housing – To promote and preserve a thriving publicly-owned historic street market

The Good Growth fund appears to have been allocated to someplace else without consultation

Newham Council’s failure with the “co-create” process saw £3million+ of public funds (wasted on a website that nobody can navigate properly) resulted in hefty payments to private consultants, and a failure to consult traders and shoppers at Queen’s Market properly. It appears that traders and well-meaning citizens who have had to endure the arduous co-create process, struggling through endless (boring) online meetings have been further ignored – SORRY PEOPLE, LOOKS LIKE THERE’S NO NEW FLOORING FOR QUEEN’S MARKET – so much for a new kind of citizenship.

After months and years of what was to be meaningful dialogue, it appears Newham Council has simply co-created the pigeon netting.

_{Photo above: the “co create” process has resulted in new pigeon netting, designed to keep pigeons out – hang on, is that a family of pigeons we see inside the netting?}

The lack of thoughtful understanding, imagination, willpower or care for the borough’s assets by the Council has meant an underspend of over £1million that was secured to improve Queen’s Market, a grant given by the Greater London Authority (GLA) and Mayor of London’s office under the Good Growth fund.

A sitting Councillor recently stated the following: “Following weeks of research and negotiation a solution was found. Newham Council was able to obtain £700,000 from the GLA’s Good Growth Fund which was to be returned as it wasn’t required by the Council’s Queen’s Market scheme for which it was previously destined.” (Source: Newham 65 blog. 8 April 2024)

SO it appears that Newham Council, Newham’s Mayor, GLA member and certain opportunistic Councillors have reallocated Queen’s Market’s budget to another recent embarrassment for the Council – to Stratford Market Village, a semi-privatised entity. For those who don’t know, Stratford Market Village (formally Inshops located inside Stratford Centre) was closed on January 10th where traders were forced to vacate with just 1 hour’s notice: traders say fresh goods and meat were left rotting inside of storage. This follows on from historic handovers of public property to private companies from Stratford Centre, Groupe Geraud UK, Stratford Market Properties Limited and Unex Group: the process of rampant privatisation started by Newham Council has meant the traders were left with next to no safeguards in their trading contracts.

While Friends of Queen’s Market support the traders and plight of Stratford’s Market Village traders, we think the lack of transparency and DECISIONS BEING MADE BEHIND CLOSED DOORS has meant that Queen’s Market has been left short-changed: it’s believed that £700k from the Good Growth fund has been reallocated without consultation, and is a “kick in the teeth” of those residents and traders who took part in the co create process that was to deliver better quality flooring and other improvements at Queen’s Market.

FoQM know that Queen’s Market makes profits that pay for local jobs eg. look at the huge number of market inspectors, and Queen’s often subsidises other street markets in the borough, but here is a classic example of Newham Council repackaging its failures as a success.

_{Images above (2): Flyers from the Stratford Market Village campaign go to explain a non-existent Olympics Legacy in Stratford and a land grab ie. privatisation of public land for private developers who are “making a killing” as locals live in adverse poverty and neglect by their own public servants, paid for by their collective taxes.}

_{Photo above: QUICK TO TAKE THE CREDIT. Traders at Stratford’s Market Village were unsure of who to thank for the reopening of their businesses as not everyone was told that the money was coming from the Queen’s Market Good Growth budget.}

Through Citizens Assemblies local people were to co-create something, but the process was accused of being overly complicated and excluded local people. Recently this was repackaged under the new banner of “People Powered Places” – same charade, different guise.

_{Photo above: disempowered-looking Stratford Market Village traders who have experienced major disruptions to their family businesses during a cost-of-living crisis, while Newham Council continues to toy around with public finances – that’s our collective taxes they’re playing with!}

While Newham Council repackages its failures as a success, its Queen’s Market they have forgotten to thank.

On a wet Thursday 29 February Friends of Queen’s Market, their supporters including the Stratford Market Village traders held a demonstration at the Old Town Hall against rent rises that are due to increase at Queen’s Market by around 6.5%. “It’s well over inflation and we haven’t seen any improvements nor benefit to the market traders” said one longtime trader at Queen’s Market.

FoQM were there to also show solidarity with the Stratford Market Village traders who had spent months without a job as their family businesses was forcefully closed, where meat and fresh goods perished having not been allowed access.

The Mayor of Newham begun the budget meeting somewhat blaming the public gallery and their political oppositions for all sorts including for sending Tweets (!). Like most Council meetings these days they are full of endless platforming of the Councillors, and it was very boring for most people who attended. The public were only able to speak for a few minutes each, and the frustration overspilled. Newham is one of the poorest boroughs in UK with families experiencing adverse poverty, so naturally the expenditure and public budget affects these communities acutely. There were to be cutbacks in spending and public services. Where local people were given hardly any chance to speak, the Council decided to eject the public gallery from the budget meeting. An FoQM member witnessed hard-handed aggression from the security guards against visitors, including one person who said that their wrist had been twisted by the security.

“We are not even allowed to witness democracy in Newham without being treated like criminals”, said a local resident whose first time it was to a budget meeting.

Following the meeting, we are told that a few local activists were arrested under what sounds very much like false allegations. FoQM saw no major disruption at all, nor targeting of any individuals, instead the public gallery witnessed a sitting Councillor riling up the audience each time they got up to speak.

_{Photo above: LIGHTS LEFT ON at Stratford’s Old Town Hall while local people have to suffer from cutbacks to public services and increase in energy bills.}

_{Photo above: Campaigns join forces to send a message of NO CUTBACKS. Any budget shortfalls will affect the Newham’s hard-working communities the most.}