WAKE UP CALL: Nearly half of Londoners worried about city's dangerous air pollution

From the British Heart Foundation

Londoners welcome T-Charge, as BHF warns of dangers of air pollution for capital’s heart health

Nearly half (45%) of Londoners are worried about living in the city due to dangerous levels of air pollution, according to a new poll from the British Heart Foundation (BHF).

The statistics reveal that 81% of Londoners believe the current air pollution levels are putting their health at risk and over a third are put off running (37%) or cycling (38%) in the city because of the potentially deadly air.

The BHF is today highlighting the need for bold action to clean up London’s air, as estimates show that globally, 80 per cent of all premature deaths from air pollution are caused by heart and circulatory disease.

Research shows that both long-term and short-term exposure to air pollution can make existing heart conditions worse and can increase the risk of a potentially fatal heart attack or stroke amongst vulnerable groups.

The poll also found:
• 94% of people in the capital think cleaning up London’s current level of air pollution is important
• Nearly a third (28%) of Londoners don’t want to sit outside in the city
• One in five (19%) Londoners are put off shopping on London High Streets because of air pollution
• 17% of Londoners are put off visiting local parks
• And 12% said the pollution puts them off visiting London’s iconic landmarks

On Monday, London Mayor Sadiq Khan introduces a new daily Toxicity charge or ‘T-charge’ in central London in order to reduce dangerous fumes from polluting vehicles and make London’s air safer.

The air pollution in London has breached legal limits for years and it’s estimated that in 2010 there were nearly 9,500 deaths across London associated with air pollution exposure3, many of which would have been caused by heart and circulatory conditions.

The charge will affect vehicles every week day that don’t meet the minimum exhaust emission standard, or were registered pre-2006.

The BHF’s poll found that over 70% of Londoners support the daily charge of £10 which will operate on top of, and during the same times, as the congestion charge.


Simon Gillespie, Chief Executive at the British Heart Foundation, said:

“Dangerous levels of air pollution in London are putting the heart health of the general public - particularly those with heart disease - at greater risk of a heart attack or stroke.

“We urgently need to protect Londoners from inhaling deadly air – particularly from small particles in diesel fumes, which our research shows increase the risk of a potentially deadly cardiac event. 

“It’s extremely concerning that London’s toxic air could now force people to consider relocating, or avoid being outside.

“This is a wakeup call to how concerned the people of London are about the air they breathe. The Mayor’s toxicity charge is a step in the right direction, and we look forward to the introduction of a full Ultra Low Emissions Zone in 2019 which will help to further clean up London’s air.” 

Air pollution contributes to around 40,000 premature deaths in the UK each year, many of which are from heart attack and stroke.

BHF researchers have found that tiny particles in diesel and petrol fumes can damage our heart and circulatory systems.

These particles stop blood vessels relaxing and contracting, which increases the risk of clots, which can lead to a heart attack or stroke. However, worryingly nearly half (44%) of Londoners are unaware of the danger air pollution poses to the heart.

The BHF is committed to working with the Government to ensure that the most effective measures to clean up the UK’s toxic air are implemented.

Find out how the BHF is fighting back against heart disease at bhf.org.uk

Brent group launched to promote a London National Park City

A North Brent Residents Assocation and Parks  Group Forum was set up this week to further cause of making London a National Park City. The move has been supported by ward councllors in Barnhill, Northwick Park, Kenton and Kensal Green with John Billam Tenterden Parks and Neighbourhood Group taking the lead.  The initiative has been supported by Cllr Southwood, lead member for the environment. More endorsements by wards councillors are required to set up London as a National Park City.  It requires all councillors in a ward to support the application.

National Parks are special places where people work together to protect natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage. As well as looking after these things, National Parks promote the understanding and enjoyment of the special qualities by both residents and visitors. They also create new business opportunities in hospitality, travel and other sectors. Making London a National Park City would be to apply these same principles to all communities and areas in London.

