Freedom of Information (FOI) request reveals underspend

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.

Does Newham Council even understand what culture is?

£62,369 was wasted on a failed Borough of Culture bid, with Queen’s Market used as a backdrop.

A few months ago Newham Council was blaring on about how it is applying to be the Borough of Culture 2025 and 2027 but sadly their sudden rushed application was not successful, not because Newham doesn’t have any culture or heritage, but most probably because Newham Council has done its best to ruin places of local culture and heritage like Queen’s Market which is still under threat. A number of Councillors showed their faces at events associated with this Culture bid, but do they even understand what local culture is?

In the middle of winter Queen’s Market was used as a backdrop for ‘fancy schmancy’ stalls, with private security and a sea of plastic banners for an event that lasted a few hours – so much for reducing plastic waste! Not many visitors compared to a normal market day. We ask, where is the annual marketing and publicity budget for Queen’s Market?

_{Slide show: A sea of plastic “pop up” banners at a rather lacklustre launch, as Newham tried to become a Borough of Culture which was unsuccessful. Private security made sure that anything that didn’t fit the bill was swiftly removed.}

During the launch event a number of members of the Queen’s Market traders association spoke out against what they described as mistreatment by Newham Council, and the hand-handed policies that made their working lives increasingly unbearable eg. the parking rules, unfair rent increases and fines (Read article: ‘The Council that raked in 10.6million from parking fines‘). The traders speaking out was instead spun by the Council as being disruptive to a child playing a flute – from our experience Newham residents rarely ever get a platform to speak nor heard. Local voices had been stifled by another corporate/ developer-friendly tactic of “culture washing” or “art washing“.

Some traders at Queen’s Market have said that they no longer wish to be photographed and used for Newham Council’s own publicity because they do not trust the motives of the Council to safeguard the market for the foreseeable future. Many say that they were not given consent forms to sign when photographs were used. They’re not getting paid for participation either, but rest assured the private consultants will be paid handsomely!

Newham Council is increasingly being accused of ‘art-washing’ poverty instead of creating genuine places where local people and businesses can thrive. Have you had any recent experience of art-washing inside of the borough?

Credit card toilets at Queen’s Market cause a stir

New toilets in Queen’s Market have continued to confuse everyone who wants to use them. Recently FoQM found the toilets were not working and in speaking with a staff member from the Market Inspectors Office it wasn’t going to be easy to sort out.

The locking mechanism for the toilet is operated by a credit (or debit) card and if damaged it appears all of the mechanisms are damaged at once, so all of the toilets remain closed until the outsourced specialist contractor is called out to fix the issue.

“A good lock from the local carpenters should have done the trick, but do they listen? We are probably the only work place where not only do we have no access to a toilet when nature calls, but then have to pay for the privilege” said one long time trader at Queen’s Market.

… to add, any costs of repairing the new toilets will be taken out of the Markets budget too.

Thankfully, due to the camaraderie and good nature of the traders in Green Street and Queen’s Market, the traders get assistance from fellow business owners when they have to use a toilet.

The new credit card toilets at Queen’s Market are said to have been co-created using Newham Council’s Co-create platform with money coming from the Good Growth fund.

_{Photo gallery above: CLOSED DOOR HOSPITALITY. The new credit card toilets at Queen’s Market can close at any time without warning, and it appears no way of opening without calling the specialist contractor to get it fixed.}

The digital exclusion of local people from accessing public services is nothing new. For years FoQM and the market traders association have asked for free parking at Queen’s Market that use to happen before, even for the first 30 minutes, but instead visitors are forced to pay through a mobile app only, with no alternative payment options given. For many visitors to the market they are not well versed in the digital phones, gadgets and apps and describe it as a cumbersome process for a small payment. The fussy system is also off-putting for shoppers and affected trade. The traders continue to ask for a cheaper parking rate and a coin-based system that does not discriminate against Newham’s diverse communities.