On 29th March we held a public meeting to talk about the Council’s plans for 55 Morning Lane. Hackney Council are currently consulting residents about this but their three public meetings seem to be less about listening and more about convincing us that there is no choice but to downsize Tesco and fill the site with private flats. At the Morning Lane People’s Space public meeting, we talked about how we can challenge the Council and how we work together to get themto build something that puts people before profit.
Our red lines are:
- At least 50% of any new housing on the site must be council housing at social rent.
- We need to keep a big Tesco on the site.
- The Council must make good on its promise to co-design the site with the local community.
The current big Tesco and car park are local resources. If Hackney Council cannot currently build something that meets residents’ needs and makes our lives better, they should keep the site as it is until they can.
Hackney Council needs to work with us to create an alternative to the developer finance model. Let’s build a model that includes the savings on temporary accomodation and other services you get from build council housing, and that takes a longterm view.
We want to know:
- What has the Council learned from the consultation and what has this changed?
- What conversations has the Council had with Tesco and what has this changed?
- What are the Council’s plans to address the needs of people in temporary accommodation and on the housing waiting list generally and how does the site fit into these?
We will keep campaigning until Hackney Council listens to residents
Our next action is to go to the Council’s final design workshop on Saturday 26th April 11am-1pm in the Dan West Community Hall. This is an important opportunity for all of us who care about the Tesco site in Hackney Central to make our views clear.
If you’d like to get more involved in Morning Lane People’s Space, email us on morninglanepeoplesspace@gmail.com
morninglanepeoplesspace.org 