be an interesting case since, as you mention, the building has not been in use for some time - since June 2019. This is something the applicants actually acknowledge in their letter, which is available to the public as part of the application you can see on the Lambeth Council website.
It is worth pointing out that the process whereby such applications are examined must rely on factual information and legislative frameworks only. There is little scope, if any, for interpretation. The outcome uncertain. Which is why I referred to the granting of a certificate as a possibility, rather than something that is inevitable. I hope this answers your question.

Very geeky and dull, I know, but you may be interested in this blog post Stephane. It clarifies a point about a use having to be ongoing at the time of application and differentiates between ongoing and "active". Funnily enough he is referring to a potential misunderstanding of the paragraph in his book from which my own misunderstanding originally arose. Serendipitous!

 

[editor]

Hondo are now running a recording studio in the Village with a publicity generating competition announced

Our mission at BRXTN studios is to create a sanctuary for artists to discover and express their unique genius. We incubate artists to develop them, offering a one-stop shop for their creativity. Our state-of-the-art facilities and studio lounge combined with the energy of Brixton welcomes all sounds. We are committed to the next generation of talent and believe that none should be excluded regardless of their ethnicity, gender or background.

Brxtn Voices - BRXTN Village Studios

BRIXTONVOICES A COMPETITION TO FIND THE NEXT BEST MUSICAL TALENT IN SOUTH LONDON PRESENTED BY BRXTN STUDIOS WHAT Brixton Voices is a competition in search of south London’s next big musical talent marking the opening of BRXTN Studios – a new state-of-the-art music recording studio located in the...

brxtnstudios.com

 

[CH1]

Hondo are now running a recording studio in the Village with a publicity generating competition announced

Brxtn Voices - BRXTN Village Studios

BRIXTONVOICES A COMPETITION TO FIND THE NEXT BEST MUSICAL TALENT IN SOUTH LONDON PRESENTED BY BRXTN STUDIOS WHAT Brixton Voices is a competition in search of south London’s next big musical talent marking the opening of BRXTN Studios – a new state-of-the-art music recording studio located in the...

brxtnstudios.com

The first thing I thought of when I saw this

was Orwells boot: If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face — forever.

But it's not really that is it? More like being detained in a hip meeting room until the work is on-trend.

 

[CH1]

It's not only Brixton in the throes of an American takeover.
Amazingly to me (as an ex Tractor Boys local) Ipswich Town Football club has just been sold to "a group of investors" currently running the soccer team "Phoenix Rising"

It'll take more than that to resurrect Ipswich's reputation - which is a shame because when I was a schoolboy they had good managers and were in the (then) First Division.

John Peel - an ardent supporter - must be spinning in his grave. Or perhaps he's just thinking of "Teenage Kicks".
Ipswich Town takeover: Marcus Evans sells club to American investors for £40m

 

[editor]

This is just a disgraceful way to treat a tenant of 11 years

Cornercopia leaves Brixton Village after landlords Hondo hike up rent prices and strip away tenancy rights

Long standing Brixton retailer Cornercopia has been forced out of Brixton Village – their home of eleven years – as a result of huge rent hikes imposed by their landlord Hondo. They tol…

www.brixtonbuzz.com

 

[editor]

Latest ridiculous PR bullshit from Brixton Village. You know, the place run by a multi millionaire socialite DJ backed by the near-unimaginable wealth of US-based global investment giants, Angelo Gordon.

 

[editor]

The comments on this article have gone completely crazy, with one poster - who surely has no connection with the Brixton Project or Hondo - defending the market's gentrification and insisting that the mere act of documenting the place is 'race baiting.' He then goes on to compare the plight of the middle class wine drinkers in the Village with the racism and hardships suffered by the Windrush Generation. It really is rather special. Best of all, he must have spent hours and hours last night upvoting his own comments which - up to that point - has been universally disliked.

