Hornton Street Calls Again! Save Earl’s Court.

The Earl’s Court Area Action Group have called for a PEACEFUL PROTEST to HALT demolition of EARLS COURT ONE AND TWO on public health grounds.

Wednesday, 24th June 2015. Assemble 6pm SHARP outside RBKC Town Hall, Hornton Street, London W8 7NX.

The council meeting will start at 6:30pm.

RBKC council will debate a petition raised which calls for all demolition works to stop whilst an independent health assessment is carried out which should consider all the risks to health and well-being e.g. pollution, traffic congestion, noise and vibration, air quality and asbestos removal. Local residents, business owners, workers, trade union branches and tenants associations must be consulted on who carries out the independent assessment and its terms of reference.

This petition will also be presented to Hammersmith and Fulham council in turn – date to be confirmed.

Please join us as pollution knows no postcode – our health before developer profits!

Save Earl’s Court Supporters Club will be attending.

Last Sweets Way Family Needs Your Support!

The Grenfell Action Group invite our readers to support this important ACTION CALLOUT: Stand with the last Sweets Way family!

COURTROOM SOLIDARITY NEEDED!

Where: County Court at Royal Courts of Justice,
Thomas More Building, The Strand, WC2A 2LL
When: Monday, June 22, 10:00am rally before 10:30am hearing

https://sweetswayresists.wordpress.com/2015/06/20/last-sweets-way-family/

On Monday morning, the final household on the Sweets Way estate goes to court to fight against their eviction by Barnet Council. The family of six are the last of the estate’s residents left in their home, after winning a previous case against Barnet and Notting Hill Housing Trust in late March, on the basis that the eviction process had failed to take into account the father, Mostafa’s, disability.

Now they are back in court, fighting for their home and they need support, inside and outside the courtroom on Monday morning.

Protecting the estate and bringing our community back together relies on Monday’s court case. If Mostafa is evicted, it will be far easier for Annington to start destroying our homes.

Until three years ago, when a spinal injury from heavy lifting on the job forced him to stop working, Mostafa was a carer in a hospice in Hackney. Now he struggles to even stand up and can’t leave the house without extensive support. For four years Mostafa had worked to help others in vulnerable positions, and now Barnet Council have failed to adequately support him at a time when he has needed their help, refusing to offer suitable housing to someone with such clear and urgent disability.

Barnet have threatened the family with £40,000 in legal fees for having the nerve to stand up for their right to decent homes. They have also told them to vacate the property immediately, though they haven’t yet offered the family somewhere to go that would be appropriate for Mostafa’s health needs.

So they remain – the only household standing in the way of the destruction of the 142 homes of Sweets Way.

We have done whatever we can to support their legal case, but we need to make clear that there is widespread public support for them and all the others of Sweets Way who never got a day in court to make their cases for a decent home.

Can you join Mostafa at 10:00am, Monday at the Royal Courts of Justice to support the last family standing in the way of the social cleansing of Sweets Way?

If you can’t make it in person, send Barnet Council a message on:

Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Barnet-Council/345382132326295)

or:

Twitter (http://hrefshare.com/93fd0),

telling them to drop their possession order against Mostafa until they can guarantee the family a home that meets their needs!

Feilding-Mellen – RBKC’s Social Cleansing Hitman

In early May 2015, the Grenfell Action Group published a blog that explained how the noose of regeneration is tightening around the necks of those living in social housing in North Kensington:

https://grenfellactiongroup.wordpress.com/2015/05/10/the-noose-of-regeneration-tightens-around-lancaster-west/

It is the our conviction that RBKC and it’s trigger man, Cllr Feilding-Mellen, are about to launch a vicious assault on the North Kensington community that will see social housing destroyed so that the Council can replace traditional working class homes with unaffordable “affordable” housing and penthouses and apartments for the “buy to leave” market”.

It is our understanding that the Estate’s in North Kensington being targeted for this purpose by the neo-cons in Hornton Street are as follows: the Treverton Estate, parts of the Balfour of Burleigh Estate, the remains of Silchester Estate and the “finger blocks” of our own beloved Lancaster West Estate.

