The death of a market
May 3rd, 2006I didn’t catch this until today - Sunday’s Observer covered (in part) the impending destruction of Queen’s Market, which is the first time I’ve seen it covered in a national paper:
It’s a Tuesday when I meet Neil and he is clearing the decks for the busy end of the week. Today you can get 25 satsumas for a pound, or 15 apples. Women, some in jeans, some in saris, some in shalwar kameez, line up to buy. No one can beat him on price or freshness or range, least of all the supermarket that is looming over his future, but none of that will matter if the council gets its way. The site of Queen’s Market is being sold to a city developer, St Modwen, owner of Longbridge and Elephant & Castle among other properties. In a £75 million deal St Modwen plans to put the entrance to an Asda mall where Neil has his pitch.
Queen’s Market is my local market, and in some respects it is the antithesis of Borough Market. The food on offer is cheap, and usually not organic or hand-tendered, though it is still fresh, tasty and healthy. Like Borough, it is a covered market, but the architecture is decidedly more functional than elegant, and it is in need of attention; it is structurally sound but could definitely do with a clean and a refurbishment. But it’s as vitally important to the nation’s cuisine as it’s much more upmarket cousin. The food is not just affordable but diverse - the native staples most people are familiar with sit cheek-by-jowl with diverse foods bought by the local Indian, Bangladeshi, Caribbean and African communities.
Newham council see the market as just an eyesore, one which is on a prime bit of real estate (it is a minute’s walk from Upton Park tube station, making it ideal for commuters), and has neglected to provide the correct maintenance (e.g. not providing litter bins, dallying over sewer repairs) in the past few years. In its place, an Asda and flat complex are proposed; there is the concession of a “market mall” alongside, but it has considerably less floorspace for stalls, fewer shops and much more restricted delivery access. The end result will probably drive most of local traders out of business, decimating the local market. The diverse range of fresh, healthy produce will be displaced by a narrow mainstream-friendly range of processed food. High-skilled specialist jobs will be replaced by mundane deskilled ones. One letter to the local paper has referred to it as “ethnic cleansing”; a misuse of the term, but you can understand the sentiment, especially given that the first artist’s impressions of the site produced by the developers featured only white people (in a borough where 60% of the population is from an ethnic minority).
To make things worse, there isn’t even any real need for another supermarket in the area - there is already a medium-sized Tesco up the road, while a short bus ride away you can get to the Morrison’s and Sainsburys at Stratford, or the vast Asda and Sainsbury superstores in Beckton. Despite widespread local opposition (only 3% of survey respondents wanted a new supermarket), the property developers seem to have the council’s ear, with the result being that they’re willing to push it through at any cost. Council debate on the issue has been stifled; three of Labour’s councillors have defected to other parties (though they still occupy 56 out 60 seats on the council, so it doesn’t make much difference).
There is one hope, however. Like all the other London boroughs, Newham council is up for election this Thursday; to make it even more exciting, Newham has a directly-elected Mayor, Robin Wales, who proudly proclaims he never shops there and is spearheading the redevelopment. Both council and Mayor have been Labour certs, but that could all change: Local Labour campaigning has been virtually non-existent, and where it has popped up, it has been quite subdued (the leaflets through my door have dropped the red rose and relegated the word “Labour” into the small print). The opposition parties (chiefly RESPECT and Conservative - the Lib Dems and Greens have very little presence here) have been united in opposing the destruction of the market. They might split the anti-Labour vote though, and on a low turnout Labour might just squeeze through. Then again, they might not.
If Labour loses a good chunk of Newham council, or if Wales is toppled, it will probably be explained or excused as a local thing, a single-issue campaign. But in truth it’s a microcosm of what New Labour has been about: the grim fascination with “progress” and destroying the old and established no matter what its merits, the cosying up to big business, the total defiance in face of the opinions of the people affected and the arrogance of a man in charge who wields near-absolute power. And I’m sure Newham is not an exception; every issue of Private Eye’s “Rotten Boroughs” details similar actions taken by other Labour councils. I will be voting against Labour tomorrow primarily because I’m concerned about the market, but I am also voting to express my dissatisfaction about Labour’s policies at all levels of government. If Queen’s Market is destroyed it will not just be a setback for those directly affected, but a setback for anyone who cares about the preservation of diversity, opportunity and local communities over the schemes of the rich and powerful, no matter where. Saying that this election is just about “local issues” falsely separates them from “national issues”, when in actual fact they are irretrievably bound together; the New Labour philosophy doesn’t just occupy the very top. Please bear that in mind when marking your ballot paper tomorrow.
