Khoodeelaar! demo today against Crossrail hole-backer Tower Hamlets Council
Khoodeelaaronline! The East End of London No to Crossrail hole Bill | 22.01.2007 13:47 | Social Struggles | London | World
Khoodeelaar! is demonstrating against Tower Hamlets Council today. Gathering at 5 PM Outside the Brady Centre in the Hanbury Street [off Brick Lane] London E1 .Today's Khoodeelaar! demonstration is marking the anniversary of the demand on Tower Hamlets Council to pass an unequivocal No to CrossRail hole Bill Motion that was made by a Khoodeelaar! community meeting held at the Brady Centre in hanbury Street. The meeting loudly agreed with me when I spoke to it and highlighted the roles played by certain elements exercising the crucial decision-making powers on and IN THE NAME of the Tower Hamlets Council in bringing the unnecessary Crossrail hole attacks on the community.
By ©Muhammad Haque
The Organiser, Khoodeelaar! The Brick Lane and Whitechapel London E1 Area campaign against Crossrail hole Bill
1320 Hrs GMT
London Monday 22 January 2007
Exactly a year ago today [chronologically], 22 January 2007 [the day was a Sunday], more than 1000 people turned up at the Brady Centre in the Hanbury Street London E1 [off Brick Lane] to attend a mass meeting in support of the Khoodeelaar! Movement. The meeting was to say NO to Crossrail hole Bill.
The motion that I thought up as I spoke on 22 January 2006 was very clear and very much in accord with the wishes of the people present [and those of the many that were not able to attend].
Tower Hamlets Council controlling clique INVITED the Crossrail hole to the East End.
By doing so, the clique caused the community to do a campaign to stop the Crossrail hole here. The Khoodeelaar! Campaign was set up to defend the community against Crossrail hole-inviter Tower Hamlets Council and to stop the Crossrail hole being given parliamentary go-ahead. We have campaigned for three years against the Crossrail hole.
We have forced [in March 2006] the scrapping of the CrossRail DIRT hole [that was dropped from the ‘CrossRail Bill] part of the Crossrail Bill under pressure from our campaign against it]. That Crossrail DIRT hole [and tunnel] was going to be dug in the Brick Lane and Whitechapel London E1 Area. Now, a year on from the Khoodeelaar! public meeting demand of 22 January 2006, we are still campaigning to have the remainder of the Crossrail hole plot to be scrapped. That Crossrail hole is still included in the Crossrail Bill that is now ‘going through’.
Tower Hamlets Council always has had the option to Say No to Crossrail hole plot.
So why doesn’t it pass the Motion Saying No to Crossrail hole the community passed at that meeting held at the Brady Centre on 22 January 2006?
We can find no legal reason.
We can find no economic reason.
We can find no social reason.
No environmental reason.
No engineering, technical reason.
So we are again calling on all the councillors with any pretence of identifying with the community to use their CURRENT positions on Tower Hamlets Council and move a motion for thj full Council top pass it.
We have already given them the motion to table.
The KHOODEELAAR Motion for Tower Hamlets Council to Say No to Crossrail hole reads as follows:
, “This Council agrees with the Khoodeelaar! the community-defending opposition to the Crsosrail hole being dug in the area and asks the Secretary of State to find any alternatives by taking into actual account all the points that have been made by all the people in the Eats End who have put forward written and verbal objections to the CrossRail plan as it is’.
If the Council controlling clique is prepared to drop its anti-democratic, unaccountable, corrupt practices and be honest with the community then we can help with the further details involved in the drafting of a motion that would formally suit all the relevant constituency and constitutional conditions of the East End …
We are giving this opportunity to the controlling clique in the Council to stop behaving dishonestly and asking them to start behaving honestly, accountably and manifestly in support of and in defence of the economic, social, democratic and environmental needs, demands and wants of the area in whose name they sit on the present Tower Hamlets Council.
As far as the Opposition councillors are concerned, we are telling them that they have no excuse to not organise call ins or to organise motions for the Full Council in accordancee with the Khoodeelaar! community demand of 22 January 2006.
