IN THE MATTER OF: Objection number: 30

The London Borough of Haringey Wards Corner Regeneration Project Compulsory Purchase Order 2016

1. My name is Mirca Morera and my father’s name is Cesar Francisco Yunda Paliquibay, qualified objector. We both trade in unit 56. We have been at the market for almost four years.

2. My mother is Peruvian and my father is from Ecuador. My mother came to the UK in the 70’s. She had no family in England, and spoke limited English. She was abandoned with two children. She made a living as a cleaner. With time, she met who became my father. As a result of my personal initial experience, I know how its feels not to have a support network or community in a foreign country.

3. I am a British second generation Latin American in the UK. My native language is English. I speak Spanish, but as second language. Spanish was the only way to communicate with my mother when I was a child, as she did not speak English. I qualified as a Teacher at the University of Oxford and worked in the Access dept in the Undergraduate Admissions dept. In the course of my work I became interested in matters of social mobility for BME.

4. I am the founder of social enterprise Latin Corner UK. My father is the Director of Latin Corner UK and I am the founder. Latin Corner UK main aim is to advance the cultural interests of the Latin community and

WITNESS STATEMENT OF OBJECTOR MIRCA MORERA

! 1

organise access orientated school trips for the children from the Latin American, BME and local community which includes trips to Oxbridge.

5. I was born and raised in Tottenham when there was no Latin community in the past, and the neighbourhood was very atomised. When I was 18 I had the opportunity to travel to New York as part of my University ex-change programme. For the first time I experienced, in an English speaking country, Spanish spoken in the shops, in businesses, on sidewalks, etc. I went to a Latin American parade, celebrating Latin culture. It made me feel extremely proud. I thought, this is where I belong. I felt that I had never belonged to the UK.

6. I left Tottenham to live abroad because I felt not having access to my Latin culture, very depressing. Due to circumstances beyond my control, I had to return to the UK and later found Seven Sisters Market, which I refer to from now on as the Latin Village, influenced by its Spanish name Pueblito Paisa.

7. The Latin Village was the solution to my problems of enjoying my Latin culture within a community while living in the UK. The Latin Village is my second home where I can feel content about living in the UK without crossing the Atlantic on a frequent basis to access my culture in another jurisdiction. I never had a sense of belonging to the UK until I discovered the Latin Village. (Please find attached Annex 1)

8. In the market, I run an informal community service with the traders’ children and the children of the local community. We run activities that are access and culturally orientated. For example, we explore Latin culture and the importance of research in regard to academic institutions. As a Latin American, British person I have an insight on the importance of these subjects. On average I see around 10 children. I meet them Saturdays and Mondays after school. The Latin Village is a space for the children where they are nurtured while they socialise and play. Everybody helps to look after the children, assisting the parents in their childcare.

9. Something I learned from a trip to Latin America is that you can be happy despite being poor, but in the UK you may have a physical home, you could have your own bedroom as a child, but be unhappy, because of being isolated. Because of no socialising within a community. That was my personal experience.

! 2

10. I have submitted four objections from the trader’s children in our Latin community (Isabella Montaya age 9, Joan Mancilla Letre age 10 Santiago Giraldo age 11, Camilo Restrepo age 13). I wish them to be taken seriously. Trader Vicky Alvarez’s daughter, Stefanie Alvarez, is a voice that represents the experience of many children growing in the market.

11. The Latin Village is used by many BME children as an after school, weekend and holiday club. Many after-school club services were closed down just before the 2011 riots. Tottenham is home to the nation’s high profile child abuse cases namely Victoria Climbie in 2000 and Baby P in 2007, which led to legislative changes after the Victoria Climbie enquiry, with the Every Child Matters government initiative and The Children Act of 2004.

12. The United Nations Children’s Fund has reported children in the UK as being the unhappiest in the Western World because of a lack of social cohesion. The African proverb ‘it takes a whole village to raise one child’ needs to be considered in the context of this Latin Village. Latin American children rely on this community, as it underpins social cohesion in this contentious borough.

