UK housing crisis

My latest thoughts on the coronavirus crisis, looking specifically at how it must change the way we operate forever – not only via the extinction of the cruise ship industry and the acceptance of a much-reduced airline industry, but also through a complete re-evaluation of capitalism and our own appetites. Some of this follows on from the demands of Greta Thunberg and Extinction Rebellion, but the virus has, in an unprecedented manner, thrown almost everything we thought was certain into doubt, presenting unparalleled opportunities for a new future in which we put the needs of the people and the planet before profit.

A three-in-one article, launching the new song, ‘Affordable’, about the housing crisis, by The Four Fathers, plus a review of the campaign to save the Old Tidemill Wildlife Garden in Deptford, one year since the trees were all cut down by contractors working on behalf of Lewisham Council and Peabody – and some photos of protestors’ posters put up on the hoardings around the garden last week to mark the anniversary.

Marking 1,000 days since I began posting a photo a day on Facebook, on a page entitled, ‘The State of London’, drawing from what is now a nearly eight-year archive of photos taken on bike rides around London’s 120 postcodes, in which I record the latest upheavals and changes in the life of this great city, particularly involving the depredations of the housing development industry, the city’s shopfronts and neighbourhoods, its nature, via rivers, canals, trees, parks and hills, and its more ephemeral aspects as reflected in the changing weather and the seasons.

My condemnation of Priti Patel’s disgraceful attack on Britain’s Gypsy and traveller community, in which she is calling for new powers for the police to be able to immediately confiscate the vehicle of “anyone whom they suspect to be trespassing on land with the purpose of residing on it” – a policy change that the police themselves don’t even want, as they recognise that the main problem is the lack of site provision, a requirement that was repealed by the Tories in 1994. I urge all decent people to rise up against this foul government, and also to be aware of where a far-right drift in government can lead.

Twenty-four photos I took during the two-month occupation of the Old Tidemill Wildlife Garden in Deptford, from August 28 to October 28, 2018, which I was part of, before we were violently evicted on October 29. Also included: a re-cap of the reasons for the occupation, and the shameful behaviour of Lewisham Council and Peabody, and the thugs they hired to show their power.

Today I’m marking 900 days since I first began posting a photo a day on the Facebook page, ‘The State of London’, on the fifth anniversary of when I first began cycling around London on a daily basis, taking photos in all 120 of its postcodes. Thanks to everyone taking an interest in this project!

A link to – and discussion of – my new article for Novara Media, about fundamental problems with a ballot taking place in New Cross for residents of the Achilles Street estate regarding a proposal by Lewisham Council to demolish their homes as part of a new housing development. The main problems are that demolition is environmentally ruinous, and, instead, the estate should be refurbished, but, shamefully, no money is being made available for it by either central government or the GLA. Also included: an analysis of the six ballots that have already taken place in London.

My report about the Global Climate Strike on September 20, 2019, and, particularly, the protest in London, in which I applaud the young people fighting for their future, discuss the architects who were amongst the adults joining in, and ask what benefit there is in the criticism of Greta Thunberg and Extinction Rebellion by some anti-capitalists.

I look at how Peabody Sales, the private sales arm of the giant housing association Peabody, has just launched a new development, called ‘The Muse’, at Amersham Vale in New Cross, with the private firm Sherrygreen Homes and Lewisham Council, where 80% of the homes will be for private sale. With breathtaking hypocrisy, Amersham Vale was stealthily twinned by the council with the bitterly-contested Tidemill site in Deptford, where campaigners — myself included — fought a long battle to try to prevent the destruction of a vital community space and environmental asset, the Old Tidemill Wildlife Garden, and a block of flats next door, and where, moreover, the council has been trumpeting the number of ‘affordable’ homes that will be built, without mentioning how those figures are undermined by the number of private homes at Amersham Vale.

One year since campaigners – myself included – occupied the Old Tidemill Wildlife Garden in Deptford to prevent its destruction by Lewisham Council and Peabody, I look at how badly the council handled the occupation and the subsequent eviction, and ask if this and other campaigns have done any lasting damage to the fundamentally disgraceful ‘regeneration’ industry.