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Young mothers evicted from London hostel may be rehoused 200 miles away

DaveCinzano said:
Focus E15 have been running rings round Robin Wales for ages - this from March:



And notice how much more comfortable he is in conversation with one of the ‘Trot agitators’ - in this instance an older man - he's been complaining about, than he is talking to the actual young women who had been threatened with transportation out of the borough!

View attachment 61875
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perhaps he could do the people of newham a massive favour and hang himself forthwith.
 
Morning Star on council meeting (that Focus E15 women and others were purposefully locked out of) about housing issues and tackling homelessness:

Newham farce exposes dreadful political class
Wednesday 1st Oct 2014
posted by Joana Ramiro in Britain

MONDAY evening’s Newham Council meeting was yet another damning indictment of how the political class is utterly disengaged from the poor and most vulnerable in Britain, writes Joana Ramiro.

The meeting itself lasted barely more than an hour, casting doubts over the efficiency of local authorities in tackling serious issues.

Can you truly solve homelessness in 60 minutes?

Then there was the utter travesty of holding the meeting closed to public engagement — in a building built for and heavily adorned with the word … public.

But nothing was more abhorrent than the swift exit of Newham’s 60 Labour councillors from the premises.

They avoided protesters, running into their lovely cars — Mini Coopers and Mercedes Benz seemingly less than a couple of years old — driving through the masses grimacing.

Some cursed the samba band, others danced to the rhythm, laughing at the people fighting homelessness.

It was a cruel, disgusting show.

“We are the public and they represent us,” said a protesters complaining about the lack of access to the council meeting.

After Monday night, one was left to wonder who they really represent.​

http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/a-3c35-Newham-farce-exposes-dreadful-political-class
 
Newham Council logic, in a nutshell:

...The Carpenters Estate is not viable. The tower blocks are simply too expensive to renovate and will need to be demolished. The whole estate could be redeveloped to provide not only good quality, modern family homes but vitally important jobs and community space for local residents.

To allow that to happen, Newham Council has helped more than 400 residents move from Carpenters over the last 10 years to new homes of their choice. As of today, only 62 of the homes on Carpenters are occupied and 400 are vacant.

We want to make use of as many of the vacant homes as possible to temporarily house homeless people bfore the estate is regenerated...
Click to expand...

Cllr Baikie, Wales' housing guru (and tosser of much shit in the direction of FE15M). Yes, he is actually boasting that the estate is more than 86% vacant, despite in the next breath saying that the council wants to use the estate to temporarily house homeless people. ‘Wants to’, but isn't.

http://www.newhamrecorder.co.uk/new...e_social_properties_empty_for_years_1_3780185
 
Pretending they have worthy ideas for the building and those pesky squatters are getting in the way is a tired dickhead PR lie seen many times before.

Years back in Leeds an empty church on the university campus was turned into a social centre type squat with gigs and activist events. The university went to the press claiming they had plans to turn it into an art space for students and that the squatters were jeopardising that. Shortly after the eviction they flogged it off and it was turned into a terrible nightclub. I'm certain there are more examples.
 
what i can't understand, and i'm sure in any sane world it wouldn't happen, is why the carpenters estate has to be flogged off for yuppie flats instead of housing local people. apart from the greed of developers and a lingering suspicion of something untoward at lb newham, which i just can't shake.
 
Dogsauce said:
Pretending they have worthy ideas for the building and those pesky squatters are getting in the way is a tired dickhead PR lie seen many times before.

Years back in Leeds an empty church on the university campus was turned into a social centre type squat with gigs and activist events. The university went to the press claiming they had plans to turn it into an art space for students and that the squatters were jeopardising that. Shortly after the eviction they flogged it off and it was turned into a terrible nightclub. I'm certain there are more examples.
Click to expand...

