Taking on Tescopoly in Brixton Hill

I spent Sunday afternoon talking to local shopkeepers - and their customers - on Brixton Hill about Tesco’s plans to open an Express store on the site of the current historic George IV Music Bar. This quirky turreted building is a landmark to all local residents.

What these shopkeepers reported to me was the detrimental impact that the two existing Sainsbury’s Local stores on the upper reaches of the hill - within a few hundred metres of each other -  had already had on their businesses. Many fear what the addition of a further big supermarket local store would mean for the long-term viability of independent shops such as theirs.

Meanwhile, the customers of these stores say that Brixton Hill cannot sustain another yet another supermarket. They fear the loss of their local store, which provides a real sense of community and where they interact with real people rather than a soulless automated checkout. And they see a further erosion of the character of their local community. 

Not just that, but the loss of another local character pub, a place not just to drink and be merry, but a space which can double up as so many other things: community meeting place, arts and music venue, a centre for learning...the possibilities are almost endless.

George IV Music Bar: Locals fear the loss of another character pub on Brixton Hill

The decline of Brixton’s pubs has been well-documented by the excellent community portal Urban75. The George IV, at 144 Brixton Hill, is just down the hill from another former stalwart of the local pub scene, The Telegraph, which went out of business back in 2010. Clearly the George IV has been struggling, having undergone an unsuccessful rebranding as Southside before its current incarnation as Music Bar.

There’s some great advice pages on the internet for communities trying to save local pubs, for instance at the aforementioned Urban75 and at CAMRA. It’s certainly not an easy time for pubs, but there have been successful campaigns up and down the country. If you want to save the George IV or other pubs like it in the area, then these seem like good places to start. 

As a member of the Lambeth Green Party I share the concerns expressed to me by local shopkeepers and their customers, and I want to do something about them. I therefore urge you so sign the petition to stop Tesco in its tracks: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/no-tesco-for-george-iv-historic-pub-and-music/. We’re nearly at our 1,000 signature target, but we’d like to exceed it to really bring home to Tesco and Lambeth Borough Council, the real extent of local opposition. You can also sign a paper petition in many local shops along Brixton Hill. If you’d like to help with the campaign, there’s a number of ways you can contact us. You can write to me personally at andrew.child@greenparty.org.uk, or contact us via Twitter or Facebook.

I live on Wingford Road (behind Brixton Prison), and already have two Sainsbury’s Local stores in well under half a mile: at 76 Brixton Hill, and at 266-270 Brixton Hill and in total I have seven Sainsbury’s stores within a mile of me. It’s clear I’m more than well catered for by a big supermarket. But to add to that I’ve got a Tesco Express within a quarter of a mile - at 30 Streatham Place - and a total of five Tescos within a mile. So doing the sums, that’s three supermarket stores within half a mile and a total of 12 within a mile. The figures speak of complete madness. There’s no community or customer case for more. It seems to me that the only reason for Tesco to seek to open yet another store is to play catch-up with Sainsbury’s. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not taking sides here. I don’t think there should be more stores from any of the big supermarkets in this area.

The Sainsbury's Local store on the corner of Lambert Road and Brixton Hill.  The area is more than catered for by big supermarkets.

A letter of consultation (here’s the 2nd page) has been sent out by Matt Magee, Tesco Corporate Affairs Manager, apparently to local residents and businesses. The disturbing thing is that few of the local shopkeepers I spoke to seemed to have received it. And I haven’t received it either. I will be writing to Tesco today to try to understand why many local people - whose lives will be affected by the store - have not been contacted. I will also be asking if they have carried out any kind of local impact assessment.

Furthermore I’m trying to establish contact with the owners of the George IV to try to understand their reasons for selling up and if anything can be done to help them keep it as a pub.