A declaration to make London a National Park City is a belief in Londoners working together to:

1.      Make London greener 

✔ Improving the richness, connective and biodiversity of London’s habitats 

✔ Improving London’s air and water quality, year on year

2.      Make more of London’s outdoor heritage 

✔ Improving health and connecting 100% of London’s children to nature 

✔ Ensuring 100% of Londoners have free and easy access to high quality green space

3.      Make a new National Park City identity for London 

✔ Inspiring new business activities 

✔ Promoting London as a Green World City

Sir Terry Farrell has described the idea as being “one vision to inspire a million projects”. It is a large-scale and long-term vision that is achievable through lots of small and everyday actions. Many of these things are already happening, but there is the potential for so much more. What makes a National Park City very different from a rural National Park is the number of people who live in the capital. Every Londoner has the potential not only to enjoy London as a National Park City, but actually contribute to making it a success.

A National Park City would be privately and commercially funded. No public sector funding is needed. It will not cost the council anything, but the council will be able to leverage the National Park City to attract new investment. A National Park City status would not mean restrictions for planning permissions. A National Park City would want to conserve London’s ability to grow, develop and remain the dynamic city it is.

London can become a National Park City once two-thirds of councillor teams (436 of 654) have declared their support. So far 218 teams have already declared their support.

You can add your indidivual support HERE

Camden kids demand clear air

"I want a limousine. But an electric one" Short clip from our reportage on #London's fight for #cleanair. Replay via https://t.co/wIlmCiGPB7 pic.twitter.com/PJghhxp4D2

— Avenue de l'Europe (@avenuedeleurope) January 16, 2017

Greens hail their 'biggest and best campaign in London to date'

The Green Party has recorded its best ever election results in London where Sian Berry, the Green Party’s London Mayoral candidate, came third and the Party retained its two London Assembly seats.

On the Assembly, councillors Sian Berry and Caroline Russell replace Baroness Jenny Jones and Darren Johnson, who have both stepped down after 16 years of outstanding service.

The Scottish Greens enjoyed a superb night, growing their representation from two MSPs to six. In winning election, 21-year-old rising star Ross Greer became the youngest-ever MSP .

Reacting to the outstanding results in the capital, Natalie Bennett, Green Party Leader, said:

The Greens standout results in London demonstrate how a positive campaign with good ideas for London can resonate widely with voters. We thank all our candidates, activists and supporters for delivering our biggest and best campaign in London to date.

Sian Berry said:

Today is a victory for the politics of bringing Londoners together not dividing them. I’m proud that Londoners have voted for good, positive ideas in such numbers. In every vote Greens have cemented our position as the number three party in London, coming third in the vote for mayor, on the Londonwide list and in a majority of constituencies. The immediate priority for Greens on the London Assembly now will be to push the new mayor to make the right decisions on road-building and estate demolitions and to clean up our city’s filthy air.

In the local elections, the Green Party saw strong results in the West Midlands and the South West. In Stroud, where Natalie visited on the eve of the poll, the Party retained five councillors and added three gains. The party retained all its councillors in Solihull and made two gains. The party now have 27 Green Party councillors on 11 councils in its growing West Midlands powerbase (including making a breakthrough in Cannock Chase and winning a hard-fought seat in Worcester that led to the Tories losing control of the council). The party also won a first-ever seat on Weymouth and Portland council.

Reacting to the local election results, Natalie said:

My thanks to everyone who voted Green yesterday, particularly those who voted Green for the first time, of whom I know there were many.

I also want to thank all of the candidates, members and supporters who helped us to stand in the largest-ever number of council seats, 54% in these elections compared to 25% in 2012.

That reflects the growth and development of the Green Party since then, with membership five times larger, and we’re looking forward to the county elections next year to further increase our representation.

