On Wednesday local activist around the town hall were protesting
against further encroachment of speculation in the public areas and
gardens of the local estate in Hackney. Under an new scheme, Estate
Plus, the council want to sell off the land and gardens around social
housing and local estates to build housing and then sell them for profit.

It seems to be a dysfunctional planning logic that allow the council to decide
to demolish social housing scheme that could house thousands of people and in the
same time selling off the land and gardens of their own citizens....

 http://00wearebad00.blogspot.com/2008/07/calling-all-hackney-wab-activists-and.html#main



On Thursday pressure groups, local and global business, hungry estate agents and few of the left-over-from-displacement residents and squatters were busy following a decision
that would have unlock the expansion of the City of London towards East.

This would have open - as a domino effect - the construction of a > of prime
real estate asset from REITs UK (1) Hammerson plc.

The changing of the historical border of the Shoreditch Conservation Area, was required
to gain planning permission to demolish an old Victorian power-house.
This would have allow an hotel and retail commercial tower of 50 + floors of steel and glass
to hit the ground, less than 100 meter away from the Bowl Court Squatted Social Center,
still standing on its own feet.

 http://squattercity.blogspot.com/2008/04/so-you-want-to-squat.html
 http://open-shoreditch.blogspot.com/2008/07/opens-campaign-to-save-shoreditch-from.html


The STOPtheCITY crew was very surprised to hear that Hackney Council wanted to refuse the application but under political pression -both London and Regional- they opted to defer it.
This in practical sense means that the application is un-appealable, and that the developers have to go back home and re-draw the plans for speculation...

Probably a refusal would have established a better historical planning ground....
but nerveless is a victory for the locality because that same night...
600 million of pounds of stock market poisoned assets were just burnt in 15 minutes,
not in the square mile and its dragons, but in Hackney Central...

 http://stopthecity.wordpress.com/

 http://bowlcourt.wordpress.com/


---

(1)

Creating places for people

"Hammerson is a leading REIT which operates principally in the retail sector.
The group invests in, develops and manages shopping centres, retail parks and
prime offices in the UK and France."

John Richards, Chief Executive
 http://www.hammerson.com


RIGHTs NOT REITs
 http://www.hic-net.org/documents.asp?PID=623

Riots not Reits