We must support StART and this is how
The route to a political solution is to answer the question, “what would we like to happen?”
and use the answer to that question as the guide to making it happen.
In terms of housing in Haringey if you asked most people they would state that they would want the
provision of truly affordable homes for all residents of the Borough.
Who provides the homes is much less of a concern. Most people would probably say that as long as
they were truly affordable now and forever they really don’t care who provides them.
Given a choice between homes held in Trust by the community itself, the Council or private developers
there would most likely be consensus around the first two.
People are tiring of multinationals and their bulldozers and all their unaffordable houses.
Finance capitalism turned homes into ATM machines but like everything in a casino economy there are
winners and losers and always more losers than winners. People need homes not cash machines.
In 2015 the NHS decided that the bell had tolled on St Ann’s Hospital Primary Care Trust and it was time to
get the bulldozers in and sell off the land to developers. The mental health hospital which had occupied the
site for over 100 years would remain, the one bright light in this sorry episode. With only 14% of the land
being allocated for “affordable” with the fuzziest definition of what that actually means, this was essentially
a give-away of public land to the financial prospectors and rentiers. And this decision was made before the
2017 Naylor Review which proposed the mass sell-off of NHS land to raise revenue for a service which in
reality should be fully-funded by the government without any private profiteering interference at all.
In the same year that the privatisers had decided on the fate of a critical public service on invaluable public
land a group of local community activists got together to ask the residents of St Ann’s ward the question,
“what would we like to happen?” The answer was simple: retain the site as a community asset. Build homes.
Build homes that locals can actually afford.
Known as the St Ann’s Redevelopment Trust this group have worked tirelessly the last few years in order to
bring about a real-world answer to that question. Raising thousands of pounds to develop
architectural plans for a development that places health and the environment at it core built on the foundation
of real affordability for local people.
Haringey suffers from an acute housing crisis with over 10,000 people living in temporary accommodation,
half of which are children. The Council has pledged to build 1000 Council homes over the next four years the
delivery of which will help transform this picture for the better but the Borough’s homeless problem will persist.
In addition to this, as large tracts of land are bought up by developers intent on wealth extraction the price of
property has risen beyond the means of the sons and daughters of those already living in the Borough forcing
them out. Their situation is not so bad that they qualify for social housing but bad enough that they are forced
to leave the area. What can be done for them? What can be done to ensure we have a strong, vibrant and
cohesive community?
Since 2015 the only group fighting to protect the St Ann’s site from rapacious developers has been StART.
The Council had other priorities, focusing on inward investment and regeneration. The idea that a bunch of
locals might want to take control of land that was already theirs did not fit with a vision that saw the future
of neighbourhoods through the lens of multinationals. The Haringey Development Vehicle (HDV) in which
the Council would enter a deal with a mega-developer to essentially gift land to the private sector for the
public good was revealed to be the worst of all worlds. The only entity that should profit from a deal
involving public land should be the public itself. The HDV was based on basic trickle-down economics.
Apologists for that philosophy are fast becoming relics. The last three decades just haven’t realised the
promise of one of the fundamentals of neoliberalism. A rising tide raises all boats but only if evenly
distributed. Finance casino capitalism is not in the business of even distribution.
StART never gave up, rose in numbers and professionalism, pooling the local human resources in order to fight
for a community development which would raise all boats. The plans they had drawn up by crowdfunding tens
of thousands of pounds envisioned 800 homes in a space which focused on retaining the site’s health legacy,
its biodiversity and environmental sustainability. Several hundred local residents and tens of businesses joined
StART in an act of group solidarity. StART members would not receive nomination rights to any of the
properties but would be part of a mass action declaring the land public and demanding ownership for the
community.
Throughout this the Council did and said nothing. They left it to fate, the market. The Council had bigger fish to
fry and anyway why should it concern itself with this? The question as to whether it was better to back and
empower local residents over multinationals was never asked. But the StART campaign never waned and
this brought the site to Mayor’s attention. Sadiq Khan and the Greater London Assembly (GLA) had set-up
a rolling fund the purpose of which was to enable the building of affordable homes for Londoners.
The Land Fund of £250 million would buy land and resell it under the condition that any development would
be 50% affordable. This was a massive improvement on the original stipulation of 14% affordable for sure.
The bar had been raised and the GLA, understanding the importance to the local community of StART,
went into discussions with them as to the future of the site and the role the community land trust could play.
At this point it might seem like we have reached the happy ending everyone had been campaigning for. StART
and the GLA walk hand in hand into the sunset. A victory for the community.
If only this were the case. Every silver lining has a cloud.
First of all, what is the actual outcome of the GLA using the Land Fund to buy the site? The land remains in
public hands but only for a very brief time. The GLA fund is a rolling fund and each purchase is resold and the
profits poured back in the fund. There is no gifting of land more a gifting of affordability specifications.