Although the local elections have gone and some ‘new’ councillors have got elected,. the principle of the demand which I spoke [and thus moved] and which was loudly, unconditionally and unanimously passed and supported by the Khoodeelaar! community meeting held a year ago today [22 Jan 2006] stands valid.
It is the most efficient and democratically accountable way out for the Tower Hamlets Council from the mess of the Crossrail hole attack that they had brought upon this community.
We are preparing court action, a series of court actions, that will cost more time and resource than the controlling claque on Tower Hamlets Council appears to realise.
Say No to CrossRail, hole
No to Crossrail-backing Council
Say No to Crossrail
Pass the Motion against Crossrail hole Bill Now
To be continued
The Organiser, Khoodeelaar! The Brick Lane and Whitechapel London E1 Area campaign against Crossrail hole Bill
1320 Hrs GMT
London Monday 22 January 2007
Exactly a year ago today [chronologically], 22 January 2007 [the day was a Sunday], more than 1000 people turned up at the Brady Centre in the Hanbury Street London E1 [off Brick Lane] to attend a mass meeting in support of the Khoodeelaar! Movement. The meeting was to say NO to Crossrail hole Bill.
The motion that I thought up as I spoke on 22 January 2006 was very clear and very much in accord with the wishes of the people present [and those of the many that were not able to attend].
Tower Hamlets Council controlling clique INVITED the Crossrail hole to the East End.
By doing so, the clique caused the community to do a campaign to stop the Crossrail hole here. The Khoodeelaar! Campaign was set up to defend the community against Crossrail hole-inviter Tower Hamlets Council and to stop the Crossrail hole being given parliamentary go-ahead. We have campaigned for three years against the Crossrail hole.
We have forced [in March 2006] the scrapping of the CrossRail DIRT hole [that was dropped from the ‘CrossRail Bill] part of the Crossrail Bill under pressure from our campaign against it]. That Crossrail DIRT hole [and tunnel] was going to be dug in the Brick Lane and Whitechapel London E1 Area. Now, a year on from the Khoodeelaar! public meeting demand of 22 January 2006, we are still campaigning to have the remainder of the Crossrail hole plot to be scrapped. That Crossrail hole is still included in the Crossrail Bill that is now ‘going through’.
Tower Hamlets Council always has had the option to Say No to Crossrail hole plot.
So why doesn’t it pass the Motion Saying No to Crossrail hole the community passed at that meeting held at the Brady Centre on 22 January 2006?
We can find no legal reason.
We can find no economic reason.
We can find no social reason.
No environmental reason.
No engineering, technical reason.
So we are again calling on all the councillors with any pretence of identifying with the community to use their CURRENT positions on Tower Hamlets Council and move a motion for thj full Council top pass it.
We have already given them the motion to table.
The KHOODEELAAR Motion for Tower Hamlets Council to Say No to Crossrail hole reads as follows:
, “This Council agrees with the Khoodeelaar! the community-defending opposition to the Crsosrail hole being dug in the area and asks the Secretary of State to find any alternatives by taking into actual account all the points that have been made by all the people in the Eats End who have put forward written and verbal objections to the CrossRail plan as it is’.
If the Council controlling clique is prepared to drop its anti-democratic, unaccountable, corrupt practices and be honest with the community then we can help with the further details involved in the drafting of a motion that would formally suit all the relevant constituency and constitutional conditions of the East End …
We are giving this opportunity to the controlling clique in the Council to stop behaving dishonestly and asking them to start behaving honestly, accountably and manifestly in support of and in defence of the economic, social, democratic and environmental needs, demands and wants of the area in whose name they sit on the present Tower Hamlets Council.
As far as the Opposition councillors are concerned, we are telling them that they have no excuse to not organise call ins or to organise motions for the Full Council in accordancee with the Khoodeelaar! community demand of 22 January 2006.
Although the local elections have gone and some ‘new’ councillors have got elected,. the principle of the demand which I spoke [and thus moved] and which was loudly, unconditionally and unanimously passed and supported by the Khoodeelaar! community meeting held a year ago today [22 Jan 2006] stands valid.
