Refurbish Don’t Demolish the Carpenters Estate: London Legacy Development Corporation  gives the greenlight to redevelopment plans

housing crisis, ,

What are the plans and what are the controversies, as Newham Council seek Greater London Authority approval.

For over a decade Focus E15 have campaigned for the opening of empty homes on the Carpenters Estate.  We have done so as housing campaigners witnessing the catastrophic rates of homelessness in the borough vs hundreds of empty public homes in walking distance from our weekly street stall (outside Wilko’s on the Stratford Broadway).  We were not the first to campaign for the estate, which has a long and inspirational history of resisting gentrification and displacement as a consequence of redevelopment.

The latest chapter in the story of the estate came on 27th February 2024, when the London Legacy Development Corporation (‘LLDC’), which is the planning authority with oversight for the estate, greenlit redevelopment plans from Populo Living, Newham Council’s property development company.  Plans will now be sent to the Mayor of London,  Sadiq Khan, to give his consent, before the section 106 agreement is finalised (contract between the local authority and developer) and plans are given the final rubberstamped approval.

But what are the plans?    Some key features:

  • This is an ‘outline planning application’ (also called a Masterplan) which will broadly give a bundle of rights to redevelop the estate, including the ability to demolish all existing structures apart from Lund Point, Biggerstaff Terrace (no.s 1-27(odd) Biggerstaff Road) which will be retained.  James Riley Point will also be retained (and already has permission for being refurbished).   This equates to 60% demolition.
  • This Masterplan sets out the broad plans including numbers of homes across the sites, what tenures, number of buildings and types of buildings (residential, commercial, etc) and also plans for greenspace/play space.  We have set out some detail of the plans below.

Timelines and phasing

  • Plans are for the Masterplan to be ‘built-out’ in 8 phases over 18 ‘development parcels’ with anticipated construction over a ten-year period between 2024 to 2034.

Phase 1 (2024) – The first phase (James Riley Point) has already been granted full planning permission having been designed as an early phase for refurbishment of the existing 23 storey residential tower, providing 136 homes, and provision of new community facilities to serve the Carpenters neighbourhood.  It is understood that a start on site is anticipated later in 2024.

Phase 2 (2026) – The second phase would involve refurbishment of the Lund Point residential tower, demolition of existing commercial buildings with new residential and commercial development in the surrounding land to the west of Lund Point.

Phase 3 (2028) – Demolition of the Denison Point residential tower and community buildings at Gibbons Road and replacement with new development of commercial uses (shops, etc) at ground floor with residential uses on the upper floors. A hotel is also proposed within Phase 3 of up to 9,147sq metres (in the illustrative scheme this is shown as providing a hotel with 191 beds).

Phase 4 (2029) -The fourth phase of the proposal would be in the centre of the redevelopment site and involve delivery of new homes and the northern part of the central public open space park. This includes building a new Building Crafts College.

Phase 5 (2029) – New residential development, and incorporating amenity space and play, and commercial frontages to Warton Road and Carpenters Road.

Phase 6 (2031) – This phase would involve the redevelopment of the Carpenters Arms pub and commercial buildings for new commercial units (shops, etc) floorspace at ground floor with residential uses above.

Phase 7 (2033) – This would provide new residential development around the southern part of the new central park with commercial frontages along Gibbins Road/Carpenters Road

  • In order to proceed with building each of the above phases, there will be detailed planning applications submitted to the planning authority (currently the LLDC, but may revert to Newham Council), called a Reserved Matters Application (‘RMA’).  The community will be consulted on each RMA, and each RMA has to be approved or rejected by the planning authority.   

Number and tenure of homes

  • Currently, there are 710 homes on the estate, 434 in three high rise blocks (James Riley Point, Lund Point and Dennison Point), and 276 in low rise blocks and terraced houses.
  • The masterplan is for up to 2,022 new, refurbished and replacement homes, and a minimum of 50.2% as affordable homes (measured by habitable room). Of the affordable homes, there will be up to 884 social rented homes (93.2% of the affordable homes) and 65 Intermediate homes.
  • However, social rented accommodation is typically offered in the form of an Assured Shorthold Tenancy or Starter Tenancy, as opposed to secure life-time tenancy.

