Friday 28 February 2014

FOOD; TTIP stop the food scam from big business. Protest March 17 2014.



1) An article today after Tuesday's House of Commons debate on the TTIP
http://www.opendemocracy.net/ournhs/ben-cooper/government-brushes-aside-nhs-free-trade-treaty-concerns

and,

2) following on from the StopTTIP NHS/TTIP meeting
we are organising a public information meeting food/TTIP, on the food threats inherent in the deal.
The notice is below.
If you can send this information out further, that would be great.
Attached is a small leaflet (4 to a page) and an A4 poster for the meeting, if these are useful.

Thanks

Linda Kaucher   


FOOD/TTIP PUBLIC INFO MEETING
6.30pm, Mon 17th March

at UNITE building – Holborn 128 Theobalds Rd (next to Holborn Hotel)

Fancy chlorinated chicken, hormone beef and pork, Genetically Modified (GM) food
and endocrine disrupting pesticides on your veg?

All this is on the menu with the US/EU free trade agreement
(Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership – TTIP),
in exchange for deregulated financial services and privatised public services
- which you probably didn’t want either.

Hear food and trade experts explain how this secretive so-called ‘trade’ deal
threatens our food supply - because knowledge is power.

Free event  

Thursday 27 February 2014

MIPIM Radicle Housing Network join global protest to stop our homes and cities being sold off ;



Subject: [housingnetwork] Stop MIPIM, March 6th City Hall

please help to publicise this Radical Housing Network action everywhere! The poster/flyer won't go to the list, but I can send individually, or get you in on my paper round..

Stop Boris selling our city at MIPIM! March 6th, City Hall, 2.15pm



MIPIM is the world’s biggest property fair, where our cities and our land are up for sale. It takes place in Cannes, bringing together about 20,000 investors, developers, local authorities, and banks to figure out how to carve up our cities and sell off our land.


The companies which attend MIPIM, and our government “representatives” who share their champagne, are responsible for the eviction of communities, the gentrification of our neighbourhoods, and the housing crisis itself.


This year, on March 12th, people in cities across Europe are taking action to denounce the sale of our cities. The actions have been called by the European Action Coalition for the Right to Housing and the City, and is supported here by the Radical Housing Network.


People in London are organising, and plans are brewing. We don't want Boris Johnson and local councils selling our homes, because we have the rage that comes from our experience of corporate control. We are for quality, secure, truly affordable housing for all, and we will get it.

Join us, 6th March, 2.15pm, outside City Hall. Bring stories of your life in the housing crisis, or your struggle against it.

Bring For Sale signs - a prize will be awarded for the borough with the most!

Follow #londonnotforsale for updates www.peoplebeforeprofit.org.uk. Follow on twitter@Raywoolford@PeopleB_4profit

Cressington Gardens; Another Community fighting Labour Council and establishment greed



Cressingham Gardens: Homes Under The Sledgehammer, fantastic video on their fight to keep their estate and community youtube.com/watch?v=wGRf-S… Click link,

Wednesday 26 February 2014

New Cross People Before Profit Besson Street planning history Occupation house build history. Make Labour deliver on this promise1

Besson Street Development Site

PROGRESS ON THE BESSON STREET DEVELOPMENT SITE!
After months of lobbying, representatives from the Trust met with the Mayor of Lewisham and Council Officers at the start of February 2014 to discuss progress with the development site on Besson Street, and we are pleased to be able to report some good news!
It is probably worth recapping some of the original aims and objectives for the site agreed with the Council:
- to help contribute to the physical, social and economic regeneration of the area
- to provide new community infrastructure
- provision of new affordable housing
- provision of a new health facility and public space for new cross gate
- high quality architecture, to help stimulate wider regeneration
- environmental sustainability
A huge amount has already been invested in preparing the site for development and the Trust, on behalf of the local community, is determined to ensure the project is delivered and that it is a success.
There have been two unsuccessful Council procurement exercises to date, mainly as a result of the recession and the financial challenges posed by the scheme. The Council has apologised for the more recent delays and given a firm commitment to treat the site as a priority and move the project on.
Part of the recent delay has been because the Council is considering some new options for the project, including education provision and new types of housing. The original healthy living centre aspirations for the project remain, and so these new proposals will be in addition to the delivery of the long-awaited new healthcare centre and community space. We’re also pleased to report that, despite the delays, the funding for the new health centre is still in place and this is still due to be delivered in the first phase of the new development.
The Council has now agreed to meet regularly to discuss progress of the scheme, with the next steps being to finish the options appraisal for the site and then move towards appointing a developer. The Trust’s role will be to ensure that the views of the community continue to be represented in this process. Once the meetings with the Council are underway we will be able to let people know in more detail how this will work in practice, including proposals for consultation events and other ways to get involved and stay informed.
The Trust will also be working with the Council to ensure that community views can be fed into the detailed design and planning process as the scheme progresses. The Council has also put forward some options for temporary uses for the site whilst the procurement process is carried out, which unfortunately can take quite a long time. This is a really positive move and we will keep you updated as things progress!
The forecast development programme now looks like this:
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME
May 2014 – Development Brief concluded
July 2014 – Lewisham Mayor & Cabinet sign off development brief and agree to the marketing of the site
July 2014 – Commence selection of development partner
March 2015 – Select development partner
June 2015 – Conditional contract agreed
March 2016 – Planning consent granted
April 2016 to September 2017 – Contractor mobilisation and Phase 1 build
October 2017 – Earliest occupation of health centre
October 2017 to January 2019 – Phase 2 build (subject to phasing plan)
For more information please contact Jenny Couper, email –jenny.couper@nxgtrust.org.uk.
www.peoplebeforeprofit.org.uk
Follow on twitter@Raywoolford@PeopleB_4profit