It is the most efficient and democratically accountable way out for the Tower Hamlets Council from the mess of the Crossrail hole attack that they had brought upon this community.
We are preparing court action, a series of court actions, that will cost more time and resource than the controlling claque on Tower Hamlets Council appears to realise.
Say No to CrossRail, hole
No to Crossrail-backing Council
Say No to Crossrail
Pass the Motion against Crossrail hole Bill Now
To be continued
Khoodeelaaronline! The East End of London No to Crossrail hole Bill
e-mail:
lawmedia@hotmail.co.uk
Homepage:
http://www.khoodeelaar.com
Comments
Hide the following 12 comments
.
22.01.2007 23:45
"This Council agrees with the Khoodeelaar! the community-defending opposition"
"The motion that I thought up as I spoke"
"The meeting loudly agreed with me when I spoke to it "
We can find no legal reason.?!?
Isn't Parliament passing a bill allowing the construction - theres you legal reason.
We can find no economic reason. ?!?
"What is clear is that Crossrail cannot be delayed. While the capital's economy and population continue to grow, its transport system is already over-stretched.
Crossrail is the single most important project to support this growth – it would provide 40% of the extra rail capacity that London needs by 2015.
Any delay could harm UK economic growth and regional regeneration, harm core business centres, undermine London's global importance and put huge pressure on the network.'"
We can find no social reason. ?!?
Jobs, reduce overcrowding, get people out of cars and onto public transport - just off the top of my head.
No environmental reason. ?!? See above
No engineering, technical reason. ?!? why is this important - are you suggesting that if it were an engineering sensation you would back it?
When describing Tower Hamlets council as corrupt/dishonest can you provide evidence of said corruption/dishonesty. Preferably not links to your own frankly bizzzare sites.
Yes to public transport - more train - more buses - less cars.
.
oooooh you're in for it now!
23.01.2007 14:18
Personally I could see more reason for whinging if a motorway was being build though the same area than with an underground railway being tunneled under it, as I for one support the provision of public transport and discouraging car use, which won't happen while the trains are overcrowded as fuck.
In fact the biggest problem with Crossrail is that it does too little of this for too much money. There was a proposal called Superlink, which would give London and the surrounding area a highly comprehensive commuter rail network, attracting 3x the revenue expected from Crossrail, recovering 2/3 of total costs from fare revenue, and carrying up to 4x as much traffic. (source:
However even in the unlikely event this is proposed, the anti-Crossrail NIMBYist brigade will would probably still be whining regardless.
Mr. Humph
defending a disenfranchised community from Big Business takeover is worthwhile
23.01.2007 19:00
And it isn't being NIMBY-like at all
I salute those who have stuck to their principle against crossrail for these past few years in the east end of london.
another campaigner against crossrail
e-mail:
notocrossrail@yahoo.co.uk
how does
23.01.2007 21:36
Mr. Humph
Crossrail is a cover - even its promoters now admit.
24.01.2007 05:16
Crossrail is a cover to rob the ‘transport sector of vital resources’ which Big Business conglomerates do plan and hope to pocket.
Read up on the evidence. Don't post ignorant reactions to Khoodeelaar!
The analysis, the evidential back up and the conclusions which Khoodeelaar! have originated and published over the past three years of campaign against the Crossrail plan, have all been vindicated by those with the real knowledge of the subject.
Read what ex British Airways chief executive Rod Eddington actually says in his recent report on transport.
Just so you know, even the house journal of USA capitalism, the Forbes magazine, concluded that Eddington did not endorse Crossrail.
He has warned against the UK Government being seduced by high speed projects.
The same view has been expressed in the past 48 hours by spokespeople and campaigners for better standard on existing railways infrastructure.
By all means express disagreement. But do so with accurate facts.
translator
"Crossrail is not an extension of the railway network..."
24.01.2007 12:29
From wikipedia:
"Some East London politicians object to the scheme which they see as an expensive west to east commuter service that will primarily benefit City and Docklands businesses, and bring enormous disruption to East London [2]. Some train operating companies including EWS are opposed to the current plans because they would use up much of the remaining rail capacity within the London area, and do not provide the necessary extra capacity on connecting lines. This will make it harder to route freight services from the southern ports to the north and increase freight transit times.