Cinema and hotel

  • The Masterplan includes plans to build a cinema and a hotel on the estate land.  This is shocking given a) these were not included in the plans put to the resident’s in a ballot, b) that there are plenty of cinemas and hotels in walking distance from the estate.  When LLDC committee members asked Newham about why these were included in the plans, they were told they were merely for placemaking and it wasn’t even relevant how many people walked through the doors.  As we understand it, this refers to making the new estate as attractive as possible to new private buyers.

Multi-Use Games Area (‘MUGA’)

  • A MUGA is proposed to be built on the roof of a new school building and to have access available to the community.  There was some contention regarding this in the planning committee meeting, as being able to play at the MUGA required the school to be open.

I am concerned about the plans – what can I do?

  • Write to Sadiq Kahn about the differences in the Landlord Offer document balloted on, to what is included in the Masterplan – namely the addition of a cinema and hotel in these plans.

There are conditions attached to the funding released by the estate ballot, which you can read about here.

Point 8.7.2. states: Further, the GLA (Greater London Authority) will continue to check compliance at key points throughout the project. It may terminate a funding allocation and/or reclaim any funding paid (plus interest) on a project where the RBR applies if in its view: • the planning permission secured for a project materially deviates from the proposals set out in the Landlord Offer to residents; • a progress report to residents highlights that a project materially deviates from the proposals set out in the Landlord Offer to residents; and/or • the completed project materially deviates from the proposals set out in the Landlord Offer to residents.

  • If you supported the plans laid out in the Landlord Offer, it’s crucial you check that the Landlord Offer document is included in the section 106 agreement.  This is also true of the Residents Charter.  If they are in the Section 106 agreement, they are legally binding.
  • Keep an eye on the planning application in the portal for updates or changes to the plans – these could come years down the line, but could impact on the number of social rented homes, types of homes, etc.  It’s important to flag and challenge these changes!
  • Respond on consultations to Reserved Matters Applications which will be submitted with each phase of the redevelopment.

We believe homes on the Carpenters Estate should be refurbished, not demolished, that those on the estates are not displaced, and the land serves the people of Newham – adults and children – who are languishing in unsafe and insecure and unaffordable housing.  We will continue to hold Newham Council to account over this land!  We welcome all to our street stall to continue organising for the future of the Carpenters Estate – the land of the 3 towers!

The Focus E15 street stall is every Saturday 12-2 outside Wilko’s on the Stratford Broadway, except when there is  cross-London march for Palestine.

Genocide in Gaza -#emergency# -online meeting Wed 8 November

housing crisis, , , ,

From Newham to Palestine
One struggle! One Fight

Unspeakable violence is being meted out against the Palestinian people already under siege, in Gaza, by the settler state of Israel, with an ongoing barrage of lies from our media and the complicity of all our politicians who are arming and funding Israel.

Join the meeting on zoom at 7.30pm on Wednesday 8 November. Speakers are Focus E15 campaigners with special guests, Milly from Palestine Action and Louis Brehony, Palestine Activist, author and musician.

Zoom link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88508119236… .

For ten years Focus E15 has campaigned for housing justice in Newham, against social cleansing, for the use of empty homes and against the demolition of council housing. We have also challenged the Newham Labour council for its broken promises and families left in appalling unsuitable living conditions.

We will not stand by as our Palestinian brothers and sisters are murdered and their homes demolished. We will not tolerate the Labour Party complicity in this war.

The number of Palestinian children killed since 7 October is more than the number of children killed in armed conflict over the last three years in twenty countries across the world.
One third of hospitals in Gaza are now not functioning as a result of direct bombing or no fuel.

War crimes are being committed. Senior members are resigning from bodies such as the United Nations, the Labour Party is haemorrhaging members and councillors.

