[matilda] The Great Hackney Occupation/Matilda

[dan thomas]

Perhaps in the discussion about Matilda, the following
may be of some help and give us all inspiration. 

(quite long)

The Great Hackney Occupation/Matilda

In Hackney, East London, there is an occupation
against the demolition of what was Francesca's Café, a
well loved greasy spoon which served the area well for
over thirty years. This is part of a wider process
where big money is now moving into the area, its
voracious appetite devouring ever more of the local
culture as the Broadway Market, where Francesca’s is
located is to be regenerated creating new luxury flats
and other facilities for the city’s growing affluent
population. This is part of a wider plan by Hackney
council’s to ‘divest itself of its commercial
properties. The estate agents appointed by the council
have sold £225 million worth of properties for just
£70 million, with the majority of these going to
wealthy off-shore cartels who have made an absolute
killing at the expense of the people of Hackney.
Indeed the developer who has bought the Broadway
market site, a Dr Wratten, a former Citibank broker,
runs some of his businesses out of a PO box in Nassau
in the Bahamas. 

The café was due to be demolished at 8.00am, Monday
November 28 to make way for the luxury flats. This was
instantly opposed by a group of residents who occupied
the café and continue to do so. Calling themselves the
‘Save Broadway Market Campaign’, the highly organised
group say the move is part of a wider plan to save the
whole area from developers. The occupiers have stocked
up with food and water, much of it given by local
supporters and are keeping warm with electric heaters
and even had a TV set up inside. However, the
occupation is no ‘activist ghetto’ (though many
individual activists and IWCA people are involved) and
note the un-activist TV, but an attempt by a very
diverse group of people who are attempting to
challenge the juggernaut of regeneration, often
unaccountable and undemocratic. Despite the café being
partly demolished when the bailiffs went in just
before Xmas, incredibly this amazing group of people
have re-occupied it, are rebuilding the roof, hosting
coffee mornings, and socials, etc. It is rapidly
becoming a ‘cause celebre with even the Italian
Ambassador making a visit and a sermon at St Paul’s: 
 
http://www.stpauls.co.uk/page.aspx?theLang=001lngdef&pointerid=224007USK4SRteHFwVhbzfbcAkKkZ1gg&action=

There has also been articles in the local and
international media and the novelist Hari Kunzru has
wrote about it in the Guardian 

A dispatch from Tony's cafe 

'Hari Kunzru
Thursday January 5, 2006
The Guardian 
Though my corner of Hackney has yet to attain a
Middle-Earth level of cosmic grandeur, the ongoing
battle between local people and the forces of
regeneration has been growing in stature. We've got
our very own Dark Lord, in the shape of a property
developer called Dr Roger Wratten, who has an
underground island base in Tunbridge Wells and a
henchman with a glass eye. Ranged against him is a
hobbit-like band of local people,who since late
November have been barricaded inside Francesca's cafe
at 34 Broadway Market, blocking Wratten from pulling
it down to build a block of flats'

http://society.guardian.co.uk/communities/comment/0,16289,1678351,00.html

 
resources:
http://34broadwaymarket.omweb.org/modules/wakka/HomePage


So what about us?

I have to say i find the above incredibly inspiring
and shows the ingenuity, defiance and energy of folk
when confronted with such processes. This is about
London which because of its wealth has had problems
over regeneration for many years, but the same thing
is now happening in our Northern cities as the big
money looks for other areas in which to invest,
particularly that Babylon a little way from us, Leeds,
but also Manchester and Newcastle. Sheffield is far
from immune to it: we have seen the Little Mesters
workshops disappearing and space for creatives rapidly
vanishing or homegenised into safe cultural quarters
which are primarily used as as ‘quality of life
indicators’ to attract new businesses to the area..
(this is what I have heard may be proposed for
Sharrow) All this is aided by councils/parties who see
competition between areas as a positive good and who
basically support neo-liberalism as in their view
‘there is no alternative’.

Ideas for action

When we are ready, we should discuss making Matilda
more of a regeneration issue, who is regeneration for,
how is it accountable, the Global nature of
regeneration, who benefits, does the ‘trickle down
beloved of Thatcherites and now Blairites really work?

When we have more of a programme we should really
publicise our activities, but not just parties, gigs,
etc. invite the local media, the Star and particularly
the Telegraph to one of our more cultural events, but
also including our allies such as Sandman magazine who
are hugely influential with a certain portion of
Sheffield folk. .

We should make more of an effort to increase
inclusivity: sort out the heating, the disabled
toilets, access, the front of the building, signage,
announcements etc, otherwise who we are for?

Workshops of all kinds should be encouraged, the bike
workshop could be great for this; we could inform the
youth clubs about this facility for instance, by
contacting the local youth clubs (though we should be
aware as part of Connexions, it is now largely
co-opted into the Blarite agenda.)

The theatre group is a great idea, we have plenty of
spaces where the group could rehearse and perform, a
Radical History of Sheffield exhibition is another
positive idea which would open up the space to others.
The wondereful Lantern Carnival should be encouraged
to use our facilities as should any other grass roots
enterprise. 

We have a fantastic space and an amazing opportunity
to do some great things, we should not waste them. 



		
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