50% instead of 14%. However, the land will be put out to tender to the private sector, essentially sold to the
very same multinationals who have caused all the controversy in Haringey in the first place. For sure, they
will be on a shorter leash but it is well known that even under these conditions they have means of subverting
their planning covenants through secret viability assessments and the like. Furthermore, public land will be passed
into private hands.
Haringey Council, under new management, has been paying attention. They have met with members of StART
on a number of occasions and joined them and the GLA on tours of the site. There is, at last, some dialogue.
However, time is running out. The GLA have no intention of developing the land themselves and therefore will
want to put it out to tender sooner rather than later.
Therefore, if the good of the community is to be entrenched in any deal with a developer then it is absolutely
essential that StART are at the core of that deal. It should be clear to anyone that StART represent David in
this story. There are many Goliaths. The GLA is one and Haringey Council is one. The developers stand as another.
They can be allies and enablers for the public good or allies and enablers for distant shareholdsers. The choice is
simple and stark. One can propose arguments why Goliath cannot step in on the side of David but that doesn't alter the nature
of the choice before us.
This is where Haringey Council can use their considerable power at the local level to help direct the negotiations
towards the desired outcome and to exert leverage in order to answer the question, “what would we like to
happen?” In fact, it must since what is at stake is our land whose future must be in the hands of those who we
want to live on it. If Haringey Council is determined to draw a line under gentrification then it must not abdicate
its responsibility in this.
If it wants to put down its marker as a truly progressive council with the housing needs of residents at the core
of its planning then it is here that it can do so.
And this is how it can.
Section 79 of the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 defines a community land trust (CLT) as a body established
“for the express purpose of furthering the social, economic and environmental interests of a local community by
acquiring and managing land.” The final part of this sentence is fundamental, we’ll come back to that shortly.
The Act goes on to state that the purpose of a CLT is to “provide a benefit to the local community” by ensuring
that “the assets are not sold or developed except in a manner which the trust’s members think benefit the local
community.” This is critical. The members of StART total 400 individuals and 50 local businesses and community
groups. It is through these people that decisions regarding the site are made. This number could grow dramatically
if a final deal was struck that put them at the heart of all future plans.
Section 79 goes on to state that the CLT is there to ensure that any profits from its business are put back into the
community for the benefit of the community.
In other words, a community land trust such as StART must be owned and democratically controlled by local
residents for the good of all local residents.
What’s not to like? The creation of a locally accountable body to own and manage local assets. This is achieved
effectively by owning the freehold to the site. Only by owning the freehold can the aims of the CLT be entrenched
in perpetuity. It’s all about the land!The land is bought and kept in the community, passed down through the generations
guaranteeing either leaseholds and/or rentals at a rate linked permanently to local incomes.
The real power is in acquiring the land. By owning the freehold the CLT can deliver on its promise.
Of course the cost of the freehold will determine the extent to which it can deliver truly affordable homes
across the entire development but StART believe that they could still manage around 65%. But without the land
they are beholden to the developers and if the last 30 years have taught us anything it is that the developers will
inevitably price the locals out.
Haringey like most councils in the country is being stretched financially beyond breaking point. This is true when
it comes to revenue but when it comes to capital and its ability to borrow at record low interest rates from central
government for capital expenditure it is a completely different story.
And we are talking about land. In central London. Land which has had an hospital on it for over 100 years. Land
that has developers circling, hungry for a piece of it. The choice then is simple - do we let developers own the land
or Haringey residents own it? What would be the different outcomes?
If developers are allowed to land then there can be no guarantee that they will be determined to build in the interests
of local residents. There is some credible evidence that they would be motivated more by profit and this
motivation may leak into the early stages as they attempt to bend planning rules and restrictions, possibly using
secret viability assessments, in order to not supply the agreed number of affordable homes. Perhaps the
developers will be guided by a different light and altruistic principles and sideline the desire for profits in
exchange for the well-being of the community.
But surely the question is still - who do we want as Haringey residents to own our land? Answer the question
and then decide how we can bring about that outcome.
It is important to note that the aim would always be for any housing development to become self-financing
through rents and sales. Even before that the scheme has the ability to produce a social return by creating and
supporting local jobs, mobilising local expertise and engaging with and promoting the local supply chain.
Bristol, Brighton, Denbighshire, Redbridge, Liverpool, Eden, Cornwall and Devon are all councils which have
gone into partnerships with CLTs, in many cases gifting the land to the trust, in others using revolving loans, grants and
subsidies.
The sheer size of the local authority in relation to the local economy allows it to leverage funds and resources
that the CLT or even other local businesses could only dream of. The council can enable the CLT to access
gap funding and even commercial loans if necessary and can assist in brokering deals with housing associations and
investors such as pension funds as well as other local authorities.
