Our West Hendon is fighting to save West Hendon council estate in north London, which has been sold to Barratt Homes by Barnet’s Conservative council for £440m to demolish the council houses and build luxury private blocks instead. Hundreds of tenants face relocation miles away, including families with children who will have to change schools, and single parents who face losing their jobs.
The activists of West Hendon have been inspired by Focus E15 and Sweets Way, and have been active with days of action, street stalls and demonstrations, all supported by the RCG. On 27 March they marched to demand:
- secure or flexible tenancies for all;
- the right for all members of the community (irrespective of the type of tenure) to remain and be rehoused on the West Hendon estate;
- to see a copy of the developer’s ‘viability report’ showing clear reasons why the percentage of social housing on the estate has been slashed;
- the local rehousing, in secure tenancies, of any resident forced to leave the estate.
On 28 March, Our West Hendon celebrated its first anniversary with a social event and pledged to continue the struggle to defend the estate. The campaign holds regular organising meetings on the second and last Thursday of every month at 8pm at Marsh Drive Community Centre, Marsh Drive NW9 7QE.
Igor Giraldo
Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! 244 April/May 2015
