Showing posts with label Sweets Way. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sweets Way. Show all posts

Monday 28 May 2018

Sweets Way evictor Guy Hands prepares bid for Quintain's private rental properties


Guy Hands
 The financial press reported over the weekend that private equity investor and tax exile Guy Hands is contemplating a £2.5bn bid for Quintain in a move to get into the privately rented sector.

Quintain's owner, Lone Star, is said to want to sell by early next month and other bids are expected. Hands' acquisition would be through his Terra Firma (registered in Guernsey) property arm Annington formed in 1996 to buy up 57,000 Ministry of Defence Homes.

Of interest to Quintain's Tipi privare rental clients is that recently the National Audit Office (NAO) LINK criticised the deal stating that the MOD had lost out on billions of pounds through the sale and will face further costs through substantial rent increases imposed by Hands' company when a rent freeze ends in 2021.


Nearer to home Hands' company Terra Firma was involved in evicting social tenants from Sweets Way, West Hendon. LINK   LINK

Hands made a big loss on EMI  LINK and his Four Seasons care homes  LINK is in difficulty.

Brent Council is now faced with establishing new partnerships with new owners of both Quintain and Wembley Stadium. It has a lot of eggs in one Wembley basket. They will certainly have to be sharp to keep up with Guy Hands and Shahid Kan!


Monday 4 April 2016

Support Sweets Way Resistance at Willesden Magistrates Court on Wednesday morning


Sweets Way campaigners are calling for support at Willesden Magistrates Court on Wednesday morning.  They have put up active resistance to Barnet Council's policy of social cleansing.

This video was made a year ago:

Saturday 19 December 2015

Conditional discharge for Sweets Way social cleansing resisters

Brent activists joined those from Barnet at a solidarity demonstration outside Willesden Magistrates Court.

People from the Sweets Way Resists campaign were appearing before magistrates charged with obstructing High Court enforcement officers when they were evicting tenants from Sweets Way, in what campaigners see as enforcing social cleansing.

The accused were given a conditional charge, which means no prison sentence or fines, but they may have court costs awarded against them.

SweetsWay Website


Thursday 17 December 2015

Sweets Way Solidarity Rally, Willesden Magistrates Court, 1pm Friday

From Sweets Way Resists

JOIN US TO STAND UP AGAINST SOCIAL CLEANSING AND THE CRIMINALISATION OF PEACEFUL PROTEST!

On 23 and 24 of September, the Sweets Way estate was evicted by dozens of High Court bailiffs and 7 vans of London Met police. Nearly a hundred occupiers of dozens of homes were turfed out, as was Mostafa, the last original resident of the estate. Supporters peacefully attempted to stop Mostafa's eviction, many of whom were arrested. Fifteen now face criminal charges for obstructing High Court Enforcement Officers.

Their trial is scheduled to take place over three days, from 10am on Wednesday, December 16, through Friday, December 18. Supporters are encouraged to attend the hearings each day, but we are calling a solidarity rally outside Willesdon Magistrates Court for 1pm on Friday, December 18 to take a stand with those who were arrested for standing up to social cleansing.

Monday 17 August 2015

Monster emerges through the trees at Welsh Harp Reservoir


Readers will remember that there was a broad-based campaign opposing the Barratt Home development on the banks of the Welsh Harp Reservoir at West Hendon. Mainly low-rise social housing was to be replaced by luxury private tower blocks close to a nature reserve and SSSI. LINK

Unfortunately the campaign did not succeed and Barnet Council went ahead with the scheme. West Hendon Estate residents through their Our West Hendon campaign are fighting what they see as social cleansing of a community and working with Sweets Way residents to challenge Barnet Council Their passion can be seen in this video taken at a Barnet Council Meeting on July 28th when they presented their petitions:



Walking the Kingsbury side of the Welsh Harp on Sunday it became clear what an intrusive eyesore these blocks will be.  Sold on the basis of the wonderful green view of the Kingsbury bank that the new residents will see, on our side we will see tower blocks the tallest of which is 24 storeys.


The Minutes of the last Joint Welsh Harp Consultative Committee highlight some of the issues that are emerging during the building works for  resdients and for the Nature Reserve.

Looking across from the Kingsbury side to West Hendon, the nature reserve is on the stretch of water in between
Extract from Minutes:


It It was noted that the outcome of the public enquiry regarding the Compulsory Purchase of the West Hendon Estate was due shortly and further information would be circulated to all members with the minutes of the current meeting.


·         A short written update was provided by Terry Garner (Principle Planner, LB Barnet) regarding the position of SSSI Warden. It was commented that this information had been shared at the last meeting of the committee. The London Wildlife Trust (LWT) would be hosting the position and the queries regarding whether any charge would be made by Barratt London for the provision of office space remained outstanding. Dianne Murphy (Chair, LWT Barnet) advised that the job description for the position was due to be signed off imminently; the post would be advertised in the coming weeks with interviews being held in September 2015. It was anticipated that the Warden would be in position in time for the next committee meeting in November.


·         Concerns were raised regarding the level of noise from the development and the impact on the birdlife of the Welsh Harp. The committee agreed with the view that the planned measures to inhibit noise were ineffective. It was further noted that the contractors were not complying with the restrictions on working hours as stipulated in the conditions of the planning permission. Roy Beddard (Welsh Harp Conservation Group (WHCG)) noted that there had been no discernible impact on bird populations as recorded by the monthly monitoring surveys conducted by the WHCG. It was agreed that the results of these surveys could be circulated to the committee and the Chair agreed to explore this issue and provide an update to the committee prior to the next meeting.