Indeed, but I think one if the things that has been successful in the social centre part of the campaign is that the ladies have being clear from the outset the occupation is political not as a substitute for an actual home. The point has being to garner enough media publicity and show the fantastic condition of the houses.
I think this campaign has gotten so far by refusing to have "reasonable" demands and the demand to repopulate the carpenters isn't "reasonable" either, Jasmine , is a softly spoken firebrand and is constantly making the point the campaign isn't just about the mothers now. Hopefully it will go on stronger here
 
Pickman's model said:
what i can't understand, and i'm sure in any sane world it wouldn't happen, is why the carpenters estate has to be flogged off for yuppie flats instead of housing local people. apart from the greed of developers and a lingering suspicion of something untoward at lb newham, which i just can't shake.
Click to expand...

Sane world LOL...

Similar stuff is going on in many other places. An example I'm particular familiar with is Woodberry Down Estate in Hackney. The huge estate in Southwark near the Elephant which I've momentarily forgotten the name of is another, but there's many, many others.

The basic story is that these estates have been allowed to detoriorate for years, decades even, the council doesn't have the money for the serious renovation which is necessary, and the only way to get anything done (within the existing system obvs...) is to decant, demolish at least part of the estate and allow developers in.

I wonder if this is particularly a London thing, or if it's also happening elsewhere?

The greed of developers is a given, and the corruption of councils may also be a factor, though it's not absolutely necessary, IMO
 
Limerick Red said:
Indeed, but I think one if the things that has been successful in the social centre part of the campaign is that the ladies have being clear from the outset the occupation is political not as a substitute for an actual home. The point has being to garner enough media publicity and show the fantastic condition of the houses.
I think this campaign has gotten so far by refusing to have "reasonable" demands and the demand to repopulate the carpenters isn't "reasonable" either, Jasmine , is a softly spoken firebrand and is constantly making the point the campaign isn't just about the mothers now. Hopefully it will go on stronger here
Click to expand...

Are you (or anyone else here) in contact with them?

There was a campaign previously on the Carpenters Estate to resist depopulation. Does anyone know what happened with that and if the two groups, or at least people from them, have linked up?
 
Pickman's model said:
what i can't understand, and i'm sure in any sane world it wouldn't happen, is why the carpenters estate has to be flogged off for yuppie flats instead of housing local people. apart from the greed of developers and a lingering suspicion of something untoward at lb newham, which i just can't shake.
Click to expand...

The idealised version of what they do is demolish the housing then rebuild at a greater density or height so that you replace the LA stock like-for-like but also fit in quite a lot of private development which funds the whole thing. This does involve getting a private developer on board. Tenants get new homes up to a modern standard (and there are standards for space etc. within housing association developments which tend to be more generous than private developments - good councils will make sure tenants are happy with the replacement, some do). The developer makes money on the private element of the scheme that funds the HA stuff (not having to buy the land in some cases) and the Council get more council tax and get to meet their government housing targets.

In theory this is a win-win situation, in reality there tends to be all kinds of stitch-ups like the stuff at Elephant, with tenants and the Council getting fucked over.
 
Dogsauce said:
The idealised version of what they do is demolish the housing then rebuild at a greater density or height so that you replace the LA stock like-for-like but also fit in quite a lot of private development which funds the whole thing. This does involve getting a private developer on board. Tenants get new homes up to a modern standard (and there are standards for space etc. within housing association developments which tend to be more generous than private developments - good councils will make sure tenants are happy with the replacement, some do). The developer makes money on the private element of the scheme that funds the HA stuff (not having to buy the land in some cases) and the Council get more council tax and get to meet their government housing targets.

In theory this is a win-win situation, in reality there tends to be all kinds of stitch-ups like the stuff at Elephant, with tenants and the Council getting fucked over.
Click to expand...

Let's be blunt here. "Like for like" means "3-bed flat for 3-bed flat. What it doesn't mean is that the new flat will be as spacious as the old flat, as accessible or even as well-appointed.
 
andysays said:
Sane world LOL...