StART should not be the only example of a community land trust in Haringey and the council should be actively
promoting the model as a path to greater democratic participation. Haringey is in the midst of a housing crisis
and CLTs should be playing an important role in the solution. It could set a corporate strategy for community-led
housing in order to form a supportive framework for them, pledging officer time to scoping new opportunities
and looking at ways in which it can make the planning process more user-friendly.
This approach asks for a little courage to think outside the box. It expects the council to look for business partners
- in the public sector and the private sector. It demands the council ask the question, “what would we like to happen?”
and set out to make it happen.
- Details
- Published: 10 January 2019
Earth First! Summer Gathering in Enfield (9-14 Aug)
Date: Weds 9th - Mon 14th Aug
Location: Colesdale Farm, Northaw Road West, Cuffley, Hertfordshire EN6 4QZ (Trains from Finsbury Park/Hornsey etc)
It's described as: Five days of skill-sharing for grassroots ecological direct action - make links, share ideas, and get involved in the struggles against fracking, new roads and more.
It's organised on non-hierarchical lines and, although I'm sure daytrippers would be welcome, if you can stay over you'll get to appreciate the beauty of the morning meetings, the true pleasure of toilet cleaning by consensus and more.
The workshop programme hasn't been finalised but a list of proposed workshops can be found on the EF!SG website:
http://earthfirstgathering.org/workshops.html
Even if environmental activism isn't your thing, there are a lot of workshops that are relevant to many people in or around HSG, e.g.
- Not seen, not heard: moving about in the dark without being detected.
- How to do allyship / solidarity activism?
- Seeing beyond the crises: the role of speculative fiction
- Liberating Life: The Kurdish Women's Movement and Women All Around the World
- Ecology and autonomy: an anarchist midwife's view of birth
There is a lot more information on the site about cost, travel directions and accessibility. So have a look.
- Details
- Published: 02 August 2017
White Helmets Statement on Grenfell
To the London Fire Brigade from the Syrian Civil Defence [White Helmets] in Daraa, Southern Syria:
We were saddened to hear about the loss of souls in the Grenfell Tower fire, including Mohammad al-Haj Ali, a Syrian from our home of Daraa who had fled to London seeking safety from death and destruction.
We appreciate your efforts to search for bodies for days in a row and we feel your pain because this horror is our daily reality. In Daraa, we’re under the heaviest attacks we’ve ever seen in this deadly war. Hundreds of airstrikes have destroyed entire neighbourhoods and fires are everywhere. Just like you, our teams are rushing towards the blazes and we do all we can to rescue the injured.
The past 16 days have seen 88 people killed and nearly 35,000 civilians displaced from their homes.
A civil defence centre was targeted and destroyed, and 5 volunteers were injured in the bombing -- as you know it’s a terrible thing to see your teammates suffer.
You have been so generous to us, donating equipment to our teams when you met with our teammates in London. We’ve received trainings from British experts in search-and-rescue and firefighting. Who knows, we might have been trained by the same people. And who knows we might also be saving the lives of the friends of Mohammad al-Haj Ali here in Daraa.
We feel we have so much in common. We all risk our own lives to save as many lives as possible as fast as possible. Our hearts are with you and we wish we could help you in your search for victims.
We send you strength for your mission and we hope to meet you one day.
The Syria Civil Defence [White Helmets] of Daraa
- Details
- Published: 02 July 2017
Grenfell Tower Residents - You Are Not Alone
“When society places hundreds of proletarians in such a position that they inevitably meet a too early and an unnatural death, one which is quite as much a death by violence as that by the sword or bullet; its deed is murder just as surely as the deed of the single individual."
"These words were written by Friedrich Engels in 1845. Over 170 years later, Britain remains a country that murders its poor. When four separate government ministers are warned that Grenfell and other high rises are a serious fire risk, then an inferno isn’t unfortunate. It is inevitable. What happened wasn’t a "terrible tragedy" or some other studio-sofa platitude: it was social murder."
The above statement is from the Grenfell Action Group's (GAG) website from 22nd June 2017, and one we wholeheartedly support.
Also from their website, as we can’t say it any better "the many who lost their lives in this catastrophe were our friends and neighbours. We tried to speak for them in life and we will continue to speak for them now. We share the sense of anger and injustice that has troubled this community for years."
- Details
- Published: 26 June 2017
Another Election - Will Voting Make Things Better
Theresa May called an election supposedly so she can deliver us a 'strong and stable' future with Brexit. But isn't the biggest concern for most people just how unstable our lives and communities have become since the Tories introduced austerity in 2010?
The Tories brought in austerity supposedly to reduce the country's deficit, claiming public spending was too high. But much of the debt came from bailing out the failing banks. "'We're all in it together", they said, as the rich got richer while our wages went down and benefits were slashed.