(Much more information is available at the Friends of Queen’s Market website. Londoners outside of Newham can make their feelings known to Ken Livingstone, I strongly encourage you to do so. An Indymedia report has some good photos of how the market currently is).
Apology: Somehow (not sure how), soon after publication I accidentally marked this post as “Private” when I was making a minor copyedit to it in Wordpress. A feature (or as I prefer to call it, bug) of Wordpress is that when you’re logged in, it shows all posts made, private or published, so I had no way of knowing that no-one else could see it until it had been pointed out to me, both by Ben (here) and Tom (in the pub). Apologies to all.
May 3rd, 2006 at 12:02:44
Good post. I would only argue against the theory that the arrogance of Labour councils is a result of ‘new’ Labour. Of course the new labour ideology must have permuated down to council level because it changed the type of people who join labour and therefore the type of people who become councillors, probably they now include more ‘pro-business’ types. The governments ‘reforms’ also allowed more executive power, as you point out, which again contributes towards the problem. Finally you have the influence of the national labour party and government on council policies e.g. encouraging them to sub-contract out services to Capita and to use ASBOS. This can result in distinctly ‘new labour’ councils e.g. Tower Hamlets which fight for low council tax and the right to buy. Councils which very much fit within the mould described by your post.
I don’t think you can take that argument too far though. The vast majority of sitting labour councillors have been councillors or active in the party since long before Blair. Executive power would be used by any party elected, no matter which party granted it. The national party has very little direct influence on the policies of local parties, indeed many frequently oppose the policies of the national party by opposing out-sourcing and fighting tooth and nail against the governments education reforms. The Mayor also influences council policy in London and this is often in a progressive direction e.g. on transport & cars. Central government policies, which carry behind them specifically allocated funding, would be implemented locally by whatever council is elected bearing in mind that 80% of local council income does not come from council tax.
What many of the arrogant, border-line currupt labour councils listed in rotton boroughs do share in common with the labour government is that they have been there too long, most much longer then Blair, hence the name of the column. The phenomenon of arrogant, out of touch urban labour councillors seeking personal gain and ignoring the views of their constituents is not a a ‘new labour’ phenomenon. Its been going on for the last fifty years. Neither is it unique to labour councils. Long standing Tory and, to a lesser extent (because they tend to hold councils for far shorter periods) Lib Dem councils tend to be listed in the same column. In a council that is currupt, in the pocket of powerful interests and ignoring its constituents you should vote for the party most likely to break or at least challenge the ruling groups monopoly on power, assuming you also agree with their local policies.
May 3rd, 2006 at 15:11:58
There has been much criticism of identi-kit high streets across the UK, and unfortunately the only way to stop this is for individual planning authorities to reject the individual proposals of developers and large retail chains one at a time.
As well as the cultural, racial and food diversity, there’s the issue of how leaky the local community is with respect to money. The money going to the holders of market stalls will stay in the community as they pay local wholesalers (because they can’t afford to use centralised national distribution schemes), spend their salary locally etc. Money going into a supermarket till zooms off to head office, with only a fraction coming back to locals via wages, paying cleaning sub-contractors etc.
I’m not against supermarkets per se, but replacing a market with a supermarket seems daft.
May 9th, 2006 at 14:24:35
The market stinks and has to be pulled down to make way for better facilities. You men have no idea because you don’t do the weekly shopping.
May 9th, 2006 at 14:55:28
I agree, the market does stink, and better facilities are required - I know as I go there plenty. It’s not really surprising as it’s been deliberately left to slowly fall apart. It needs a thorough cleaning and refurbishment, and much better waste disposal facilities. But that does not entail obliterating it and replacing it with an soulless cloned supermarket - they’re not exactly in any shortage in this country.
May 18th, 2006 at 18:40:08
Awesome blog. Peace out until next time TabathaOster