Labour MPs who support the Palestinians are being suspended by leader Keir Starmer (former human rights lawyer who supports Israel cutting off water, electricity and food to the Palestinians in Gaza).

We will also be discussing the work of Palestine Action and urge you to join the #elbiteight campaign. Palestine Action are brave activists who put their liberty on the line to disrupt the production of Israeli weapons in Britain. Their trial is at Snaresbrook Court between 13 November and 22 December and we will be there in solidarity.

Come and hear how we can all campaign for Palestine. The online meeting starts at 7.30pm on Wednesday 8 November on zoom: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88508119236… .

10 year anniversary event – postponed! March for Palestine on Saturday.

Carpenters Estate, eviction resistance, families, Focus E15 Campaign, gender, housing crisis, housing struggles, intentional homelessness, mothers, Newham council, News, press release, private landlords, public action, single mothers, social cleansing, women

IMPORTANT UPDATE

Dear friends of Focus E15 campaign

We are postponing our meeting this Saturday 14 October. It will take place on a new date to be announced very soon.

A march for Palestine has been called for the same date.

Focus E15 campaign supports the Palestinian people and their resistance movement. We will be marching in central London on Saturday 14 October to show our solidarity with Palestine.

The struggle for housing in Newham is part of the international struggle for justice for the poor and oppressed all over the world. A struggle against capitalism, against racism and imperialism.

Join Focus E15 on the march this Saturday 14 October and see you on the stall outside Wilko’s the following Saturday 21 October 12-2pm.

Please see the info here about the march: https://www.palestinecampaign.org/events/march-for-palestine-end-the-violence-end-apartheid/

Thank you all for your support.

Below is the original info about the event that has now been postponed.

Focus E15 campaign is hosting a public meeting to mark 10 years of housing campaigning in East London. Join us on Saturday 14th October at 2pm at the Carpenters and Docklands Centre in Stratford for films, fun and facts and to learn more about the international struggle for housing justice.

Focus E15 campaign, comrades and supporters will be discussing the history of the campaign with film clips shown to illustrate key victories from the initial campaigners and expand upon the lessons learnt over the last decade by drawing out the themes on this key article that was published on this site 5 years ago.

The campaign is especially excited to announce that Ghassan Abu Sitta, who is our guest speaker will be returning and he will discuss the struggle for housing in Newham in the context of the wider international struggle against racism and imperialism. Please listen to his excellent podcast recorded at a Focus E15 campaign meeting during lockdown.

There will also be a chance to see an exhibition of the amazing political banners by artist activist Andrew Cooper because his work is so important to the life of the campaign on the streets today.

This meeting is the next in a series of events we are hosting to mark our 10th anniversary – the first was our fabulous Ceilidh dance, called Heel-Toe-for-Housing which sold out.

The Focus E15 campaign meeting is free to attend, open to all interested parties, comrades and friends and the details are:

Date: Saturday 14 October
Time: 2pm-5pm
Venue: Carpenters and Dockland Centre, 98 Gibbons Road, Stratford, E15 2HU

EDUCATE. AGITATE. ORGANISE.

Residents from Marlin Apartments in Stratford highlight the issue of bed bugs with one of Andrew Coopers political community banners.

Focus E15 Ceilidh on Saturday 23 September in Hackney

benefits, Focus E15 Campaign, housing struggles, , ,

Focus E15 campaign is marking 10 years of existence/resistance and fighting for housing by hosting a ceilidh courtesy of the fantastic E15 ceilidh band. Expect live music, lots of laughter and positive vibes in an wonderful venue.

The word Ceilidh (kay-lee) descends from the Gaelic word for a gathering. The beauty of a ceilidh (similar to a Barn Dance) is that everyone can take part, young or old, experienced dancers, beginners, adults and children alike.

Plus DJ daggers will be on hand to keep the vibes upbeat.

Remember to buy your tickets in advance to ensure your entry, although there will be a few tickets on the door too.

Together we are stronger! We look forward to welcoming you there.