The new Green councillors will join a team who are dedicated to standing up for the most disadvantaged, to taking real steps to alleviate the ever-worsening housing crisis, and to helping communities live within the environmental limits of our one fragile planet.

The breakthroughs we have made mean more councils will now have Green voices, voices that scrutinise, challenge, and ask tough questions. Sadly, we have lost some long-term, dedicated, valued councillors in Norwich, Oxford and other places. I thank them for their years of service to their communities and the Green Party and am sure that the parties there will be bouncing back in coming years, with strong representation still on both councils.

The final Green tally of English council seats will not be known until Sunday when the Bristol City council count is completed. Bristol is the Greens’ stronghold in the South-West and the party is poised to increase it representation from 14 councillors.

The Scottish Greens increased the presence in Parliament threefold and achieved almost a 14% increase on their best-ever total in the regional vote across Scotland.

Turning her attention to Scotland, Natalie said:

This was a great night for the Scottish Green Party and they are taking a great team into Holyrood. As well as the much respected Alison Johnstone and Patrick Harvie, Ross Greer will be the youngest MSP and land reform campaigner Andy Wightman will be a formidable force.

After the GLA plenty happening in Brent next week.

These are the final results for the London-wide seats on the London Assembly. I am sure that Sian Berry and Caroline Russell will do a good job in getting the Green Party's concerns on the Mayoral agenda but it is a pity that Brent's own Shahrar Ali will not be joining them. A few more votes of 'Green on Orange' would have secured a seat for him at the expense of Ukip to the benefit of Londoners.

However now it is time to turn our mind to other issues including the preposterous attempt to push through several major controversial multi-million planning applications at TWO Brent Planning Committee meetings to be held next week before Saturday's Labour AGM.

That AGM may also see the airing of leadership issues as well as changes in Lead Members and committee memberships.

Breakdown of Mayoral votes in Brent and Harrow constituency

These are the first and second preferences for the London Mayoral vote recorded in the Brent and Harrow GLA constituency

Candidate	Party	1st pref	2nd Pref	Total	Order
Sian Berry	Green Party	7432	24333	31765	3
David Furness	Britsih National Party	1113	2208	3321
George Galloway	Respect	3787	9980	13767
Paul Golding	Britain First	2206	4789	6995
Zac Goldsmith	Conservative	67131	21125	88256	2
Lee Harris	Canabis Safer than Alcohol	1669	4291	5960
Sadiq Khan	Labour Party	75260	28821	104081	1
Ankit Love	One Love Party	777	3034	3811
Caroline Pidgeon	Liberal Democrat	6552	20492	27044	4
Sophie Walker	Women's Equality Party	2923	11419	14342
Peter Whittle	UKIP	3742	11498	15240
Prince Zylinski	Independent*	1185	1690	2875
	Total of good votes	173777	143680
	Rejected votes			2565
	Total Ballot Papers counted 177207

Brent FoE meeting on air pollution - its impact and solutions

 From Brent Friends of the Earth

A panel of politicians and campaigners will be discussing air quality at Brent Friends of the Earth's (Brent FoE) monthly meeting at Watling Gardens Community Meeting Room in Kilburn on Tuesday April 12th at 7.30pm.

Brent FoE's meeting will discuss the situation with air pollution - which is a serious health threat for Londoners and is a major problem in Brent. It will be a chance to learn about how air pollution is affecting us and to discuss what we need to do to get cleaner air to breathe. The speakers will be: Cllr Eleanor Southwood - Lead member for the Environment at Brent Council, Navin Shah - Assembly Member for Brent and Harrow, Dawn Butler - MP for Brent Central (to be confirmed), Juhaina Junaid from the Pollution Control Services at Brent Council and Ollie Hayes - Campaigner from Friends of the Earth.