Tesco’s letter is a bit threadbare and makes some questionable assertions. It says that “about” 20 local full and part-time jobs will be created. But how many will be lost elsewhere as a result of this? It claims that staff in its stores act as “a deterrent to anti-social behaviour”, even though, unlike may staff employed by pubs, they are not trained in dealing with anti-social behaviour. The basis on which the Tesco store will therefore act as a deterrent seems tenuous. Unfortunately Tesco says it already has permission to operate the site as a convenience store, and that all that remains is for it to get council approval for the removal of railings, turning the beer garden into a car park, adding signage etc. I’ve looked at planning applications currently before the council on its database and Tesco certainly hasn’t put in applications for everything it wants to do. 

We have a fight on our hands - clearly. It’s much easier for Tesco to buy a property - even if it does fall within a conservation area - and make some minor alterations than try to build something from scratch on a brownfield site. We need to show up at the next meeting of the council’s planning committee and raise our objections, but above all we need to show the strength of feeling there is in this wonderful Brixton Hill community of our. We need to deliver a petition with thousands of names and we need to protest and we need to make it clear to Tesco that it will not be receiving our custom. 

There is hope. Go to the website of campaign group Tescopoly and you’ll find plenty of sources of inspiration in campaigns won against the desire and might of the big supermarkets. But we must organise. Again, sign the petition here: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/no-tesco-for-george-iv-historic-pub-and-music/ and get in touch with either myself  andrew.child@greenparty.org.uk, or contact us via Twitter or Facebook. 

Thanks for your support.

Andrew Child

Lambeth Green Party

Living Streets 'Get walking during the Games' challenge

Join the Living Streets 'Get walking during the Games' challenge.

Use your feet to avoid busy public transport and roads during the Games and discover a smarter way of getting around the city. See how many miles you can rack up.

You can log all your walking with their online tool to count miles, how many ice creams you’ve burned off and the carbon you’ve saved.

The challenge will run until the end of the Games on 9 September. Get walking!

Leadership hustings in London this Friday

As people may know Caroline Lucas will not be re-standing for the position of party leader when it comes up for re-election later this year.

London Green Party are hosting a hustings for the prospective leadership candidates, Natalie Bennett, Pippa Bartolotti, Peter Cranie and Romayne Phoenix on Friday July 13th which will be at Development House, 56- 64 Leonard Street London EC2A 4LT starting at 7pm. Tea and coffee available from 6.00.

This will be a chance for members to quiz the prospective leaders, discuss the future direction of the party and go to the pub with each other afterwards too. Who we elect as leader this summer will have a profound impact on the direction of the party in the next two years and hopefully as many members as possible will take this opportunity to get involved in the debate. Questions can be submitted by email in advance to Jon Nott (jon.nott at greenparty.org.uk), who will be chairing.

Save Lambeth's One O'Clock Clubs!

Lambeth Council has announced a consultation into the future of our One O'Clock Clubs. In their own words, they 'want local communities to decide which organisations are going to take over the running of the youth and play sites from the Council'.

These clubs are vital to the wellbeing of many young children, parents and carers across the borough, and are enjoyed by thousands (including my own....). They are hugely valued and make a real difference to the quality of children's early years in Lambeth.

I know I'm not alone in worrying that Lambeth plan to use the consultations to justify introducing a cut-price service - using the 'Cooperative Council' idea as cover for a reduction in public provision. This may balance the books in the short term but at what cost to children?

Lambeth have announced the consultation at really short notice and with very little publicity, even at the clubs themselves. It all smells rather fishy - almost as if they don't want people to hear about their plans!

So, if you can, do try to attend one of the consultation meetings. They're running until 18th July - you can see the full list here.

And if you can't make any of them (they're all on weekdays), then write to the Council, your councillors and your MP to ask how you can have your say. For more ideas, check out the thread on Urban75.

Lambeth Council finally agrees to pay some contractors a Living Wage

We have for many years been pushing Lambeth to pay a Living Wage to all its employees.