Date: Saturday 23 September
Doors: 7:30pm -11pm
Venue: Round Chapel Old School Rooms, 2 Powerscroft Road, Hackney, London, E5 0PU

Register on Eventbrite

Newham housing campaigners join forces in lively demo

#housingcrisis, Focus E15 Campaign, housing struggles, Newham council, News, public action

Monday 22 May, Newham’s annual full council meeting in the Old Town Hall Stratford.

Focus E15 campaign joined members of London Renters Union (LRU) and PEACH outside the town hall. With placards, banners and flags flying there were speeches and chants on the megaphone. It was lively and militant. Every councillor who went in got a leaflet about the LRU campaign SafeHomesNow. Newham council must take action against landlords who rent unsafe homes, who don’t respond to tenants’ issues and who share details with the Home Office of a tenant who is a migrant.

We are now near the end of May 2023 – the month when the Labour Mayor and council promised that every family with children would have moved out of 10 Victoria Street. But no, over 50 families are still stuck in the substandard overcrowded inappropriate accommodation, sharing beds, no space to play, and with no space to do homework.

Banners by Andrew Cooper

So we decided to go in to the meeting to make sure all the councillors and members of the public present are up to date with this matter. They would have preferred to have continued the chats in the corridor but we thought it time to go in with people directly effected by housing insecurity and living in overcrowded housing misery.

As instructed, members of the town hall security staff were heavy-handed and pushed pulled and dragged the protesters out. After the meeting resumed, Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz was forced to comment, reaffirming her commitment to move families with children out from Victoria Street, with all the excuses the council repeatedly gives as to why it is so difficult, and then spoke of the millions of pounds the council is going to spend for ‘option appraisals’ and the ‘reconceptualising of the building’ at 10 Victoria Street.

We chanted Deeds not Words as we left the council chamber, our heads held high, determined to fight on for housing justice for all.

If you want to take action on housing, join Focus E15 campaign on the weekly Saturday stall 12-2pm outside Wilko’s on Stratford Broadway, follow us on facebook for the latest information about meetings and events.

Look up London Renters Union and support their demands to the council:
https://londonrentersunion.org/

May day, May day! Our demands to Newham Labour Council

Carpenters Estate, Focus E15 Campaign, gender, homelessness, housing crisis, housing struggles, intentional homelessness, Newham council, statements, women

Our demands on May 1st 2023 :
All families must be moved from 10 Victoria Street as a matter of urgency , into suitable and long term accommodation.

Rokhsana Fiaz, Mayor of Newham, stated at a council meeting one year ago that by May 2023 “I will be making sure all of those families with children will be moved out of Victoria Street and no other families will be placed there.” However this has not happened , adding to the remaining families sense of ‘moral injustice’ and growing anger. We will not stop campaigning until all the families are moved out of Victoria Street into suitable accommodation.

Open all empty homes in the borough to house homeless individuals and families.
We are aware of empty and suitable council homes, in a borough with one of the highest rates of homelessness in the country. This is outrageous – open these council homes now!

Repair, refurbish and repopulate the Carpenters Estate.
People need long-term council homes now, not shoddy Temporary Accommodation! In the interests of the community and the planet, we say repair, refurbish and repopulate this estate with long-term council tenants!

End the use of ‘intentional homelessness’.
We call on Newham Council to reject the malicious practice of labelling individuals and parents ‘intentionally homeless’. No one is intentionally homeless and the council must stop using this tool to shirk their responsibilities on homelessness. Furthermore, the use of threats by housing officers to parents such as we will rehouse your children and not you must cease immediately.

We say to Newham Council – resist or resign! Join the campaign on the streets next Saturday from 12-2pm outside Wilkos on the Broadway in Stratford to plan the next actions!

BBC shines a spotlight on Newham council’s broken promises

housing crisis

Almost a year ago, in June 2022, at a full Newham council meeting in east London, Labour Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz publicly referred to the annual council meeting the previous month, when residents of 10 Victoria Street, Brimstone House bravely stood up to protest against their appalling living conditions. The Mayor’s words at this meeting were:


‘I have provided a clear undertaking and direction to the council that by May 2023 every family will have been moved out to alternative accommodation and we will be stopping the placement of families with children living there from May.’ She added that ‘over the coming months officers will be diligently working on every case’.