Pam Laurance, a Co-ordinator of Brent Friends of the Earth says, “Poor air quality in London has a significant effect in shortening the lives of many people. In 2010 almost 9,500 Londoners died prematurely from causes linked to air pollution. The main pollutant is nitrogen dioxide, plus in some areas it is particulate matter, particularly from diesel vehicles, that do most of the damage. The principal source of air pollution in Brent is road traffic emissions, though emissions from residential and commercial heating systems also contribute.”

The discussion will start at at 7.30pm till approximately 9pm, and will be followed by Brent FoE's AGM. Everyone is welcome to attend this free event, and stay for the rest of the group meeting. Light refreshments will be available.

The meeting will be at Watling Gardens Community Meeting Room, 97/135 Watling Gardens, Shoot Up Hill, NW2 3UB (5 mins. from Kilburn tube/buses on Shoot up Hill). For more information see http://www.brentfoe.com or email info@brentfoe.com.

NOTE FROM MARTIN

As the only political party represented at this meeting is Labour  you may want to read what the Green Mayoral candidate, Sian Berry, has to say about clean air for London HERE

Clean air for London - Sian Berry's plans

London needs a comprehensive plan to bring its air within legal limits as soon as possible, using every tool at our disposal, the Green Party mayoral candidate said today.

With air pollution estimated to cause more than 9,500 premature deaths in London every year, Sian Berry lists a wide range of actions that she would carry out as Mayor to comply with air pollution laws by 2020 at the absolute latest.

Immediate measures include enforcement of the existing ban on idling for parked vehicles, a higher congestion charge for all but the cleanest vehicles in Central London, and accelerating the programme of replacing diesel buses with hybrids and electric vehicles.

In the longer term, she will create a much larger Ultra Low Emission Zone, write much stronger car-free policies into the London Plan, commission a cleaner version of the ‘New Bus for London’ and expand the electric car charging network to create 25,000 charging points.

Sian Berry said: 

Sixty years after the Clean Air Act helped put an end to the deadly smogs that came from coal fires and power stations, we are now faced with a comparable problem.

The time for half-hearted efforts to clean up our polluted air and ensure compliance with existing laws is past. If I’m elected Mayor I will immediately exclude the most polluting cars, vans and lorries from central London, and speed up the switchover to make all new buses and taxis zero-emission. I will cancel road-building plans and oppose all airport expansion.

I also believe in telling Londoners the truth, and I will provide warnings about bad air days so people can protect their health by cutting car use and avoiding outdoor exercise.

In the longer term we need an effective new Ultra Low Emission Zone to keep polluting diesel vehicles out of London, along with fair charges on motoring to reduce traffic levels. That’s the only way we can bring pollution down to levels that we can genuinely describe as ‘quality air’.

The full details of her policies are:

Immediate action:

• Tighten up the standards on the current Londonwide Low Emission Zone for vans and make sure they are properly enforced through vehicle checks, with enforcement of the existing ban on idling for parked vehicles.
• Introduce a higher congestion charge for all but the cleanest vehicles in central London, to create a Very Low Emission Zone. This will ensure that where drivers have a choice of vehicle they never bring polluting cars into London and provide a strong incentive for London’s car owners either to give up their vehicles or to change to petrol or hybrid cars as quickly as possible. We will invite boroughs to opt in some or all of their area to expand this zone into illegally polluted parts of inner and outer London.
• Accelerate the programme of replacing diesel buses with hybrids and electric vehicles, ensuring the entire fleet is moved to these technologies by 2020 at the latest and that the Ultra Low Emission Zone can be extended to all of London without affecting bus services.
• Maintain and extend scrappage grants and loan schemes for black cab drivers so that all their vehicles are zero-emissions capable by 2018, ensuring there is a suitable charging infrastructure for them to run on electric power in all areas of inner London at least.
• Join car owners and those affected by high air pollution in bringing legal action against car makers for cheating on their emissions tests and misleading all of us about the pace of change in the pollution caused by our vehicles.
• Begin consultation immediately on introducing emergency traffic reduction measures to protect Londoners from the worst air pollution days we currently experience.
• Lobby government for a scrappage scheme for all diesel vehicles, and changes to Vehicle Excise Duty and the new Roads Fund to encourage Londoners to give up car ownership by switching to walking, cycling, public transport, car clubs or at least low- or zero-emission vehicles.