This included, in 2009, a motion by Green Councillor Becca Thackray to commit Lambeth to a Living Wage policy. However Labour tabled an amendment which excluded sub-contractors.

It is good news therefore that finally, after years of pressure, Lambeth have agreed to pay some subcontractors a Living Wage.

However, whilst Labour has blocked and delayed, Lambeth's chief executive has moved steadily up the league table of council executive pay.

His pay is over 17 times the minimum wage earned by some of Lambeth council sub contractors and over 13 times the Living Wage which the council pays its direct employees.

What Lambeth should now be looking at is a 10:1 pay ratio where no one earns more than ten times the salary of the lowest paid employee or worker.

Cites for Clean Air: London 2012

There's a conference & unconference which will be of interest for all those campaigning for better air quality.

DATE: Saturday 14 July 2012, 10.30 am – 5 pm

VENUE: University London Union, Malet Street, Bloomsbury, London WC1E 7HY. Nearest tube: Goodge Street.

WHO: This event is aimed at the general public who want to see good air quality in their neighbourhood and beyond. You don't need to be an expert. There's no admission charge, and this is the founding meeting of the Network for Clean Air.

WHY: There are seventeen places in the UK which will not achieve limits for harmful air pollution (NO2) within legal EU limits by 1 January 2015. Indeed, one of them, Greater London - won't achieve these limits until about 2025. Local authorities and national government need the engagement of civil society to bring forth adequate measures to control pollutants, improve public health and the quality of life. In London alone, poor air quality leads to the premature death of about four thousand people annually (that’s about the same as the ‘great smog’ of December 1952).

SCHEDULE

Morning - Conference - invited speakers

* Legal Action for Clean Air in the UK - Alan Andrews, Client Earth
* Why Air Pollution is Bad for Human Health - Dr Ian Mudway, MRC-HPA Centre for Environment and Health, King's College London
* London Air: the Politics, the Vision - Jenny Bates, Friends of the Earth London Campaigner

Other speakers to be confirmed

Afternoon - Unconference - workshops, discussions

Share your knowledge and experience; discover new approaches; learn with others; meet new friends.

REGISTRATION/ FINAL DETAILS/ NEWSLETTER

To register for the conference (not essential but recommended), receive final conference details and an occasional newsletter then email: contact at cleanairuk.org More at: www.cleanairuk.org

Right to Ride - 19th June

Together with Disabled People Against the Cuts, Transport for All will be holding a day of action for accessible transport on 19th June. The focus is to make that point that if the Government are serious about enabling disabled people into work, they must ensure transport is accessible.

Activists are asked to meet at the House of Commons at 2pm, and then invite their MP to travel with them by bus to the Confederation of Passenger Transport, the umbrella body for all bus companies in Covent Garden area (about a 15 minute bus journey).

Getting the able-bodied people to see the transport system a little from the perspective of those with impairments is a crucial part of bringing about change. Last year I got the Guardian to make the journey to the paralympics from Lambeth along with several disabled people. Jenny Jones, during the mayoral campaign, also offered to spend time to wheelchair users, using the transport system.

The aim of the June initiative is to get as many wheelchair users, visually impaired, deaf and other disabled people to all need to use the same buses at the same time, to really highlight the barriers that are faced.

These problems are also getting worse in many respects, rather than better. The Government wants to cut expenditure on DLA (Disability Living Allowance) by 20%. DWP’s own estimates are that 500,000 people will lose their DLA from 2013. Many people use their DLA for taxis, to qualify for transport benefits like Taxicard, Blue Badge and Freedom Pass, or to lease a Motability car. If they lose access to these, they will be left dependent on a bus and train system which is difficult or impossible to use for many older and disabled people.

Transport for all are asking the Government to ensure that transport procuremnet processes are changed to ensure that no train or bus company will win a tender to run a route or station, unless they show they are meeting minimum standards of accessibility. Poor records on accessibility-related customer complaints must have real consequences for transport providers.

More information at Transport for All.