The Campaign
- There is only one Ridley Road. Ridley Road is a site of exceptional local cultural significance and heritage.
- Ridley Road is the embodiment of Hackney’s diversity and in particular it is essential to the London Afro-Caribbean community. Any new investment must be in this community’s interests.
- Ridley Road is more than just its street market. Ridley Road encompasses the shops down both sides of the street, the Ridley Road Shopping Village and the stores on St. Marks Rise. A threat to one is a threat to all.
- Ridley Road is a historic centre for music, art and culture. The affordable artists’ studio space in the Shopping Village continues this tradition and needs to be protected.
- Ridley Road Shopping Village is recognised by Hackney Council as an Asset of Community Value. We believe this recognition should extend to the whole of Ridley Road.
Support Ridley Road - take part in Hackney Council's consultation on the 'Dalston Plan' which closes on 30/08/21
We, the Save Ridley Road campaign, are raising alarm over the potential impact of Hackney Council’s Dalston Plan on the viability of Ridley Road market. Plans to build almost 500 new residences on the site of the Kingsland Road Shopping Centre will irrevocably alter the character of Dalston as a whole. This would be the equivalent of a whole new Dalston Square dropped onto the existing shopping centre on Kingsland Road.
Recent history shows that no matter what Hackney Council says, these will be overwhelmingly luxury flats for private sale. The knock-on effect on Ridley Road next door will be counted in demographic shifts, noise complaints and further private development on Ridley Road itself – and already the Council is saying it wants to ‘design out’ crime and install dozens of new CCTV cameras on the market.
Simply put, this is gentrification in action.
The Dalston Plan* includes a commitment to “Maintain and improve Ridley Road market and its character”. Campaigners say that the Plan characterises the market using vague and negative statements, and fails to take account of the impact on the market of large-scale private development in its immediate vicinity. We are calling for a more constructive approach, which focuses on listening to existing traders and market users, providing funding for local business initiatives, and building more homes for social rent.
We are asking for your help to input into the council’s consultation here**. Thank you!
**https://hackney.gov.uk/dalston-spd
*https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JKYYxGAtynP0NsxumGUAq_tR70Lg90_a/view
Have you watched our short campaign film?
Film by Alfredo Broccolo. Music by Bill and Adam Parry-Davies. First screened on 5th May at Rio Cinema.
Under The Cranes - a benefit for #SaveRidleyRoad
On Sunday 5th May at 3.45pm the Rio Cinema will be screening "Under the Cranes" Book now to avoid disappointment - it sold out last time !
The film has been described as "a polyphonic meditation on time and urban space - a joyous wonder, an instant addition to the modern canon of filmic London" and a "marvellous evocation of Hackney - the place, the peoples and their dreams too". Filmed on location in Hackney, and with rare archive footage, the film is a collaboration between the poet Michael Rosen and the film maker Emma-Louise Williams. Michael and Emma will be at the Rio to talk about the film and their own experiences of the changing face of Hackney. The Rio is screening the film to help raise funds for the #SaveRidleyRoad campaign. Our street market is increasingly at risk from "regeneration", gentrification and social cleansing. Rocketing land values and rents threaten the sustainability of Ridley Road's small businesses, street traders, artists and artisans and threaten the affordability of its produce on which so many Hackney families depend.
Community Celebration + Fundraiser
Saturday the 30th March saw a celebration of community spirit for Ridley Market in the spring sunshine!
In the largest event to date organised by Save Ridley Road, local people of all ages congregated in Gillett Square, joining together to paint signs, enjoy delicious vegan food, and experience the many performances from local poets, musicians and activists fighting for the heart, soul, and spirit of street market life in Dalston.
We would very much like to thank all those who turned out, in recognition of the threats posed by developers who want to carve up the incredible history and heritage of the market.
The event kicked off at Midday with music and sign painting. Slogans rustled up by children in attendance included:
'Love and Unity, Stop Selling Our Market', 'I Love Food I Can Afford' and 'ARRESTED DEVELOPERS’.
These were soon pasted up all over the square every which way. Meanwhile, lining Gillett Square was an exhibition of fantastic large format illustrations of Ridley Road by Lucinda Rogers.
After weeks of cold rain, Hackney stalwart Ray Carless' solo sax performance basked in sunshine, as attendees tucked into free vegan food served up by Food Not Bombs, using unsold ingredients that were provided by local grocers and shopkeepers.
Sympathetic community groups brought inspiration and solidarity to the fore, including passionate contributions from Save the Britannia Leisure Centre, Up the Elephant, Save Latin Village and Open Dalston, and a recorded message from Shopping Village trader Asli. Poetry by Bill Parry Davis, Tim Wells, Paula Varjack and Sam Berkson raised our hearts in opposition to the forces that seek to displace us.
Finally the event was brought to a close with a bang(er) by the amazing StephRefresh and EverythingZEZE, which included Steph's moving poem about growing up in Hackney and the people who have given the borough its life.
Throughout the afternoon, and amongst a hive of activity, attendees queued for a seat at our objections table, eager to put pen to paper and voice their concerns to Hackney Council about the proposed development of the Indoor Shopping Village.
Over 150 objections were collected by the end of the day!
Thank you to everyone who dedicated their time to due process.
We proved that community consultations don't have to be DRY and EXCLUSIVE -- done right they can be a pleasure. In Hackney public opinions is fervently against developers tearing up our communities by the roots.
We hope Hackney's planning team have as good a time reading the objections as everyone had writing them!
Save Ridley Road send out a big thanks to all the participants, the Cleaners & Allied Independent Workers Union (CAIWU) for lending us their Loudspeaker of the People, and HCD for helping us to set up at Gillett Square.
Property developers might own Hackney, but it's the people who live here who'll reshape it. Stay tuned for the next event!
COMMUNITY MEETING 5TH DECEMBER 2018
There was an incredibly successful community meeting held on 5th December.
It was a great show of solidarity and was empowering to hear so many diverse voices at the meeting.
It really feels like the wider community supports the traders in the Market Village, and understands the wider threat to the rest of the market.
WE REACHED THE FUNDRAISING TARGET!!!
Thank you to everyone that rallied around and helped us reach our target for the legal fighting fund! This is massive and will be a great relief to the traders in the coming weeks as they continue to be pressured to sign new leases with unfavorable terms.
We are continuing to fundraise past this initial target, so please continue to share the Crowd Justice link with your friends, family, councilors and colleagues.
Crowdjustice for the Save the Ridley Road Shopping Village traders from eviction!
ESSENTIAL READING:
This is a fantastic article by Danny Hayward who has been an integral part of the campaign and really is recommended reading for anyone worries about development within our community and the coming challenges.
“A fight over the future of the market is now inevitable. On the one hand, we have an assortment of independent traders, part-time workers, homeless people and artists, along with the enormous constituency of people who go to the market to shop, socialize or wander. On the other, we have a group of savvy mid-size property developers with large East London holdings and a track record of marketing flats to right-to-buy landlords and international investors.”
Save Ridley Road – how the community is fighting back against faceless developers
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS:
Rainbow have chosen and sent in an “independent” solicitor today, along with one of their property managers and George Albert who was the previous manager at the time the tenants were given two weeks to leave.
The Rainbow/La Rochette representatives attempted to bully traders into signing a new contract despite many of them having instructed their own solicitor to negotiate with the landlords’ solicitor.
They were presented with a THIRD new contract and asked to sign on the spot. Traders who asked for a copy to consider the terms in their own time were told that there were not sufficient copies to leave them with one.
This is completely unacceptable and underhanded behaviour, and it is this type of practice that the fighting fund will help to address so please continue to share and donate!