Longer term plans:

• Begin consultation immediately on a scheme to replace the ULEZ that will cover all of London and be effective in complying with the law. This could be combined with the new traffic demand management scheme we will develop to replace the Congestion Charge. 
• Put much stronger car-free housing policies in the London Plan to support the trend for lower car ownership in both inner and outer London. This will be supported by our transport policies to improve public transport and make living without a car easier in all parts of our city.
• Ensure all planning applications are air quality neutral, requiring new developments to reduce air pollution in the most heavily polluted areas.
• Oppose all road and airport expansion in the South East and London, as well as putting together proposals for City Airport to be closed and replaced with a new city quarter for homes and businesses, working with local authorities, businesses, developers, large and small, along with academic and cultural institutions.
• Revisit plans for the ‘New Bus for London’ to explore a number of newer, more accessible, higher capacity and cleaner versions of the new design, more suitable for Londoners’ varied needs.
• Ensure the electric car charging network is properly maintained and funded and aim to expand it to provide 25,000 charging points across London.
• Develop further electric vehicle charging networks for vans, car clubs and private cars in local areas in collaboration with local councils.

NB Sian will reveal plans to promote walking and cycling in her forthcoming People-Friendly Streets manifesto. This will complement the public transport policies she has already announced – flattening the fare zones, making travelcards fairer for part-timers and allowing interchange between different modes of public transport at no extra cost – which are also designed to reduce private car dependency.

London rises up against the Housing Bill

Today Londoners came out to reclaim their city from developers and the Housing Bill. They demand homes for people not profit, building of council housing, an end to social cleansing and much more. The pictures on the continuation page tell the whole story.

NUT call on the next Mayor of London to defend education and help teachers create a just society for all.

The NUT will be holding a London Mayoral Hustings on Monday March 7th 6pm at the union's headquarters at Hamilton House, Mabledon Place, WC1H 9BD, near Kings Cross,  off  the south side of Euston Road.

The meeting will be introduced by Christine Blower, NUT General Secretary.

The flyer advertsing the event lists the issues that matter to London teachers:

London's schools are under threat
London is a city full of creativity, talent and potential. Our schools and teachers are amongst the best in the world. Yet this sucess is under real threat.

Spending cuts
School budgets across London face 12% cuts under Government spending plans. In some boroughs, the losses could be over 20%. That would mean understaffed schools, bigger class sizes, more children's needs unmet and a narrower curriculum.

Teacher shortages
Talented, hardworking teachers are being driven out of London's schools by excessive workload, the lack of affordable housing and an exam factory culture which demoralises both staff ansd children.

Poverty and unaffordable housing
Almost 4 in 10 children in the capital grow up in poverty. Unaffordable rents force too many families into unsuitable housing. These conditions impact heavily on children's education and their schools.

Lack of school places
London needs 113,000 more school places to meet demand. Yet our Councils have neither the funds nor the legal powers to open new schools.

Stand Up for London's Education
The NUT belives that every child deserves the best. We have produced a Manifesto for London's schools calling on the next Mayor of London to defend education and help teachers create a just society for all.

Help stand up for education
Come along to our hustings and other local campaign activities across London. Distribute our manifestpoand talk with friends, colleagues and candidates about our demands.

Mail manifesto@nut.org.uk for the NUT's Manifesto for London's schools and colleges

Natalie Bennett puts the Green Mayoral and Assembly Campaign in Context

One minute pitches from each of the Green London Mayor candidates

At the end of Saturday;s Hustings at Birkbeck College, each of the contenders for the Green Party's nomination for the London Mayor Election 2016 were able to sum up their pitch in one minute.