Similar stuff is going on in many other places. An example I'm particular familiar with is Woodberry Down Estate in Hackney. The huge estate in Southwark near the Elephant which I've momentarily forgotten the name of is another, but there's many, many others.

The basic story is that these estates have been allowed to detoriorate for years, decades even, the council doesn't have the money for the serious renovation which is necessary, and the only way to get anything done (within the existing system obvs...) is to decant, demolish at least part of the estate and allow developers in.

I wonder if this is particularly a London thing, or if it's also happening elsewhere?

The greed of developers is a given, and the corruption of councils may also be a factor, though it's not absolutely necessary, IMO
Click to expand...
yeh i know i'm being naive :(
 
andysays said:
Are you (or anyone else here) in contact with them?

There was a campaign previously on the Carpenters Estate to resist depopulation. Does anyone know what happened with that and if the two groups, or at least people from them, have linked up?
Click to expand...

CARP carpenters against regeneration, I know they have been involved and supportive of the campaign but afaik they're are in their own battle with the council that is at a different stage from the FE15 campaign, that's as far as I know but not 100% sure
 
ViolentPanda said:
Let's be blunt here. "Like for like" means "3-bed flat for 3-bed flat. What it doesn't mean is that the new flat will be as spacious as the old flat, as accessible or even as well-appointed.
Click to expand...

And you may not eventually get a new flat on the original estate (it could be anywhere in the borough) and if you do, you will have had to move twice, with all the disruption that entails, in order to get it.
 
ViolentPanda said:
Let's be blunt here. "Like for like" means "3-bed flat for 3-bed flat. What it doesn't mean is that the new flat will be as spacious as the old flat, as accessible or even as well-appointed.
Click to expand...

There is a 'London Standard' for social housing which has to be complied with, and it's not bad in terms of space - private housing doesn't have to comply with this and is usually smaller. It'll be better appointed in terms of being decently insulated, so warmer and cheaper to run. Accessible flats are built to current standards which are better than adapted older properties. Where I think they do fall short is in the durability of some of the materials and fittings, which is common with most new builds (they're built as cheaply as possible, such is the culture in construction, or in fact in everything now).

How residents are treated is really down to the Local Authority - the gf has worked on a scheme in Tower Hamlets and they seemed pretty good at making sure tenants were happy, evidence suggests others have failed in this pretty horribly.
 
Via Facebook:

This is the full statement read out by Jasmine Stone and Sam Middleton after Newham Council dropped their legal action against their two week political occupation of boarded up house on the Carpenter’s Estate.

We are overwhelmed and grateful for the support and solidarity from both the local and the wider community. Also thank you to Anthony Gold, ITN solicitors and our barrister Lyndsey Johnson. We have decided to leave 80-86 Doran Walk on our own terms by 7th October, as planned. Newham have agreed to this, with no other conditions and have dropped their Interim Possession Order.

We have celebrated a year of the E15 campaign, during which we have tried to engage with Newham Council on a number of occasions and they have refused to listen. As a result, our political occupation was the only option to escalate our demands for social housing, not social cleansing.

We have reached our goal of highlighting the issue of decent homes left empty on the state and we have built lasing link with the residents and the community. This has be broadcast to millions of people. Ultimately this occupation was never about staying indefinitely, but about our demands to Newham Council.

These demands remain and they include: - Repopulating the Carpenter’s Estate with secure council tenancies now - An immediate end to decanting and evictions of existing residents - No demolition of the estate - The management of Carpenters estate by residents and for residents, with no third party or private management involvement

We will continue fighting to save council housing and to ensure decent housing for all.