- Details
- Published: 05 June 2017
Rough Sleeping Is Not A Crime
Over the last few months, the police and Home Office have been systematically arresting, detaining and deporting European Economic Area (EEA) national rough sleepers.
In May last year, the Government adopted the legally dubious position that rough-sleeping is an “abuse” of EU Citizens’ right to freedom of movement”. The “abuse of right” law is intended to allow the deportation of EU citizens convicted of crimes, but the Government is using it to crack down on migrant rough sleepers who’ve committed no crime.
Cash-strapped local councils are being bribed to support these actions through access to a new pot of money - the Controlling Migration Fund - available to councils that identify rough sleepers to the Home Office or bully homeless migrants into returning home voluntarily. Over half of the rough-sleepers in London are migrants. This is largely because of unfair laws that restrict migrants’ ability to claim benefits. As such, people who have lived, worked and paid tax in the UK for years can find themselves homeless with no safety net.
Even when councils have a legal duty to house migrants (such as when they have children), they do all they can to wriggle out of it - in one case claiming that a mother and her children had a “network” they could rely on because she was staying with a stranger she’d met at the bus stop.
They end up in a Catch-22 situation - unable to pay their rent, but being faced with arrest and deportation if sleeping rough.
- Details
- Published: 01 May 2017
The Great Housing Swindle
Years ago, Margaret Thatcher got elected. Her and her gang nicknamed 'The Tories' conned loads of us to buy our council houses.
At the time people said, “Don’t do it, it’s a con”. Yet many fell for it. Some wanted to make a quick buck. Others saw it as “protecting” their housing security. Not trusting local authorities, buying seemed the best option. When huge repair bills arrived and interest rates hit the roof, many were evicted for mortgage arrears or left with huge debt.
Now, these homeowners who took housing out of the council’s stock are again realising they were conned by 'The Tories'.
- Details
- Published: 16 July 2016
Abolish Universal Credit
The introduction of Universal Credit, which replaces many state benefits, will have a damaging effect on millions of working families, leaving the poorest running up the down escalator.
Under Universal Credit low-paid workers will be required to work with DWP job coaches to seek more work hours, higher pay, or an extra job as a condition of receiving benefits. If claimants fall short of targets agreed with coaches, they may face financial penalties.
Now this appalling government has introduced this policy in Haringey with a clear intention to sap money from the poor and making victims of anyone who needs benefits. The programme is a perfect example of the government's heartless policies.
- Details
- Published: 13 July 2016
Death by a thousand Cuts
We hear politicians claim “the NHS is safe in our hands” but do any of us believe these lies?
Go into any A&E. Try and get a GP’s appointment. If you have drug or mental health problems try and get help. Ask anyone with care needs how they cope. We all know the results.
Money won’t solve it all but cuts are killing our health care slowly. When I say “ours” I mean workers and claimants. People like politicians and “the rich” have private health care. They don’t use the NHS.
- Details
- Published: 08 July 2016
Refugees: what crisis?
For the last two years, politicians and the media have been telling us that we are in the throes of a refugee crisis. Whenever those with power use language like this, it is worth scratching the surface in order to see the bigger picture.
- Details
- Published: 02 July 2016
North London Hospice pulls out of workfare
Following nine months of protest from Haringey Solidarity Group, North London Hospice (NLH) has agreed to stop taking part in workfare and exploiting people on benefits. This is a victory for the anti-workfare movement and a blow for workfare provision in Haringey.
Until this month NLH was using Community Work Placements, a kind of workfare, to staff its charity shops. Under Community Work Placements any jobseeker who hasn’t found a job for two years can be forced to work for free for six months or be sanctioned - losing their benefits.
We know that sanctions leave people unable to pay for basic things like food and electricity, and we know they’ve caused deaths. Telling someone they must work for half a year, for free, or have all their money taken from them for up to three years - that’s downright exploitation, and it’s only right that NLH have pulled out.
Over the last months we have been in talks with NLH, picketing their shops to let passers-by know what they’re doing. Recently we had a few occupations of their charity shops (you can read more about this here and here), resulting in a lot of disruption for NLH and one of their shops being forced to close.
The pressure must have worked because this month their CEO, Pam McClinton, got in touch to tell us that NLH is dropping workfare. She said,
“The Board have decided that North London Hospice will no longer initiate any new placements through the CWP scheme. We are committed to honouring existing placements… The last of these placements concludes in December 2015.”
We’ll be keeping an eye on NLH to make sure they keep their word and completely leave the scheme by December. We’re disappointed that they haven’t decided to end all the placements this month, as it means they’ll still be benefiting from people’s free, forced labour until the end of the year. But their commitment to not taking any new placements on from now onwards is a major step towards ending workfare in Haringey.
- Details
- Published: 29 July 2015