Green Party Mayoral candidates on Communication and Credibility

At yesterday's hustings Green Party candidates for the party's London Mayor nomination were asked how they would improve the Green Party's credibility and communication. They had just one minute to answer.

Perivale residents urged to shut windows and doors as thick smoke rises from warehouse fire

The source of the thick plume of black smoke over Wembley is a warehouse fire in Wadsworth Road, Perivale.

The London Fire Brigade  said:

Around 100 firefighters and officers are currently tackling a fire at a warehouse ( mixed factory units) on Wadsworth Rd, Perivale.

All of the roof and the first floor is currently alight.

The fire is producing a lot of smoke and the Brigade has advised locals to keep windows and doors shut.

15 fire engines are at the scene including engines from Heston, Northolt, Chiswick, Wembley, Park Royal, Ruislip and Ealing fire stations.

The brigade was called at 1852.

Green vote share triples in London

 Fom the London Green Party

* Under a proportional system, London could have woken up this morning to 3 or 4 Green Members of Parliament

* Greens achieve record result in capital, tripling their 2010 vote share

Greens are today celebrating a "bitter-sweet" result in the capital, after the first-past-the-post system failed to deliver voters a Green MP for London despite a tripling of the Green vote share [1}.



Green Party Leader, Natalie Bennett, polled third in Holborn and St. Pancras, representing a vote share increase of 10%

The Greens saw large gains in their vote share in Holborn and St. Pancras, where Green Party leader Natalie Bennett polled in third place with a 10% swing to her party. Large vote share increases were also seen in Hackney North and Stoke Newington, where candidate Heather Finlay also saw a 10% swing take the Greens to third place.

Deputy Leader Amelia Womack's Camberwell and Peckham constituency also voted the Greens into third place, as did voters in a further 12 constituencies. {2] Greens also saved a record 22 deposits across the capital, with their vote share increasing in all of London's 73 constituencies.

Despite strong showings bringing cause for celebration in the Green camp, under a proportional system the party could have expected to secure 3 or 4 seats in London. The party has joined with other campaigns including the Electoral Reform Society and 38 Degrees in demanding that reforming the electoral system and introducing a more proportional system [3] be an immediate priority for the next government.

Tom Chance, Co-Chair of the London Green Party and their candidate in the election for Lewisham West and Penge said:

In an election votes should mean seats. But, because of the way our outdated electoral system works, millions of people across the country are disenfranchised - they’ve voted Green in their droves and yet have only one MP representing their views in parliament. Not only is this grossly unfair. It also serves to entrench the business-as-usual politics of the "traditional" parties.

That’s why the Greens, along with other parties and campaigns, are calling for a complete overhaul of our unjust electoral system. We want to see a more proportional system introduced, as is used across Europe and in our own London Assembly elections, to ensure that the next time voters go to the polls, parliament reflects the will of the people instead of robbing them of their democratic rights. 

Across the country the Green Party polled its highest ever result in a general election securing 3.8% of the public's vote. Due to our current current electoral system Greens were still only able to elect one MP – the historic reelection of Caroline Lucas in Brighton Pavilion - rather than the 24 it would have secured under a more proportional system.

Notes
1. 4.8%, up from 1.6% in 2010. Results can be found here: http://data.london.gov.uk/dataset/general-election-results-2015
2. Hackney South and Shoreditch, Bethnal Green and Bow, Islington North, Tottenham, Lewisham West and Penge, Vauxhall,   Leyton and Wanstead, Lewisham Deptford, Walthamstow, Ealing Southall and Tooting.
3. The Green Party supports the introduction of the Additional Member System, a version of proportional representation currently used for elections to the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly, and the London Assembly, or the Single Transferable Vote System favoured by the Electoral Reform Society: http://policy.greenparty.org.uk/pa.html http://www.electoral-reform.org.uk/single-transferable-voteV

Greens set to beat Lib Dems in London

• Latest polls put Green Party on 11% in London, 4 points ahead of Liberal Democrats
• Support for Green Party is surging just before election day
• Big swing from Labour and Liberal Democrats over to the Greens

With just four days to go until the general election, polls suggest the Green Party could be about to make history in London by beating the Liberal Democrats into third place.