The western branch would take exclusive use of the Great Western Slow lines, forcing all other services to share the current fast lines. The mix of high speed and slower semifast services will lead to increased journey times for destinations west of Maidenhead and potential delays due to congestion."
To say that the current Crossrail plans should be revised so that the project has more benefits and less of the problems associated with the current proposal is not irrational (see my previous post about Superlink). However, and this is what has annoyed my about articles on Indymedia about Crossrail in the past is that the aims of this particular campaign appears to just want Crossrail scrapped outright, and in a city that is facing increasing congestion, there needs to be a concerted effort to support schemes which will alleviate this congestion (which the current Crossrail plan may not do, I will say that).
Mr. Humph
Khoodeelaar! is primarily opposed to the Crossrail attacks on East End
25.01.2007 17:34
That is a patent and irresponsible misrepresentation of the Khoodeelaar! campaign position
Khoodeelaar! is primarily opposed to the Crossrail attacks on East End and after that or in the details, we are also opposed to the waste of so vast sums of scarce public resource as is involved in the plan that we are determined to challenge any misrepresentation that may be allowed to creep into any reference by Crossrail-backers of our position at any time and on any platform or in any forum.
Very briefly, this is our response at 1730 GMT on Thursday 25 January 2007 to some of the most glaring misrepresentations, typified in a series of posts by the anonymous ‘Mr Humph’:-
The proof of this is in our campaign description - campaign against Crossrail HOLE Bill!
Please be accurate before you attempt to misdescribe us.
We are intellectually able to deal with any dilemma or problems.
We have disposed of the economic, econometric, technical , engineering, environmental, political, party-political, transport and social [including urban, rural, ethnic, ethnicity-linked, multi-ethnic, linguistic, demographic, historic, futuristic....] excuses that the promoters of the Crossrail hole Bill
have put forward to date or have been anticipated by us to be posed or under ‘advice’ to want to put forward!.
We have already been vindicated, to the extent that the promoters have been forced to scrap 75 of their hoel plan assault on the East End [see Alistair darling MP, written statement in the House of Commons dated 30 March 2006].
We want the remaining 25% to be scrapped as well. When they do that, we shall review the situation at that stage.
Khoodeelaar! No to Crossrail hole Bill
e-mail:
lawmedia@hotmail.co.uk
Re: Khooddeelaar
25.01.2007 18:13
That is a patent and irresponsible misrepresentation of the Khoodeelaar! campaign position"
Good, good. Athough it would have been simpler to just say that "Khooddeelaar does not demand the total scrapping of Crossrail".
"Khoodeelaar! is primarily opposed to the Crossrail attacks on East End"
Do explain what these "attacks" are (see end of post).
"and after that or in the details, we are also opposed to the waste of so vast sums of scarce public resource as is involved in the plan"
As I said earlier: Crossrail in its current form does provides too little benefit for too much money.
"The proof of this is in our campaign description - campaign against Crossrail HOLE Bill!"
What IS this Crossrail "hole" that you keep ranting about? You have posted many times on Indymedia about how this "Crossrail hole" will be bad news for Brick Lane and the East End, but not going into too much detail about what exactly is at stake apart from how it's an "attack" on the East End. What exactly would this "Crossrail hole" be damaging? And more importantly, are there any better alternatives to it that you can propose?
Mr. Humph
Re: Mr Humph
25.01.2007 22:19
It's clear you need filling in about the 'hole'. There's long and complex history to all this, but what Mr Haque is referring to is the enormous disruption and in some cases devastation that the tunnelling will cause in the East End.
Until April or so last year, Crossrail wanted to sink a huge tunnelling shaft entrance near the densely populated Brick Lane. That hole would have been the entry point for boring equipment that would have tunnelled westwards towards another worksite near Holborn and eastwards to another one near Stratford. Work would have been carried out day and night. Spoil was to be taken either by truck or an overground conveyor belt to Mile End Park.