Accompanying the threat to these estates is a constant background whine from Cllr Feilding-Mellen (RBKC Cabinet Member for Housing, Property and Regeneration) sprouting propaganda that tenants will be allowed to return to their communities in the event of being decanted through “regeneration”:

http://www.rbkc.gov.uk/pressrelease/pressreleasepage.aspx?id=6611

BEWARE! DO NOT TRUST FEILDING-MELLEN AND THE LIES BEING PEDDLED BY THIS IMMORAL, LAND AND HOME GRABBING COUNCIL.

The truth of the matter is that the RBKC has drafted a “Decant Policy” that is both heartless and draconian and allows the Council to socially cleanse working class communities with impunity. While Feilding-Mellen talks about allowing tenants to return to their previous homes after estates have undergone “regeneration”, the legislation drafted by RBKC explicitly works against this happening. It would seem that the Council is entirely two-faced and is prepared to use both the carrot and the stick to enforce regeneration and ensure that tenants have no capacity to understand their struggle or to mount effective resistance.

We urge our readers to check out the details of the RBKC “Decant Policy” and come to understand just how frightening and fascist these policies are:

http://www.rbkc.gov.uk/housing/regenyourneighbourhood/whatshappening.aspx

The RBKC “Decant Policy” has removed the guarantee (present in the RBKC Core Strategy and also in the GLA’s “London Plan)” that tenants have a right to return to their existing communities after their Estate’s have undergone “regeneration”. Unbelievably, the RBKC actually removed the word “guarantee”, which appeared in the draft of their “Decant Policy” but was deliberately removed from the final policy document so that they would have no legal obligation to re-house tenants in their original communities.

We, also, urge our readers to check out an equally chilling leaflet recently published by RBKC entitled Regneration: What it could mean for you- a leaflet for secure tenants:

www.rbkc.gov.uk/pdf/Regeneration a leaflet for secure tenants March 2015.pdf

This leaflet reiterates the harshness of the “Decant Policy” and is of cold comfort to social housing tenants in RBKC. Tenants facing regeneration will find that they have one year to find alternative accommodation and, if they cannot return to their original communities, which is likely to be the outcome in many cases, face being moved to the likes of Peterborough or Manchester. A refusal to relocate to one of these locations will result in the RBKC deeming the tenant “intentionally homeless” and they will forfeit their right to housing.

We know that the words of RBKC Councillors cannot be trusted after they shamelessly lied and tricked the Lancaster West community regarding the closure of our much loved “right of way” along Station Walk. We certainly do not trust Cllr Feilding-Mellen to deliver on his promise that secure tenants “housing rights” will be respected and we know that the RBKC now have the legislation in place to socially cleanse working class communities for profit and consistent with their extremist right-wing ideology.

We, also, know that we cannot rely on the pathetic RBKC Labour Group to assist their electorate in North Kensington as they have not even had the decency to alert the communities threatened with “regeneration” of the consequences they might face, far less, help them organise any effective resistance.

As we have known all along, If the threat of social cleansing is to be repelled in North Kensington it will have to come from the actions of the community. A lead and inspiration can be taken from the various campaigns (FocusE15, Sweets Way, Guinness Occupation, etc) around London which have shown that resistance is possible and victory obtainable. Meanwhile, when Cllr Feilding-Mellen and his quislings at RBKC Council come knocking down your Estate and telling you that it is good for you – think twice before swallowing their lies.

GRENFELL TOWER FUN DAY REMEMBERED

On Saturday 30th May the residents of Grenfell Tower and the wider Lancaster West Estate came together for a community gathering. Although the event was loosely entitled a “Funday” it was more a manifestation of collective resistance than a celebration, and marked the (partial) lifting of the siege under which we have been forced to live during the construction of the Kensington Academy and neigbouring Kensington Leisure Centre.

The holding of this event in no way reflected any sense that our landlord, the Mafia-like TMO, had made Lancaster West Estate a nice place to live. On the contrary, the residents of Grenfell Tower lived under siege for more than two years, isolated from the surrounding community by the high security fence that guarded the Academy and Leisure Centre construction site. During that period the security fencing encircled Grenfell Tower so closely that it prevented all access to open space. The children of Grenfell Tower were especially impacted by this because they had nowhere to play.

