By Tony Collins
In recent months Broadway
Market has gained notoriety amongst both local and national press.
The battle to save Tony’s Café and Spirits shop has
captured the attention of a media keen to equate it with the demise
of High streets and local shops in areas all over Britain.
The occupiers of no.34 Broadway Market, formerly ‘Francesca’s’
or Tony’s Café, were evicted on February 23. A wigwam
of scaffolding on the roof which stood as a symbol of the whole
occupation was dismantled. It is believed the owner Roger Wratten
intends to develop the site for twenty shoebox flats with a shop
façade at the front, probably selling something unnecessary
and expensive. At the top of the market his other concern La Vie
en Rose (formerly the popular Little Georgia Café) remains
boycotted after Wratten forced out the previous tenants in August.
He upped their annual rent from £30k (already the highest
in the street) to £36k without prior warning. It is evidence
of the power the man yields in the market that he can move popular
tenants at the slightest whim. He has already got rid of two Asian
shopkeepers and his desire to socially engineer the street knows
no bounds.
Arthur Shuter is the main spokesperson for the occupiers. Self-trained
in law, he has been helping Tony with his case for `a number of
years. He is keen to see an external investigation of the great
Hackney sell-off and believes this represents the best route for
justice for Tony and Spirit. ‘The only way out of this is
for the police to do what is supposed to be their job’, says
Arthur ‘I’d like to see all those responsible behind
bars’.
Outrage at the council is reaching fever pitch. 250 people attended
a public meeting in January. Conspicuous by his absence was Mayor
Jules Pipe who has refused numerous invitations to talk on the subject.
Indeed, he has been openly scornful of the Save Tony’s Café
campaign in industry journals. The council line has remained that
the events that deprived Spirit and Tony of their properties were
the fault of a previous regime. This is despite the fact that many
of those on the council today were part of the hung council at the
time (Pipe was leader of the Labour Group). More worryingly, the
same policies are being carried out in Dalston Lane and across Hackney.
Lessons do not appear to have been learnt at all.
Andrew Boff is the local Conservative councillor and secretary
of The Broadway Market Traders Association. He recently tabled a
motion that the council suspend all property sales until a proper
investigation is carried out. He is proposing a public hearing that
would allow Spirit and Tony to make their case. Boff believes the
whole affair is symptomatic of widespread political corruption within
Hackney Council. ‘Even in the best possible light you would
have to say that the (sell-off) process was not transparent. This
council is opaque because essentially it distrusts the people.’
The proximity of the elections adds spice to the whole affair.
South Hackney would seem to be full of anti-council resentment,
and opposition groups on both left and right are keen to take advantage
of this. Boff believes that coalitions across the borough could
bring about another hung council. ‘At a local level there
is a lot of common ground amongst all the opposition parties. The
worst outcome for this borough would be for Labour to have control
again. The culture of Hackney council needs to change.’ The
occupation has certainly galvanised many across Hackney. Down the
road the 120-year-old Dalston theatre has also been occupied in
protest against its planned demolition, yet more adverse publicity
for Jules & co.
The Save Tony and Spirit campaign has united the locality in an
unprecedented way. The whole affair has not only embarrassed the
council but also made many people feel proud of the locality and
its ability to resist. Let us hope that this unity can not only
provide security for Tony and Spirit but also shape the future development
of the market.
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