Now it is nearing the end of April 2023 and almost 60 families with children are still in the building and the Mayor and Director of Housing have admitted that they will not all be moved out by the end of May. They have gone back on their pledge.

10 Victoria Street is filthy, overcrowded, unfit for families, where toddlers’ development is held back, older children have to do homework on the floor or the bed, children and parents are forced to share the bed to sleep and tiny spaces are labelled one-bedroom flats and therefore don’t qualify as being overcrowded.

The Labour council says it is facing the most challenging housing need. But breaking promises to desperate families who held hope for ten months of something better, hits an all time low.

Labour local authority landlords like Newham have presided over some of the biggest sell offs of council homes, while also overseeing managed decline and demolition of others. While housing associations, who own and manage 60% of social housing stock in England and Wales, repeatedly fail to address damp, mould and disrepair and yet make millions of pounds in profits every year.

Watch this video clip of Roksana Fiaz referring to the promises that are now being broken: https://youtu.be/TT4kTR37SMY?t=1560

Read the recent expose by Michael Buchanan on the BBC’s website about 1000s of children forced to share beds with their parents and the terrible effects that overcrowding has on family life, featuring Focus E15 campaigners and fighters for housing justice: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-65312086

Focus E15 campaign stands with those who raise their voice on behalf of everyone who faces substandard housing. The campaign is working with residents, legal caseworkers and journalists to raise the issue of poor quality housing by taking action, creating political art and giving people the confidence to speak out about what is happening.

Being filmed by the BBC in April 2023
Filming of brave resident at Victoria street by the BBC in April 2023

Overcrowding is bad for our health!

Newham Labour Council no more broken promises, rehouse the families of 10 Victoria Street, Brimstone House now

Join Focus E15 campaign on our weekly stall in Stratford Broadway E15, 12-2pm every Saturday.

Focus E15 campaign salutes revolutionary women!

housing crisis

International Women’s Day started over a hundred years ago by the struggle of working class women to form trade unions and fight for the right to vote.  There is a rich history of women leading from the front, fighting for their rights. From needle trade workers in New York in 1908, and Clara Zetkin in Germany organising the International Socialist Women’s conference in the same year, to the insurrectionary women of Petrograd in 1917 in Russia demanding Peace and Bread, to the women in China in 1919 fighting for women’s pay and condition and the end of child labour.

We will not forget Sylvia Pankhurst, anti-fascist, communist, feminist, internationalist, in East London who founded the East London Federation of Suffragettes, after being expelled from the Women’s Social and Political Union, for standing in solidarity with the Irish workers in the Dublin Lockout in 1913.

We celebrate the women of Cuba, such as Celia Sanchez who played a leading role in the early revolutionary movement in the 1950s, Vilma Espin who led the setting up of the Cuban Federation of Women in 1960 after the triumph of the Revolution, to Mariela Castro who founded the current National Centre for Sex Education.

To all the anti-imperialist fighters for women’s emancipation with examples like Nawal El Sadawi from Egypt who fought to show how patriarchy and capitalism oppress women. And we stand with the brave steadfast Palestinian women whose daily resistance inspires us.

In Britain today the fight goes on as the cost-of-living crisis disproportionately affects women.  Immense pressure is put on women in the home, in terms of childcare and domestic labour, and in the workplace, women have worse pay and conditions than men. The struggle is against domestic violence, racism, sexism, disability discrimination and against the homophobia and transphobia of a capitalist system that benefits from women’s continued oppression.

In 2023, Focus E15 campaign joins residents of Victoria Street, to fight together against a Labour council which continues to give pathetic excuses for the ongoing suffering of families with children, mostly single mothers, housed in rooms built for one young person, where parents and children share beds and there’s no space for growth and development, homework or play. In the fifth richest country in the world, this is truly shameful. Women will continue to fight back.