Brixton Village 2021: Marketing vs Reality – in photos

Brixton Village has started marketing itself as some sort of ‘alternative’ on the ‘other side.’ We went along to see what has changed and quickly formed our own opinion, but…

www.brixtonbuzz.com

 

[editor]

On the topic of racism:

"We have chosen ‘the village’, not to guilt trip frequenters, or even overpriced gentrifiers. We have chosen the village because it is a symbolic symptom of racist and classist displacement, of irresponsibility"

Reclaim Brixton 25th April: Black Revs and the Brixton Village Black Blockade action

With today’s Reclaim Brixton event about to start (click here to see full details and times), the London Black Revolutionaries (Black Revs) have issues a press statement about their involveme…

www.brixtonbuzz.com

Here's an interesting and in-depth (210 pages!) Phd Study here focussed on the Village

Alienation and Authenticity in Brixton: An ethnography of a changing neighbourhood

The workers who staff the cafés and restaurants of Brixton Village Market are largely young, culture rich and cash poor – Mary was in a similar situation (section 6.4). As workers we must insist that we are remarkable in order to fit the profile of employee in such places, however as I worked my shifts I realised I was anything but. Slowly the hopeful lie that such businesses are somehow better workplaces than your average chain unravels as the wages stay low and the tips still don’t make up for it. Eventually I realised that I was an interchangeable part of the machine, despite knowing the owner of the business and giving my opinion on the formulation of the baba ghanoush I remained alienated from the means of production. As with workers, businesses scrabble to claim cultural difference through notions of ‘independence’ and ‘entrepreneurship’ or even ‘artisanship’ and ‘craft’ – otherwise ‘authenticity’.

https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10028038/1/FinalPhDSamBarton.pdf

 

[Gramsci]

The comments on this article have gone completely crazy, with one poster - who surely has no connection with the Brixton Project or Hondo - defending the market's gentrification and insisting that the mere act of documenting the place is 'race baiting.' He then goes on to compare the plight of the middle class wine drinkers in the Village with the racism and hardships suffered by the Windrush Generation. It really is rather special. Best of all, he must have spent hours and hours last night upvoting his own comments which - up to that point - has been universally disliked.

Brixton Village 2021: Marketing vs Reality – in photos

Brixton Village has started marketing itself as some sort of ‘alternative’ on the ‘other side.’ We went along to see what has changed and quickly formed our own opinion, but…

www.brixtonbuzz.com

The poster spent an awful lot of effort on the opposing gentrification = racism line.

The issue was Hondo marketing line being about diversity. Poster says that is about the businesses not the clientelle. Which is nit picking imo.

 

[editor]

The poster spent an awful lot of effort on the opposing gentrification = racism line.

The issue was Hondo marketing line being about diversity. Poster says that is about the businesses not the clientelle. Which is nit picking imo.

These were some of the better responses to the daft 'race-baiting' 'anti-white' racism nonsense:

What a load of disingenuous, patronising nonsense. Trying to compare the ‘plight’ of the well-off, privileged wine drinkers in the Village with the very real racism, hardship and prejudice experienced by the Windrush generation is ignorant, trite and insulting.

think Buzz has done a great bit of local journalism here: American multi millionaire backed by fat US investment funds parachutes into Brixton and buys up traditional market, hikes up the rents, tries to get rid of long standing businesses (Nour, wig shop, Cornercopia etc), invites in trendy businesses with zero connections to the area (Baz and Fred pizzas, Tapas Bar, Oowee vegan chain etc) and then tries to market the white-ified, gentrified space as ‘alternative and diverse” and being connected to the area’s ‘rich cultural heritage.’

 

[Shippou-Sensei]

I'm beginning to wonder if you could crowd source a mortgage.

 

[editor]

I'm beginning to wonder if you could crowd source a mortgage.

You've lost me here.

 

[Shippou-Sensei]

You've lost me here.

Sorry. I've been very into crowdsourcing to pay artists I like and fund projects I like the sound of.
The fact that corporations have such capital to vacuum up core bits of the community makes me wish that they could be save by community financial action.
That made me think of crowdsourcing property ownership. Probably couldn't go for a lump sum kickstarter but maybe a long term payment patreon.

It wouldn't work as it would just be seen as a way to get more milk from the cow and the fact that most people wouldn't agree on co-ownership terms but a man can dream.