At the present time the security fencing is mostly still in place, and although residents have  improved access through the site, and our children finally have access to some open greenspace around the academy, right-of way is still restricted, the claustrophobic effect of the hardboard security fencing still persists, and the community still feels besieged.

In addition to this we are now subject to the ongoing horrors of the so-called Grenfell Tower Improvement Works, which involve the constant noise and vibration of power tools and other breaches of our right to the peaceful enjoyment of our homes. Grenfell Tower residents compiled a litany of complaints and concerns regarding the works and have repeatedly requested, to no avail, that the TMO and their contractors meet with a residents collective to discuss these. The TMO has pointedly refused to recognise or negotiate with any Grenfell Tower community group on this or any other issue – and yet they have the rank hypocrisy to call themselves a Tenant Management Organisation.

https://grenfellactiongroup.wordpress.com/2015/04/12/grenfell-community-unite-request-public-meeting-with-tmorydo

For the  record, the Funday event received no funding from the TMO, and was organised and funded independently of both TMO and RBKC on behalf of the besieged families and children of Grenfell Tower. We hope this will show that whatever the TMO and RBKC throw at Lancaster West residents, to diminish the quality of our lives, we will not be bowed and will continue to resist.

We hope also that the following photos will, in some small way, reflect our continuing efforts to resist and to liberate ourselves, and our children, in the face of the adversity we still face under the dictatorship of the TMO and their masters the Rotten Borough of Kensington & Chelsea.

MOCK THE OPERA – A QUALIFIED SUCCESS!

The Mock The Opera demonstration last week was a successful peaceful demonstration against the hypocrisy of Kensington & Chelsea Council in making savage cuts to vital social services while continuing to subsidise the Holland Park Opera – this year with a donation 0f £5 million.

The demonstration was organised and supported by the Grenfell Action Group, Westway23, Westway Stables, Portobello Cafe Society, Save Earl’s Court Supporters Club, Radical Housing Network and Unite Community, and it made the front page of the local paper – The Gazette. It was also featured, with accompanying picture gallery, in the online version at:

http://www.getwestlondon.co.uk/news/west-london-news/protesters-object-council-opera-house-9385687

The march began outside the Westway Trust in Ladbroke Grove. Marchers then processed along Ladbroke Grove via Kensington Park Road and Notting Hill Gate to Holland Park where they gathered round the entrance to the Opera venue. The atmosphere was pleasant and jovial. Leaflets were distributed to members of the audience arriving for the opera performance, many of whom expressed surprise and shock on learning of the savage cuts being implemented to vital social sevices in Kensington and Chelsea

Unsurprisingly a spokesman for the Royal Borough said the protest was “confused and ill-informed” and that there was “no relationship between services and the opera season”.

We believe the many pictures taken of this event, mostly by Claire Simmonds, tell the real story of this event far better than these few meagre words could ever do. We present a small selection below and you can see many more via this link, courtesy of Demotix:

http://www.demotix.com/news/7762273/kensington-protest-condemns-cuts-richest-borough-universe#media-7762246

URGENT REQUEST – HELP SAVE WESTWAY STABLES

Anyone who lives in the Latimer Road or North Kensington area will know how precious the wonderful Westway Stables are to our community. It is utterly shameful that the land-grabbers at the Westway Trust don’t see things that way.

Anyway, local residents have a chance to assist Sarah Turvey and Westway Stables by taking five minutes to complete the Westway Trust survey on horse-riding under the flyover. The form is a bit of a tick box excerise but there is room for respondents to highlight the “social” side of the stables work and the amazing contribution that the stables make to the disabled and excluded in the local community.

As Sarah says “horses dont judge” and that is why her stables occupants are so healing to individuals with low self esteem and other confidence issues.

Please take a few minutes to help highlight how the Westway stables are an integral part of the North Kensington community the value of which cannot be fully measured.

Let’s help protect Sarah, her lovely horses and this vital asset and local resource. The survey closes on 8th June so time is running out!

http://www.westway.org/news/westway-trust-needs-residents%E2%80%99-opinions-horse-riding-and-other-sports