Join us to celebrate our history of struggle and our continued resistance on the weekly stall Saturdays 12-2pm outside Wilko’s on Stratford Broadway E15 and at our next public meeting on Saturday 1 April.

Why is Newham Council obsessed with demolition?

building standards, housing crisis, Newham council, social cleansing

Newham Council have publicly pledged that all families will be moved out of the cramped, unsuitable building at 10 Victoria Street, Stratford (formerly known as Brimstone House and Focus E15 Foyer) by May 2023.  This is after Focus E15 campaign and residents protested and complained, time and time again, about the overcrowded and unsafe living conditions in the building. 

This week the campaign learned that back in December 2022, the council  presented at an internal meeting, the findings of an Options Appraisal regarding the future of 10 Victoria Street – which included an option to demolish (called redevelopment) as well as an option to refurbish.  The crucial point is that the report recommends demolition (known as Option 1: Redevelopment), although the report also states:

“given that the lifecycle environmental impact of a redevelopment is greater than a refurbishment, it may be that a different decision could be made, depending on the political priorities of Members.”

What are the political priorities of Newham Council?  And is providing safe and suitable homes for working class communities and organising to protect the planet, mutually exclusive?

A Guardian article published last week declared  Britain is addicted to the wrecking ball. It’s trashing our heritage and the planet.  The article explains that since 1997, the demolition of at least 161 council and housing association estates has resulted in a loss of around 55,000 homes and the displacement of an estimated 131,000 people. This suits the ruling class parties just fine as more people are pushed into the lucrative private rental market place and more demolition of our public housing occurs, without any concern for the environmental damage taking place. Pro-capitalist political parties have even ensured that any new house building is VAT exempt, meaning it’s automatically 20% more expensive to refurbish than demolish. Carbon emissions occur when demolition takes place and are a leading cause of climate change. Incidentally, the use of ‘carbon offsetting’, so beloved by local authorities up and down the country as a mitigating measure, has largely been debunked.

Newham council says it takes climate change seriously and it has declared a climate emergency. They have stated they want  Stratford to be a zero carbon district, and for Newham to be carbon neutral by 2030 and carbon zero by 2050.  Already these sentiments seem like words rather than actions, as Newham Council’s plans to demolish the Carpenters Estate mean that demolition and construction activities are predicted to peak by 2028.

Neither our campaign nor residents have been consulted on the future plans for the building at 10 Victoria Street which are leaning towards demolition, when this should be a last resort.  Why doesn’t this Labour Council take inspiration from refurbishment projects, such as the award-winning Grand Parc housing estate in Bordeaux?

Focus E15 campaign is engaging with architects to submit alternative plans for Victoria Street to Newham Council which aims to provide suitable secure council housing for those in need whilst refusing to add to the destruction of our planet.

Tears, hope and anger at first housing meeting of the year.

housing crisis,

It really is exciting to get back into hosting in person public meetings again, as the campaign’s tenth year approaches. The need for innovative campaigns, built through direct experiences and political commitment, creating new knowledge in the process are vital if we are going to move debates on housing into action on the streets and to inform the political struggles that lie ahead.

We are humans, not numbers! We demand to live in dignity and security. The meeting was attended by current campaigners, loyal supporters and new friends of the campaign. Staunch fighters from Brimstone House Victoria Street were there with their children and we heard a moving dignified account of life in temporary accommodation.

We also cheered and clapped about the campaign’s recent victory – overturning the insulting accusation of intentional homelessness and forcing Newham Labour council to reverse a discharge of housing duty. The important points made about the law and its limitations by guest speaker social justice barrister David Renton, rang true. He states in his recent book,

‘Instead of seeking change within the bounds of the law, social movements should rather look to their ability to force change, their willingness to protest, occupy and strike’.

We pledged to continue to educate, agitate and organise, raise consciousness and stand together with solidarity and support for each other.

David Renton talked about the uses and limits of the law in relation to housing justice at the campaign meeting in January 2023.

A belated Happy New Year to all our comrades and supporters. See you all soon on the street stall and at our next actions and meetings throughout the coming year.