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Say hello to Barratt Homes' 'Brixton Square' on Coldharbour Lane (old Cooltan site)

fortyplus said:
I am completely with story on gated "communities". I can see that it might help sell properties in edgier, more vibrant areas - you get the vibrancy without the fear of having your car vandalised etc etc. But they're by definition exclusive places (and often marketed exactly as such), which is the opposite of inclusive. It's inclusivity that really makes a community, and there's a real danger that the inclusivity of Brixton is being lost.
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There is a simple way to make this happen. Make developers put 50% affordable element in large schemes like Brixton Square.

50% affordable is the benchmark that most Councils seek when negotiating with developers over planning permission in large schemes. ( Except Wandsworth).

Developers like Barratts fight to get affordable housing reduced.

Its an unequal battle between powerful business interests and Council who try to keep communities inclusive.

I have some sympathy with Labour Councils. They are up against it from Boris - who does fuck all, this Government and powerful building companies who lobby governments.

Gentrification is not something that just happens. Its down to a whole series of policy decisions over the years that have allowed the so called "free market" rule in housing.

RTB, getting rid of rent controls, reduction on tenants rights in favour of landlords, reduction in funding of social housing for example.

Having been at planning committees I can see its an unequal battle when up against developers. It is frustrating to say the least.
 
Manter said:
I thought- tho I may be wrong- that the West Indians wave of immigrants brought some money with them and often set up very successful business so started buying up housing here- Gramsci I have a vague memory of discussing it with you?
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No.

West Indians came here to do working class jobs in hospitals, local government and buses etc.

The Afro Caribbean who came her after the war were largely working class.

They lived in places like Brixton and Notting Hill as a lot of landlords would not take Black people as tenants. Houses in Brixton were cheaper then. So some bought houses in the area.

Same with Asians who came to East London.
 
Gramsci said:
No.

West Indians came here to do working class jobs in hospitals, local government and buses etc.

The Afro Caribbean who came her after the war were largely working class.

They lived in places like Brixton and Notting Hill as a lot of landlords would not take Black people as tenants. Houses in Brixton were cheaper then. So some bought houses in the area.

Same with Asians who came to East London.
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knew you'd know :)
 
IIRC (think I might have learned this from a mural walk) some of the first West Indian immigrants were initially housed in the bomb shelter at Stockwell tube station, the nearest Labour Exchange was Coldharbour Lane (on the site of Brixton Square?) which is how they came to settle in Brixton.
 
Mr Bim of Bar said:
Ohhhhh I can feel a revolution coming, we are growing in numbers and getting stronger by the day lol
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Belushi said:
IIRC (think I might have learned this from a mural walk) some of the first West Indian immigrants were initially housed in the bomb shelter at Stockwell tube station, the nearest Labour Exchange was Coldharbour Lane (on the site of Brixton Square?) which is how they came to settle in Brixton.
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I thought it was the deep shelters at Clapham Common, maybe there was one at Stockwell as well.
 
Belushi said:
IIRC (think I might have learned this from a mural walk) some of the first West Indian immigrants were initially housed in the bomb shelter at Stockwell tube station, the nearest Labour Exchange was Coldharbour Lane (on the site of Brixton Square?) which is how they came to settle in Brixton.
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Clapham deep shelter was used. Photos here

There is plaque on wall in Clapham to commemorate it.

The deep shelters were purpose built for accommodating people. Clapham deep shelter was also used as "hotel" for visitors to the Festival of Britain in early 50s.
 
Belushi said:
IIRC (think I might have learned this from a mural walk) some of the first West Indian immigrants were initially housed in the bomb shelter at Stockwell tube station, the nearest Labour Exchange was Coldharbour Lane (on the site of Brixton Square?) which is how they came to settle in Brixton.
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How interesting.
 
Strangerdanger said:
Do you know how long they were used as accommodation?
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Not that long. More info here.

To find work most of the immigrants went to the nearest Labour Exchange (Job Centre) which was in Coldharbour Lane, Brixton. Many found jobs in the National Health Service, some worked in factories and mills locally but by far the largest employer was London Transport. Sam King recorded that within three weeks each person had a job. Another immigrant wrote that none of them stayed long in the shelters. He said most were there only a few days, and he stayed about two weeks.
Gradually the immigrants moved on to rented houses and rooms, mostly in the Brixton and Clapham areas. As time went on those who had already settled were more ready to take in their compatriots than some local landlords. There are stories of great problems in finding accommodation, signs saying 'No blacks' (also 'No Dogs' and 'No Irish') and plenty of advertisements offering accommodation, which mysteriously turned out to have been taken already when an immigrant arrived. Some were reluctant to rent property, because they did not wish to be beholden to anyone and they clubbed together to purchase houses, often in family groups.

The actual time the shelters were occupied by the immigrants from the Caribbean was relatively short, but the impact of their arrival on the area was dramatic and long-lasting — the origins of the multi-racial community in South London.
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Somerleyton road was one of the first streets in Brixton that had a lot of West Indian people live in it.

I was told recently by someone who grew up in Brixton that when the Council CPOd the buildings where the Barrier Block, Moorlands estate and Somerleyton road are there was some resistance as some of the West Indian people had bought there houses by then.

The wholesale demolition plans for Brixton ( Hollamby plans) where opposed by a section of the settled Afro Caribbean community.
 
Gramsci said:
The deep shelters were purpose built for accommodating people.
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No they weren't.

They were the first stage of a plan in the 1930s to relieve congestion on the Northern Line by building a second pair of tunnels in parallel with the Charing Cross branch of the Northern Line to provide an express route through London.
 
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SarfLondoner said:
This looks like an exit gate to a prison.
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Not solid enough for an HMPS establishment. They're only allowed solid gates or welded mesh gates (you can guess why, I'm sure!). On some of the historic (i.e. Victorian-era) internal barred gates at Wandsworth and Wormwood Scrubs prisons, they had to weld mesh over the frame of the gate, as well as blanking plates over locks and hinges back in the '80s after being told that if any inmates tried to squeeze through the bars and hurt themselves, HM Prison Service would be liable for their injuries. :facepalm: but also :D
 
Belushi said:
IIRC (think I might have learned this from a mural walk) some of the first West Indian immigrants were initially housed in the bomb shelter at Stockwell tube station, the nearest Labour Exchange was Coldharbour Lane (on the site of Brixton Square?) which is how they came to settle in Brixton.
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And (combined with Clapham Junction station) why Clapham Junction always had a fairly robust black community from the late '50s onward.
 
ash said:
I thought it was the deep shelters at Clapham Common, maybe there was one at Stockwell as well.
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People get a bit confused about Clapham Common, because there was the deep shelters at Clapham Common, Clapham South, Stockwell etc, that were basically originally (IIRC) excavations for platforms on line extensions/expansions that never happened, but there were also half a dozen large excavated underground shelters on Clapham Common proper (where Clapham Common West Side and Clapham Common North Side meet at Battersea Rise, and further up along North Side) - used to be tarmac'ed over, but I understand that they were stripped back, filled in and grassed over back in the '90s. You can still see the "footprint" of one in the small bit of common where west side and north side meet on Google Maps.
 
Mr Bim of Bar said:
T

That's a fair point, but you also must appreciate that the vast majority of people who have bought in BS WANT a gated development mostly for security reasons, Windrush Square now has a large homeless community and an alcoholism meeting venue

No blacks no dogs no Irish, I don't think they were living in the posh bit do you ?
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You've just proved, beyond reasonable doubt, that you're a cunt.

Vindicated.
 
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