·         Clive Cohen (LWT) raised concerns regarding the impact of the development on water quality and suggested that officers explore funding opportunities to enable regular monitoring to be conducted. A member highlighted that the Environment Agency (EA) did undertake monitoring of water quality. The Chair agreed to seek comment on this matter from the relevant officers.


·         The committee reviewed the written update from Nathan Smith (Barratt London) regarding the use of prohibited roads by contractors. Members of the committee reported that the issue was ongoing. The Chair encouraged members of the committee to report any incidents. It was noted that it was not always practical to take down the necessary details to enable accurate reports to be made. Possible solutions were discussed by the committee including the installation of cameras by Barratt London and the continued use of banksmen as it was possible that this acted as a deterrent. It was agreed that the continuation of this problem would be raised by the Chair with the planning officers in Barnet and Barratt Homes. Representatives from Barratt Homes would be asked to attend committee meetings in the future.


·         Councillor Langleben raised the issue of the impact of the Brent Cross Regeneration works on the Brent River Stream. The Chair undertook to write to Barnet Planning for an update to be provided at the next meeting.







Wednesday 12 August 2015

Housing Battle: Sweets Way Resists make bailiffs retreat

From Sweets Way Resists LINK



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On Monday, people kept a family from being evicted and pushed a council to reverse the decision that would have left them homeless. But we need to keep up the pressure to keep Mostafa and the family safe

On Sunday night, many of us didn’t go to sleep. Bailiffs were due at 46 Sweets Way and because we had seen what Mostafa and his family had gone through, and we had seen them failed over and over again by the various systems that are meant to protect them, we knew we needed to prepare with them to stay in their home.

We were prepared to do everything peaceful within our power to stop High Court bailiffs from entering the home of the last family at Sweets Way and making them homeless. Some of us planned to take photos and document the experience, others were prepared to take civil disobedience and face arrest.

But whatever kind of action we spent the night before preparing to do, we prepared to do it because it was right.

As it turned out, there were enough of us there that sending away the bailiffs proved to only require a very passive form of resistance: being there! Enough of us, even, that they didn’t show their faces or even make an attempt to breach the gauntlet of more than 60 people (including allies from Our West Hendon, Barnet Housing Action, Haringey Housing Action Group, Barnet Alliance for Public Services and Black Dissidents) and an extensive array of amateur barricading.

In fact, we only even found out that the bailiffs had come and gone when we called Barnet Council’s lawyers. We asked if the bailiffs were still scheduled to arrive and were told that the two thugs that had been dispatched knew immediately they were no match for our collective power, and left. (They didn’t use exactly those words…).

You could feel the sense of collective power in the air – we knew what we had achieved, and the energy was electric! A group of regular people had sent away the bailiffs and kept a family in their home! And we knew we would be able to do it again.

Better yet, as Barnet had been punishing the family over the a small amount of rent arrears accrued since the Council unexpectedly cut their housing benefit, they received a message this afternoon informing them that their housing benefit had been reinstated, retroactive a month ago. This will address their arrears and allow Barnet to once again own up to their responsibility to house the family appropriately.

This is a clear victory spurred by our collective action to highlight the Council’s many failures to Mostafa, and the number of media requests that came off the back of our action. Once again, Barnet need to find the family somewhere to go. And it’s up to us to make sure they have a home until the point where they have an alternative that truly meets their needs.

This will require a lot of work from all of us, preparing to fight off the bailiff threat whenever it rears its ugly head. High Court bailiffs don’t normally offer a time or date when they are coming, and are entitled to use physical force to enter and remove families from a house. Because of this, Mostafa and the family remain barricaded in and ready for an attack.

We need to be there with them.

We have a strong contingent of occupiers staying around Sweets Way at the moment, but we need more people who can stay there (or who live very locally) in the coming days, to ensure an initial line of defence when bailiffs do return. It would be tragic if all our hard work yesterday was lost because a few of us slept late one day.

Get in touch if you live within in a few minutes of the estate, or can come stay over during the coming days. sweetswayresists@gmail.com / 07812 372 298

We are all inspired by what we were able to do on Monday – let’s be sure it continues to grow!

Friday 7 August 2015

Helps stop family's eviction: Monday Sweets Way N20 ONT 8am for 9am start

 urgent Mesdage from Sweets Way Resists LINK

CALL-OUT: Keep Mostafa’s family in Sweets Way, Monday, August 10, 8am, 46 Sweets Way, N20 0NT (Meet at Sweetstopia, 95 Sweets Way)

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Mostafa’s family are the last remaining family on the Sweets Way estate. They have fought to stay where they are because Barnet Council have failed to provide alternative accommodation suitable to Mostafa’s physical health needs, having developed a serious disability while working as a carer three years ago.

Now they have been told that High Court bailiffs will be coming to evict the family of six on Monday morning, and we are committed to helping them stay in their homes until Barnet Council have found a truly suitable alternative accommodation for them.

In the midst of the eviction process, Barnet cut off the family’s housing benefit, leading to rent arrears, and are now using this as an excuse to avoid their duty of care to them. Both because of the Council’s horrendous treatment of Mostafa and his family, and because they are the last family standing on the estate, it is critical that we mobilise to stop this eviction!

There will be roles for people who are comfortable with different kinds of action on the day. There are always legal risks involved in stopping evictions, but we aim to make sure that everyone who is present can play a part, no matter what their level of comfort with different forms of direct action.
Regardless, we will need as many people as possible if we are to keep Mostafa in his home. Please arrive at 8am outside the gates of Sweetstopia (95 Sweets Way) for a 9am start.

DETAILS: Monday, August 10, 8am, 46 Sweets Way, London, N20 0NT (Meet at Sweetstopia, 95 Sweets Way)
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