This is the beginning of the end of the housing crisis.​


https://www.facebook.com/6028601297...41836.602860129757343/769859229724098/?type=1
 
By-ftBuIEAAgNt5.jpg
 
spun
Campaigners to end flats occupation

A County Court judge has ordered a group of single mothers to leave council flats in east London that they occupied to protest against the lack of social housing. The Focus e15 campaigners have now agreed to leave the properties by 7 October, but said they would fight on to save the Carpenter estate in Stratford from demolition. A spokesperson for Newham Council said: "We are pleased that we have been able to reach a peaceful, legally binding agreement which allows us to take back the property by 7 October."
Click to expand...
Financial Times Paywall!
 
teqniq said:
spun indeed :mad:
Click to expand...

But spun in a very predictable way.

It's not for me to tell them they've got it wrong, but it does appear that they may be giving up what could have been a good focus* for building their campaign, and I hope they've got another one to take its place.

*i've just seen what I did there :facepalm:
 
I think this is inspiring lots of people and is certainly well known outside the 'activist bubble', does anyone know when the Newsnight package on the mothers was broadcast?

Btw, I'm surprised Russell Brand visited the occupation
 
Last edited:
andysays said:
But spun in a very predictable way.

It's not for me to tell them they've got it wrong, but it does appear that they may be giving up what could have been a good focus* for building their campaign, and I hope they've got another one to take its place.

*i've just seen what I did there :facepalm:
Click to expand...
These things have a very limited shelf life in the media, also the practicalities of people with young children staying indefinitely in the centre.
The campaign had never shied away from confrontation with the council and exposing labour hyporacy and you can be sure this will continue when the house is vacated. The carpenters estate as a demand has legs , if ever there was an example of the sheer madness of capitalist housing planning this is it. Residents have claimed , although unprovable that the council have being leaving windows open in vacant buildings to ensure they suffer weather damage. The houses are so near to perfect, what's going on there is absolutely criminal
 
treelover said:
I think this is inspiring lots of people and is certainly well known outside the 'activist bubble', does anyone know when the Newsnight package on the mothers was broadcast?

Btw, I'm surprised Russell Brand visited the occupation
Click to expand...


Brand has been great publicity wise for the campaign, however it suits his narrative of "revolution" spontaneously springing up from nowhere, without realising there has been 12 months of meetings, stalls, petitions, getting soaked in rainy weather, getting treated with complete disdain by the council , fighting their corner through some really difficult times, this is what mustn't be lost in all the publicity... It's not just the will to fight, if that was enough there would be constant stories like this, it's the organisation to do it as well.
 
Limerick Red said:
These things have a very limited shelf life in the media, also the practicalities of people with young children staying indefinitely in the centre.
The campaign had never shied away from confrontation with the council and exposing labour hyporacy and you can be sure this will continue when the house is vacated. The carpenters estate as a demand has legs , if ever there was an example of the sheer madness of capitalist housing planning this is it. Residents have claimed , although unprovable that the council have being leaving windows open in vacant buildings to ensure they suffer weather damage. The houses are so near to perfect, what's going on there is absolutely criminal
Click to expand...

Yeah, I agree absolutely, and I hope I didn't appear not to.

I will be watching this with interest as it goes on, and obviously I wish them the best of luck however they decide to play it.
 
andysays said:
Sane world LOL...

Similar stuff is going on in many other places. An example I'm particular familiar with is Woodberry Down Estate in Hackney. The huge estate in Southwark near the Elephant which I've momentarily forgotten the name of is another, but there's many, many others.

The basic story is that these estates have been allowed to detoriorate for years, decades even, the council doesn't have the money for the serious renovation which is necessary, and the only way to get anything done (within the existing system obvs...) is to decant, demolish at least part of the estate and allow developers in.

I wonder if this is particularly a London thing, or if it's also happening elsewhere?

The greed of developers is a given, and the corruption of councils may also be a factor, though it's not absolutely necessary, IMO
Click to expand...

Funny how councils never seem to have the money to improve their social housing stock and are 'forced' to hand it over to housing associations who 'suddenly' have a large number of councillors on their executive boards.
And said councils 'suddenly' find millions for new council offices?

I think my advancing age is turning me into a conspiracloon:D
 
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