In 2019 Newham applied for a £2 million ‘Good Growth’ grant from the Mayor of London, which they would match fund with £1.3 million. By the summer of 2020 a decision was made that a total of £5.3 million would be spent on the Good Growth Programme: £2.15 million from Newham and now with £3.2 million from the Mayor of London.
A small public consultation took place in January 2020. People who took part were asked to chose their priorities for the funds in each category but were heavily steered by the Council’s regeneration officers who had already decided that only only one quarter of this money would be spent on fixing the structure of the market, which is in need of attention. The remaining three quarters of the money is to be spent on “affordable workspace” for artists on top of the car park; the public space around Queen’s Square; and a “wellbeing centre”. We’ve been saying for years that affordable spaces are needed inside the market’s shops, where rents have been rising. And they call this process “co-design”!
The spending on the market itself will be restricted to the floor, the lighting and the much-needed toilets. Why is the roof left out of this enormous budget? Does it really cost £1 million to plant trees and put benches in Hamara Ghar square? Is the “Queen’s Market Good Growth Programme” really about improving Queen’s market for the long term?
In the small print of this consultation the Council says,
“Alongside this investment, the Council will be assessing the long-term opportunities for the site which will include a new covered market with improved traders facilities, additional housing, health centre, affordable workspace and retail”
In fact, three of the options for development would demolish the market and/or the Hamara Ghar sheltered housing, meaning that the £millions from the ‘Good Growth’ grant would be wasted.
To promote and preserve a thriving publicly-owned historic street market 