Canada Water, Southwark Houses & Cody Dock: Occasions and photos from Saturday twenty fifth March 2017
Canada Water, Southwark.
The Surrey Business Docks have been the most important space of London’s Docklands and the one massive docks on the south financial institution of the River Thames, constructed on a big marshy space at Rotherhithe, somewhat nearer to London than the Royal Navy dockyard at Deptford.
The primary dock right here was dug out in 1696 and was the most important dock of that age, and will take 120 crusing ships. Later the dock grew to become Greenland Dock, a base for the Arctic whaling commerce, however within the nineteenth century there was an enormous improve in commerce with Scandanavia and the Baltic, and different docks have been dug, in addition to enormous timber ponds which quickly grew to become its main commerce.
Surrey Docks was in full swing the within the Victorian age, with 9 docks, six timber ponds and the Grand Surrey Canal. Badly broken by bombing within the Second World Battle, the docks by no means absolutely recovered and have been then hit by containerisation. The docks have been too small to deal with container ships and closed in 1970. Many of the docks have been stuffed in and the entire space was redeveloped.
By the point the London Docklands Improvement Company was arrange by the Tories in 1980 the redevelopment initially led by Southwark Council was properly underneath method and the world was set to have a moderately completely different character from the redevelopments on the north financial institution.
However the LDDC appeared because the principal objector, to the council’s statutory growth plan and was backed by the Division of the Atmosphere. Southwarks plan for the entire of the south riverside from London Bridge to Deptford was rejected for displaying ‘unrealistic dedication to public housing‘ and for its ‘opposition to workplace and different personal growth’. The LDDC went forward with promoting land and buildings for speculative growth.
The LDDC rubbed its palms in glee on the considered promoting riverside websites which Southwark had deliberate for low price rented housing to builders of enormous blocks of luxurious flats, and rushed to clear getting old council estates and exchange them with privately owned properties, insurance policies which have been strongly opposed by Southwark Council.
However instances have modified, and I had come to Canada Water for a march the place native folks had come to protest in opposition to very related insurance policies by Southwark’s Labour council, working for and with builders to demolish estates such because the Heygate and Aylesbury, with the replacements together with solely a really small proportion of social housing. I’d arrived early on function to provide me time for a brief stroll round earlier than the protest started.
Extra at Canada Water.
Southwark march for houses & companies
Southwark campaigners marched from Canada Water to protest at Thurlow Lodge Group Corridor on the Aylesbury Property, calling on Labour-run Southwark Council to avoid wasting houses and jobs within the borough.
Marchers and audio system on the rally earlier than the march included these from tenants and residents organisations, native enterprise networks and others. They’d come to oppose Southwark Council demolishing council estates for luxurious residence constructing, promoting off public land to non-public builders and profit-oriented housing associations and forcing out small companies via insurance policies they are saying are solely involved with realising asset values and trample on the rights and desires of native residents.
On My London Diary there’s a lengthy record of a few of the teams concerned, however there have been others too.
One of many greater battles, nonetheless persevering with, is over the way forward for the Aylesbury Property in Walworth, simply south of the Heygate Property on the Elephant and Fortress, the place the council misplaced quite a lot of public cash in offering an enormous website with nice transport hyperlinks to permit a non-public developer to make enormous earnings, dropping round 2000 social lease houses. Most of the new flats are empty containers, investments for rich foreigner benefiting from fast will increase in London property costs.
A lot of the Aylesbury property has now been emptied, and a few demolished. The council was discovered to have acted performing unfairly in the direction of leaseholders who have been being supplied derisory compensation – often lower than half the market worth of comparable properties within the space. Those that took the courtroom case received improved provides, however there may be little proof of it altering its methods and making an attempt to cheat others. Amongst these concerned in combating to avoid wasting the Aylesbury on this march was Piers Corbyn, Jeremy’s older brother, within the information extra just lately over arguably much less worthwhile causes, significantly in opposition to Covid restrictions.
The Aylesbury Property had been on the centre of the Labour Social gathering’s plans for the regeneration of council estates, the location of Tony Blair’s first huge press occasion. However Labour’s coverage was extra about grabbing headlines than offering the great low-cost housing {that a} correct social housing coverage requires. Councils corresponding to Southwark have used it to demonise and run-down their massive estates, spending massive sums with PR firms to take action and dealing with main builders, moderately than correctly consulting with residents and placing the mandatory money into property upkeep, operating them down on function.
It was a protracted march to the Aylesbury Property, detouring to cross a number of housing estates and enterprise areas threatened by the council, and a tiring one on a heat and sunny March Day, and we have been all drained by the point it ended exterior Thurlow Lodge Group Corridor. This had been saved earlier this yr by a group occupation after Southwark Council had wished to evict the occupants, Divine Rescue, a physique with a soup kitchen providing assist, coaching and meals to round 100 homeless folks, and runs a a meals financial institution. Southwark wished to promote or let the group corridor to earn more money.
The march organisers had deliberate to finish the march right here with Divine Rescue offering scorching drinks and bathroom amenities after the lengthy stroll, however Southwark Council had warned Divined Rescue that there lease would once more be threatened if that they had something to do with the protest, forcing them to withdraw their provide. The corridor was locked and shuttered, guarded by Southwark Council safety after we arrived. It appeared a really petty piece of bullying by the council.
The protesters sat down on Albany Street blocking site visitors for round 10 minutes in protest at this, then moved to the world in entrance of the group corridor for a ultimate rally.
Many extra photos from the march and the rallies earlier than and afterwards on My London Diary at Southwark march for houses & companies.
Extra From Cody Dock
From the Aylesbury Property I made my solution to Cody Dock for the opening of my present there, ‘All Alongside the Lea‘, black and white pictures from the Eighties and 90s, arriving an hour or two early.
This gave me time to take a number of extra photos, but additionally to have some meals and a beer and take heed to some stay music and simply to get pleasure from being there.
It was a pleasing opening with an honest crowd, with loads of folks coming to have a look at the photographs and discuss, together with the native MP. As I stated and wrote, “Once I took these photos many individuals questioned why I used to be losing time and movie on such scenes, so I’m actually happy to have them appreciated now. “
I hadn’t chosen the title for the present, and it wasn’t correct fro the photographs that have been on the wall, nearly all from Bow Creek. However I had photographed ‘All Alongside the Lea’ and my web page and the guide ‘Earlier than the Olympics‘ have photos from the supply at Leagrave to the retailers into the Thames each at Bow Creek, and, through the Limehouse Lower, at Limehouse Dock.
Tags: Albion Channel, All Alongside the Lea, Aylesbury, buisinesses, Canada Water, Cody Dock, Group Corridor, council estates, Deal Porters, Deal Porters sculpture Philip Bews, builders, Divine Rescue, property demolition, hadns off our houses, Heygate, houses, houses and jobs, housing associations, London, London Pictures, Londoners, march, peter Marshall, photograph exhibition, Piers Corbyn, protest, Rotherhithe, small industries, Southwark, Surey Docks, Thurlow Lodge
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