Building Better Health Announced As Preferred Bidder For New Cross Gate Development

August 6th, 2009
New Cross Gate PR 4 

New Cross Gate PR 2 

New Cross Gate PR 1 
Developer Building Better Health has today been announced as the preferred bidder for the £35 million New Cross Gate development, a vital regeneration scheme that almost risked being put on hold as a result of the economic downturn.
A landmark development, it has been awarded by the New Cross Gate Trust on behalf of New Cross Gate New Deal for Communities (NDC), the area based regeneration partnership. Once completed, it will be home to a new health centre, a pharmacy, fitness facility, library, cafe, internet facilities, crèche, community space, retail spaces and 170 residential units.

Designed by architects Fielden Clegg Bradley, the project features in the Mayor of London’s 100 Public Spaces programme. Following a rigorous tender process, Building Better Health demonstrated it had the ability to successfully deliver a scheme that holds considerable community importance.


Building Better Health is renowned for its work on health schemes. The company is the private sector partner in three NHS LIFT schemes across the capital and has a track record of delivering imaginative and forward thinking schemes. Unlike many LIFT developers, however, Building Better Health is keen to integrate other community services into its schemes, an initiative that is widely supported.

The New Cross Gate development will be Building Better Health’s largest non NHS LIFT project, demonstrating the company's ability to innovate and deliver a wide range of community regeneration projects. 

Clive Wilson, Chief Executive of the NDC commented, '”This is a very important appointment for the Trust. The NDC Centre will provide the main physical and social legacy for the New Cross Gate NDC programme. Due to the economic downturn in the housing market it had looked like the plans for a new town centre development would have to have been put on hold. However, Building Better Health has come up with an imaginative proposal which will enable the delivery of the scheme, in many ways improved on our original concept. Building Better Health has a great track record in creative approaches, commitment to excellent design and working in partnership with local communities. We are really pleased they are going to be our partner in creating lasting change for the area.'

A key feature of Building Better Health’s bid was the emphasis the company put on the importance of community involvement. With its a private sector developer experience combined with its public sector understanding, commitment and operational ethos, it provided the perfect balance to deliver the New Cross gate development.


Building Better Health’s aim for the scheme is to make the New Cross Gate development a sustainable social enterprise so it can offer quality services after funding finishes and in turn provide a long term solution with services that are needed by the local community.

Save our Millwall Latest statement from fans and community campaign; Feb 2014

The Save our Millwall campaign response to South London Press

The Save our Millwall campaign would like to reply to the article, “Anti-sale campaign gets global backing”, which appeared in the South London Press on 21.02.14.
We would like to put the record straight, so that the readers of the South London Press can make up their own minds about who we are and our approach to trying to stopping the sale of public land to Renewal.
Save our Millwall was set-up by a Millwall supporter and the majority of the group are members of the Millwall Supporters Club; some of whom are also local community campaigners. We believe a serious campaign requires us to build a mass campaign that unites both Millwall supporters and the local community. Our on-line petition has drawn local and international support and has over 1,000 signatures.
We called a lobby of Lewisham Council for Wednesday 26th February to hand in our petition. We did not call a demonstration. We publicised the lobby by handing out over 3,000 flyers at the home game with Bolton. On that day we also collected 780 signatures for our petition. We invited Peter Garston, the Fan on the Board, to join us at the town hall so we could jointly hand in our petitions to have a bigger impact. Peter and the Defend our Den campaign have also been invited to our organising meetings so they could actually meet us and discuss their concerns. They would find we have the football club’s interests at heart.
While we welcome Peter Garston’s widening of the campaign to include other football league club’s, we are concerned that this strategy alone is failing to mobilise the thousands of Millwall supporters that live in Lewisham, neighbouring boroughs and beyond from getting involved in a campaign to get this decision reversed.
We are not naïve enough to believe that a petition or a meeting with the council alone will get the desired result we are seeking, but a growing campaign that will put increasing pressure on the council, the mayor and the councillors.
Millwall supporters are also renowned for saying what they think and we will tread on toes to protect the long term future of the club. Uncomfortable questions do need to be asked. Why did Millwall Football Club fail to tell its supporters in December that the land had been sold? Why did Lewisham Council decide to sell the land to a company operating from a mailing address? Is there a conflict of interest for both Jordana Malik, a director of Renewal, and the Mayor of Lewisham, Steve Bullock, who are both trustees of the self described charity the Surrey Canal Sports Foundation Limited who use the same address as one of Renewal’s businesses?
Our next step is a public meeting which will be held Tuesday 4th March at 7pm at The Talbot public house, 2 Tyrwhitt Road, Lewisham SE4 1QG and we invited Millwall supporters and the wider community to join us.
Follow us on Twitter @saveourmillwall
Contact us at
SaveOurMillwall@gmail.com
Text: 07806 545 279
http://www.saveourmillwall.blogspot.co.uk

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