Despite over 7,000 objections, Tower Hamlets council is still recommending approval for the Truman application of Brick Lane.

Outraged? Below are some reasons why, and what you can do to fight back.

The Dominant Narrative: Brick Lane must die

“The State was just a forward trench; behind it stood a succession of sturdy fortresses and emplacements.” – Antonio Gramsci (1891 – 1937)

The past decades have seen the influx of speculative developers and developments flood into the East End. The result is always the same, ‘public affairs consultants’, a small group of locally connected individuals, benefitting while the rest of the residents losing out. A paradox is created, as developments are built the housing waiting list in the area increase. For example, in the west of the borough we have had a multitude of developments, but at the same time, local schools are earmarked for closure, while local retailers shut their doors for the last time.

So who benefits? It’s not local residents but foreign investors. At a closer inspection, the primary purpose of these developments is to act as bank accounts for foreign investors, quietly appreciating value in the London property market. It is more cost-effective for such investors. For example, take a walk down Leman Street, down the road from Brick lane, to see the multitude of flats without any lights in the evening, indicating the level of vacant properties. A perverse situation, In a borough with a massive housing waiting list, with many families living in overcrowded conditions, waiting for decades to be housed in decent conditions.

Now, the developers have set their site on Brick Lane, with a proposed application at the Truman’s Brewery for corporate offices and retail units. No housing proposed, or no units designed for local retailers. Another nail in the coffin, where local working-class communities are pushed out so that foreign investors can make a quick buck on the speculative London Property Market.

The foreign investors and their developer friends are aided and supported by the idea, “that nothing can be done”, “this is the way it is”, “there is no alternative”. Repeated and explained to locals by politicians and self-appointed ‘community leaders, that the communities of the East End are destined for the archives and history books. We have an ‘Alice in Wonderland’ situation, where the role of public institutions is not to protect these communities from the destructive activities of international capital, but to administer palliative care to neighbourhoods earmarked for death. But don’t worry, to help ease the pain, there is the odd community grant here, a little street improvement there. All distractions while traditional working-class communities are pushed out to make way for the profits of foreign investors.

It does not have to be like that. The fightback has begun.

The Battle for ‘Position & Ideas’ in Brick lane: An Alternative Community Plan for the Truman Brewery

The Truman Brewery due to its size and location has a strategic influence on the future of Brick Lane. Allowing the planning application submitted by the owners will result in a precedent for further types of development of that nature, the result of which is higher land prices, rents and the pushing out of the area independent businesses that make Brick Lane what it is today.

A community plan, putting people at the heart of Brick lane is being developed by activists. The first step in the process, building a social foundation of a system of development that puts people not profit at the centre of regeneration. Creating alternative institution and alternative intellectual resources within the community. You can read about it and join in the action here.

The Battle for ‘Movement’ in Brick Lane: Stop the Truman Brewery Application

But it seems time is running out, with what appears a fast-tracking of the process by Tower Hamlets Council. Despite legal objections put forward by Councillor Andrew Wood to delay the decision, as per election purdah rules, the item has been tabled for a decision in the middle of an election campaign.

What is at stake, is not just the question of the actual application, but also the question as to who the East End is for. Is it an entity, created by the poor to be sold off to the rich, or an East End that belongs to all. This type of development, lead by profit margins, creates masses of surplus population, who are either pushed out geographically or are heavily policed as a cultural and economic other to protect developer investments. An idea of cultural evolution and group selection, espoused by the father of Neoliberal Economics, Friedrich Hayek. Hayek claimed that the idea that “all men are born equal” is untrue because evolution and genetic differences have created a “boundless variety of human nature”. He emphasized the importance of nature, complaining that it became too fashionable to ascribe all human differences to the environment. Ideas that seem to be applied as a guide in terms of the direction pursued by Tower Hamlets Council in the application of its planning and regeneration policy. The result is an increase in racial disparities and inequalities, a kick in the teeth to the rich cultural legacy, for the struggle for equality in the East End.

The application is due to be heard by the Tower Hamlets Council Development Committee on the 27th of April 2021. All of us who care about what Brick Lane is and stands for, need to come together and make our voices heard. Come along to the Town Hall on the day, and let’s shout in unison (in a social distance manner) RECLAIM BRICK LANE!

#RightToTheCity #ForTheManyNotTheFew

“I’m a pessimist because of intelligence, but an optimist because of will.” – Antonio Gramsci (1891 – 1937)