 

[editor]

Sorry. I've been very into crowdsourcing to pay artists I like and fund projects I like the sound of.
The fact that corporations have such capital to vacuum up core bits of the community makes me wish that they could be save by community financial action.
That made me think of crowdsourcing property ownership. Probably couldn't go for a lump sum kickstarter but maybe a long term payment patreon.

It wouldn't work as it would just be seen as a way to get more milk from the cow and the fact that most people wouldn't agree on co-ownership terms but a man can dream.

I wish I could happen but seeing that Hondo slapped down a hefty £37.25 million for the Village three years ago, I can't imagine any kind of community funding achieving those kinds of sky high sums.

 

[Shippou-Sensei]

Yeah property prices long became the sole consideration of the hyper-wealthy or those who have the ear of them.

 

[editor]

Good piece in the Guardian

Since he bought Brixton market in 2018, McWilliam has rarely been out of the news, with campaigners claiming the tourist-destination image of the market is undermining local businesses and the character of the area. This summer he hit the headlines when the campaign to save Nour Cash & Carry from eviction unexpectedly went global after a protest during an online charity concert featuring a DJ set by McWilliam, in front of an audience of more than 1,000 people.

A much-loved family business, Nour has been saved, but McWilliams is once again the focus of huge local opposition, this time against plans to build a 20-storey tower, designed by the British Ghanaian architect David Adjaye. Council officers have recommended that the tower go ahead on the basis that it will regenerate the area and provide jobs and a new public realm.

Yet prior to the council’s forthcoming decision on Tuesday, more than 1,000 objections had been lodged, including from the local MP, ward councillors and a 7,000 strong petition against the scheme

Earlier this year, Lambeth council appointed Tom Branton as director of regeneration, giving an indication of its vision for the area. Branton has previously worked for Southwark council, as project manager of the controversial Elephant & Castle regeneration scheme, carried out in partnership with the Australia-based developer Lendlease. He moved on from the council to work for Lendlease, where he was development manager on the same project, Elephant Park. Built on the site of the demolished Heygate estate, Elephant Park includes nearly 3,000 luxury apartments, of which only 82 are social housing. Of the properties built in the first phase, most were sold to foreign investors.

Branton later went with Lendlease to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to work on the Tun Razak Exchange, described as an Asian version of Canary Wharf.

'Regeneration' is too often an unfair fight between local people and global finance | Anna Minton

On Tuesday a London council decides over a 20-storey tower in Brixton – a tale familiar to cities from Manchester to Sydney, says author and academic Anna Minton

www.theguardian.com

*Just seen that the article is 10 months old. Oops.

 

[pbsmooth]

.

 

[editor]

A friend reports that McWilliams was seen 'sniffing' about around the back of the arches (where the Hondo Tower is supposed to go, and thus displace the existing small businesses).

He said:

I’m pleased to say that some of the other arches recognised him and starting shouting wanker at him

 

[editor]

Latest from evil Hondo

EVICTION ALERT! Taylor McWilliams is trying to kick out Phil's Fruit + Veg, which has been part of Brixton Market for 20 years! Look as this appalling email from Hondo and see just how little they think of their tenants- their tenants who make all their profit for them.

 

[pbsmooth]

scumbag.

 

[Pickman's model]

Latest from evil Hondo

View attachment 346335






View attachment 346336

surprised they've obscured tom richardson's name as anyone who googles hondo and head of asset management can find it in an instant

more surprising is richardson's claim here (from his linkedin page)

about his skill working with tenants which isn't really demonstrated by the message above

 

[isvicthere?]

surprised they've obscured tom richardson's name as anyone who googles hondo and head of asset management can find it in an instant

more surprising is richardson's claim here (from his linkedin page)
View attachment 346610
about his skill working with tenants which isn't really demonstrated by the message above

Oh come on! He does wish his soon-to-be ex-tenant a "good weekend"! Must have been on a course.

 

[editor]

This is a remarkably insensitive message, suggesting that they've been eyeing up the site since 2019 - when it was Louise and Tony's home.

 

[cuppa tee]

This is a remarkably insensitive message, suggesting that they've been eyeing up the site since 2019 - when it was Louise and Tony's home.

View attachment 354684

confused, who posted this ?
it looks like the people behind the new venue rather than hondo/macwilliams