Campaign actions

Friends of Queen’s Market started up 18 years ago to help the local traders and community save Queen’s Market from an impending private development

Below are just some of the activities, events and milestones reached by FoQM since then. These would not be possible without the help of our kind volunteers and traders. You can find out more about the campaign throughout this website. We hold regular meetings. See How You Can Help

A timeline of actions by FoQM:

2022

FoQM are still fighting for representation, transparency and fairness in light of the Council’s “Co-create” agenda.

Launched our online petition and getting signatures on the paper petition for non-digital folk.

Supporting traders whose rent has been unfairly raised. We are STILL trying to end the dodgy leases and get traders protected under the 1954 Act so they can be protected against unjust rent rises.

Questioned the Council about future plans in the market on show in their ‘Information Hub’.

Pigeons! Chasing management for some answers to this ongoing problem.

Meeting with local MP Stephen Timms, a supporter.

2021

Submitted a response to Local Plan borough planning policy. (read here)

Supported a trader who has had a stall for 40 years, succeeded in stopping him losing his licence.

Organised a meeting with the Mayor to question her claim that “there will always be a market”.

Met with the Mayor of London’s Good Growth fund representatives to outline our concerns.

2020

FoQM attended the first consultation on how to spend the £2 million Good Growth money (now £5.3 million) – we found that some big decisions had already been made about how to spend the money.

We conducted our own paper consultation on the Capacity and Viability Study’s five options.

Leeds University presented the first findings of their Markets4People study

Zoom meeting with the Mayor on February 3rd

Coronavirus took hold. We did ‘Citizens Inspections’ of the market during Covid. We tried to help the market work better, getting signs put up made a big difference. There were issues over gates and emergency exits. Met with Council officers, market management, Councillor James Asser, and the Mayor on zoom.

Tackling ongoing issue of car parking. Asked about getting new traders on the waiting list to fill empty pitches.

Found out about the Council’s ‘Market Policy and Strategy Review’ – yet another study of the Market – but NO joined-up thinking !

Wrote detailed comments on the Council’s new Local Plan : will this planning policy protect the Market, like the Mayor said?

2019

We asked to be included in the Council’s ‘Feasibility and Capacity’ studies for the future of the market, as it looks the Council are treating the market as a development site. We weren’t encouraged.

March – First meeting with the new Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz.

Our annual examination of Council accounts revealed that Queen’s generates 65.59% of the revenue of Newham’s markets.

Fighting to get traders’ leases covered by the 1954 Landlord and Tenant Act.

Saif, one of our members, gathered together other London market campaigners for a Markets Symposium.

We questioned the Mayor about £25,000 given to the Council to come up with “ideas on the function and appearance of the market”. Any shopper could give these ideas for free ! – why waste public money?

Diwali stall on 26 October

The Mayor finally sent a reply to our letter on 31 October.

2018

The misleading tannoy message was fixed following our complaint. But there’s a 9% rent increase for market traders.

Big floods from frozen water pipes cause us to ask again whether the market repairs were any good.

We wrote the FRIENDS OF QUEENS MARKET COMMUNITY CHARTER and sent it to the new Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz who took over from long-time troublemaker Sir Robin Wales.

Inspected Newham’s accounts during the annual public viewing.

Took part in the Examination in Public of the London Plan using the Just Space hotseat.

2017

Chasing the project engineer about the dodgy roof repairs.

We wrote comments on Newham’s planning policy, the Local Plan Review – because this planning document listed Queen’s Market as a development site for tall buildings, and it still does….

Met with Council planners to voice our concerns, with zero results.

“Don’t close the Loos!” Petition.

Celebration of Eid on 24 June

We accused the Council of managed neglect of the market. A response to our FOI request about the roof was not much help.

2016

A £1.1 million scheme to repair the roof starts, as a result of our complaints. But were they cowboy builders?

FoQM was barred from manager-trader meetings as new management came in. Wonder why….

2015

The market was finally listed as an Asset of Community Value after we waited 22 months for a decision !

Our Umbrella protest asked why not repair the leaking roof? Repairs didn’t begin until one year later !

2014

We awarded Newham Council a ‘Golden Snail’ award for the slowest decision-making in London, while we waited for their reply to our Asset of Community Value application.

A visit by a group of mature students from Germany showed supporters come from around the world.

2012

The One Pound Fish song made the market famous and had millions of hits on Youtube

2010

St Modwen pulled out of developing the market, thanks to the strength of the community campaign.

Petitions about parking charges. The long-running issue of parking is still not solved in 2022.

2009

Newham Council approved developer St Modwen’s planning application for a tower block on the market despite thousands of community objections.

But Mayor of London Boris Johnson refused to grant the St Modwen’s plans !

2003

Friends of Queen’s Market is formed after an advertisement appears in Estates Gazette offering the market to a private developer with Newham Council as partner. We vowed to fight any development.