That plan was dropped after huge pressure from Mr Haque and others. However, the current plans still pose a big threat to families and homes across the East End.
Tower Hamlets council's demands for a newly built Whitechapel interchange station to link with Crossrail has a number of side-effects. Because the route from Liverpool St station will have to diverge to Whitechapel, a series of permanent ventilation and emergency evacuation shafts have to be sunk in areas where they otherwise woudl not have been. These shafts are again large and take years to build. One of them will be in Hanbury Street - again in the Brick Lane area. People living there are against this, but Crossrail, backed by the council, Government and big business have neither consulted them properly nor taken their views on board. They have been ignored and disenfranchised.
As well as Hanbury Street there will be other holes and shafts in other parts of the East End. A beautiful park that was the inspiration for scenes in Nicholas Nickleby in Bow will be destroyed by Crossrail's trucks as tehy make that a worksite to sink another shaft.
Stepney Green and a nearby city farm will also be devastated by Crossrail's diggers because that will be where Crossrail splits into two branch lines: one going to Kent via a new station at Canary Wharf and the other to Essex via the tunnel entrance near Stratford.
Mr Humph, even by Crossrail's own figures, the line will shed just a few minutess for a journey from Whitechapel to Heathrow compared to existing routes.
Crossrail's consultation process has been flawed to the point where even MPs sitting on the current select commitee have mocked it. But all they got was a slap on the wrists. What tehy really got was their way. Tehy have railroaded local opinion. The East End is home to some of the poorest families in Britain. It is already being taken over by unscrupulous property developers and housing associations who by sucking in City workers are driving up rents and forcing people out of their homes. The East End is one of the most colourful areas of Britain, yet this process will end up santizing it as another big street for quick bucks and Starbucks.
That's partly why people are angry to the point of boiled-over mass action: it's not just about having a temporary building site - an entire culture and community is at stake. I suggest you take a trip there and talk to people rather than looking at as a text book for regeneration and uncritically swallowing the establishment line.
An 'Idiot'
Thank you 'idiot'!!!
25.01.2007 23:29
Now I understand why people are saying its just a cynical move to make it slightly more convinent for people to get from Heathrow Airport (encouraging more air travel and hence climate change!) to the City of London, decimating the East End of London in the process.
I will argue that this issue is London-wide, as there are blatantly much better ways of improving public transport for the whole of London which are being overlooked in favour of this overpriced white elephant.
Anyway, thank you for your clarification, this post should be used for anyone in future who needs to be educated regarding why this scheme will only benefit Big Business, and illustrate exactly what is at stake.
Good luck with the campaign!
Mr. Humph
Khoodeelaar! No to Crossrail hole Bill - Demo at Westminster Tues 30 Jan
28.01.2007 13:43
Assemble 1200 Hrs on Tuesday 30 January 2007
Outside Houses of Parliament
Westminster
Support the campaign against CRASSrail hole Bill
Defend the East End against Big Business bullies who are using London mayor Ken Livingstone bas their tout on media platforms, to rob £Billions under covers of constructing a railway line that is fundamentally misconceived and ill-planned.. The adversely affected people will include some of the most deprived families and businesses in the Brick Lane and Whitechapel London E1 area.
The East End’s environment will be damaged by the planned Crossrail hole attacks
Hundreds of local traders will be made destitute.
Say No to a Crossrail hole in the Brick Lane and Whitechapel London E1 Area
Say No to CrossRail stay on at Whitechapel
Say no to waste of scarce public resource for the further and the undeserved enrichment of Big Business which control the main construction and engineering contactors that are lining up to grab the public cash …
Khoodeelaaronline
In favour of Crossrail
04.09.2007 10:55
Also, I hate to side with the utilitarians, but when London's original tube lines were built, when the Metropolitan Line was built for example, there were huge problems in demolishing houses and businesses, and thousands of people protested against them at the time. Nobody can sincerely argue that London would be better off without her tube network? Sometimes you have to put the losses into perspective. Quite simply, London needs new railways/tube lines. Crossrail is well overdue.
Hamish Kallin