Polling by IpsosMORI gives the Green Party 11% amongst those certain to vote in the capital with the Liberal Democrats trailing on 7%.

The poll demonstrates a huge rise in support for the Greens in London since 2010 and cements their position as the third biggest party in the capital following their strong performance in the 2012 Mayoral and London Assembly elections.

The surge is being driven by the movement of former Labour and Liberal Democrat voters over to the party. Of those respondents who said they would be voting Green in Thursday’s election, one in six had voted for the Liberal Democrats in 2010 and one in ten had voted for Labour.

Tom Chance, Co-Chair of the London Green Party and candidate for Lewisham West and Penge, said:

Of course this is exactly the news we want to be hearing just before the election but it reflects the feeling we’ve been getting on the ground throughout this campaign when our members have been out and about meeting voters. People are feeling let-down by politics in Britain and they’re hungry for an alternative to the austerity message being served-up on a daily basis by the “established” parties.

What is so exciting is that here in London we already have a great basis from which to deliver that change for voters. We finished third in the last Mayoral election. We have two assembly members, an MEP, and four councillors. This is giving us the base we need to build our influence and our presence.

Voters can go out to the polls on May 7^th knowing that by voting Green, they’re contributing to a rapidly growing movement in London. We really are on the verge of making history.

Support for the Green Party in London has surged in the past year. Membership of the party has more than trebled and now stands at over 11,000. The party recently announced that they will be standing candidates in every seat in the capital and that they have achieved a 50-50 gender split amongst their candidates.

Stand Up to Racism demonstration, Portland Place, Noon tomorrow (Saturday)

There will be a Green bloc on the demonstration. Green Block assembly point 11-11:30am BBC Portland Place, Central London. We will have a large BME Greens banner, so you won't be able to miss us!!

Please bring your own banners and placards!!

March route:

Brent Anti Racism Campaign  (BARC) will also be present. Look out for a big banner with this logo on it:

Green's rallying speech at London March for Homes

Greens on the TUC March - Britain Needs A Pay Rise

The Green Party is experiencing a surge in membership following the Referendum in Scotland and UKIP's by-election result.

Protest Against MIPIM: Housing for People Not For Profit

Andy Donald, Brent's Director of Regeneration and Major projects, has been a delegate to MIPIM at its Cannes meetings where he shared his thinking about development and regeneration - we can see the results of that thinking in Brent today. LINK

This year MIPIM  is coming to London.

The description under this videa reads:

The world’s largest property fair, known as MIPIM, is coming to London for the first time in its 25-year history. Hundreds of property developers, financiers and politicians will be welcomed by the Mayor of London when they converge on Olympia to do deals that allow them to profit from our land and our neighbourhoods.

This is creating unaffordable, insecure housing and contributing to the corporate takeover of our community space and public services. It means big profits for the richest 1% whilst destroying our communities and keeping millions in poverty.

We don't need more luxury housing, office blocks and shopping centres. We don't want our neighbourhoods to be gentrified and entire communities evicted. We want quality genuinely affordable housing and public services for all.

Join affected communities, the Radical Housing Network, the European Action Coalition for the
Right to Housing and the City, trade unions, tenants groups and many others to say ‘Our communities are not for sale!’

London Mayor Boris Johnson will be giving an opening address welcoming the property developers and financiers who have come to profit from our communities.

Green Party Assembly Member for London, Darren Johnson, will be attending the demonstration at 9am.

#BlockBoris

Wednesday 15 October, 9am

Meet outside Kensington Olympia tube, Olympia Way, W14 0NE