Contradictions and ‘gravy train’ style politics continue to plague Newham Council and their ‘chosen’ corporate partners.

This time it’s JA Projects, one of the architects involved in the Queen’s Market scheme, who has been shortlisted for The Pineapples Award. The awards claim to “celebrate the very best in placemaking and place-led initiatives”, yet it sounds to us like a whole lot of cover up –it’s the community that make a place, not the overnight fly-by consultant!

Traders say that throughout the most recent consultation process they repeatedly made one simple request – a new roof and new flooring. Once again, that request was wilfully ignored by the architects, the Council, and public officers – a familiar nexus of “no-sayers”. Instead, Newham’s residents were left with cosmetic nonsense: a multi-coloured painted corner, pigeon-netting that pigeons still get through, lighting that continues to fail, and a wooden-and-tin shack costing a staggering £1 million – decoration without substance.

_{Image above: “Riding on the gravy train” means securing a job, project, or situation that provides substantial financial reward for very little effort or work. It refers to an easy, often long-term, way to make money or earn excessive, sometimes undeserved, profits. [Source: the-terrier.com.au]}

Traders describe being left in the dark during the so-called “co-create” process, with minimal updates and little meaningful engagement from JA Projects. Fast-forward through a year of disruption and upheaval, and very little has actually changed. The process was not co-created – not even close.

“The roof still leaks because the pipes get overburdened. We’ve got ASB spilling over from Stratford – drugs, crack, you name it. And when the money finally came, it was wasted. Decisions are being made behind closed doors, and Newham is being looted. We’ve had enough,” said one local shopper and registered voter.

These ‘starchitect’ types were being celebrated a decade or so ago, when marketing spin took over the profession and strangled honest discussion about how architecture and regeneration actually affect people. Instead of talking about collective development, everything was handed on a golden platter to private developers. That disturbing trend has only deepened – especially now. Recently, the Mayor of London’s office allowed developers even more discounts, adding to the woes of harding-working families – read article ‘Affordable housing quota for London falls to 20%’ [BBC, 10/2025] : https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdrzgxj37d5o It’s worth noting that the Pineapples Awards are run by The Developer media company (in partnership with the Design Council) – We ask, is this really how the gravy train should be rolling in one of London’s most deprived boroughs?

We found it nauseating, but you can watch Jayden Ali of JA Projects present on Queen’s Market here:

At one point during the Queen’s Market consultation process there were eleven consultations running simultaneously — enough to confuse anyone. Yet Newham Council continues to claim it has successfully engaged local people. No amount of spin or marketing fluff will make that true.

_{Image (above): Are you confused, because so are we!}

Newham is now proudly celebrating five shortlisted Pineapples Award projects, even publishing a self-congratulatory article about it.

Read the article here: https://www.newham.gov.uk/news/article/1529/five-newham-projects-shortlisted-for-prestigious-2026-pineapple-awards

Inside the Council, the Director of Community Wealth Building has recently been rebranded as Director of Place-Making, covering regeneration, planning, housing delivery, and economic strategy. Career juggling within Newham is nothing new – remember the last CEO, paid off… How much was that again?

Meanwhile, the regeneration of the Carpenters Estate in Stratford has already ballooned to an estimated £1.42 billion in borrowing — a £320 million jump from earlier estimates of £1.1 billion. So who’s been eating all the pineapples there?

Shout out to our friends at Focus E15 Mothers who were pushed out of Carpenters Estate to make way for Council’s gentrification/ social cleansing projects : https://focuse15.org/about/

This is a Council that promises mountains and delivers molehills – padded out with weasel words, and then slams the door shut on local people.

It’s election year, and Friends of Queen’s Market remains proudly non-political. We welcome everyone with all their different political (and non-political) leanings, including the councillors who still shop at Queen’s Market. But the same tired rhetoric keeps coming back from candidates: free bin collections (easily solved), ASB, systemic created poverty, the usual blah blah. Families in Newham are struggling to put food on their tables, and these private consultants like JA Projects are being paid without question.

Small traders are barely surviving. Yet public officers are busy marketing wealth extraction as success.

Recently, Zoë Garbett from the Green Party GLA team visited the market and filmed short interviews with traders and shoppers – see below: https://www.tiktok.com/@zoe.garbett/video/7567082849220791574?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc

We ask a simple question of prospective candidates: have you actually stepped into the market and shopped here? Because much of Newham does shop here.

Newham has endured years of corporatised, securitised gentrification with no trickle-down – just a “pi$$-down”, as one campaigner aptly put it.

^{Image (above): “Don’t pi$$ down my back and tell me it’s raining” is an idiom that means do not lie or try to deceive someone while pretending to do them a favour [Source: Urban Dictionary]}

Incidentally, pineapple season at Queen’s Market is usually March to July. Come down to the market and grab one – if only for a laugh and a natter. Or perhaps by the time the May 2026 election comes around, things in Newham might finally change – hopefully for the better.