13. Author Anna Minton links the alarming problem of children in the UK 1

being the unhappiest in the Western world and the problem of public spaces in the UK and argues that real social cohesion cannot take place in a mall. The alarming corrosion of public spaces for young people was evident leading up to Tottenham riots in 2011 when eight of the borough’s thirteen youth centres were closed....and the remaining five were under serious threat.” 2

14. The Latin Village is a public space like a village green. It has been argued that it is due to the lack of genuine public spaces which promote genuine social encounters that has significantly contributed to the rates of mental illness being double in the UK of those in Southern and Northern Europe which have “more genuinely public places in towns.”

Anna Minton, Ground Control: Fear and happiness in the twenty-first century city, 1

(Penguin 2012) P.829.

Lee Bridges, ‘Four days in August: the UK riots’ in Race & Class [2012], 54, 07, Volume 2

54, P.9

! 3

15. I also provide other services in the market; from assistance in completing forms to writing letters; in other words, I provide a bilingual secretarial service to the community.

16. When I arrived to the market, Richard and Jill, the formers owners of the market, used to run the market smoothly. Security was not as critical as it is at present. Present issues with the car park issue did not exist. The market was insulated from what was happening outside. It was a safe environment.

17. However, Wards Corner site has been subject to deliberate blight and neglect for a number of years as an age old strategy to make the case stronger for demolition. One of my first jobs when I left university was working for Land Securities where I was responsible for managing a portfolio of government buildings. I therefore have understanding of facilities management.

18. In 2012 Haringey Council and Grainger PLC appointed Jonathan Owen as their agent http://www.haringey.gov.uk/news/specialist-support-seven-sisters-market. In 2015 he was awarded the lease by TFL without the lease being tendered to third parties. Trader Vicky Alvarez legally challenged this appointment. In February 2017 I complained to TFL about a public incident where in a public meeting with traders Jonathan Owen had used language in a public meeting with racial undertones. This was in addition to aggressive behaviour.

! 4

Jonathan Owen appointed by

Haringey Council &

Grainger PLC in 2012

“Grainger plc and Haringey Council have

appointed Quarterbridge”

19. Since the recent takeover of the market lease by Jonathan Owen: deliberate neglect has started to occur from within the market. 

20. The negligence I have witnessed in this site in terms of basic building maintenance, health and safety including security has been abismal. Broken fire exit doors windows are never repaired. Graffiti is left unaddressed despite numerous reports to TFL attributing it to attracting anti social behaviour. Four recent attacks on traders by members from outside the community are not taken seriously by management. Thus, I believe that Grainger’s PLC newly appointed agent MAM Ltd, (in collaboration with Grainger PLC, London Borough of Haringey and Transport for London) are guilty of deliberately neglecting the site.

! 5

Graffiti at Wards

Corner site not

addressed by TFL

although reported 6

months ago as

contributing to broken windows problem

21. I recently met with the local police in April 2017 and discussed the issue of broken windows and graffiti on the site attracting anti social behaviour; they confirmed that the broken window theory was a metaphor for disorder within neighbourhoods; and that it was a theory that had an enormous impact on policing. As it was generally accepted that neglected environments are a magnet to crime and anti social behaviour. Dr Sara Gonzalez an academic professor (and one of our expert witnesses) has confirmed “abandonment and neglect from urban developers and managers is a well known phase” towards gentrification,” and she has shared a classic article by a well respected professor in planning that supports this claim. The anti social behaviour and crime that is being attracted by the deliberate neglect is making the site not only unattractive: but more vulnerable and unsafe for our community; coordinated to coincide with the inspectorate’s visit.   We have adopted a DIY approach to keeping the market safe. But recent tactics are unjust.

22. This is in total contradiction to what the local authorities should have been ensuring with regard to a minority community such as ours.

! 6

Main Entrance to Seven Sisters

Market broken window left broken for

considerable period of time until Grenfell

tragedy

23. This site is considered a site of cultural heritage for the Latin American community, many of the traders units have been designed to mimic Pueblito Paisa in Colombia and have balconies and terraced roofs.

24. We celebrated a successful public cultural protest on the 8th April 2017 to highlight the cultural importance of our campaign, which was filmed by the BBC. The unethical demolition strategy to deliberately neglect the

! 7

Balconies designed to mimic Pueblito Paisa in Colombia along

with terraced roof features

site, attract anti social behaviour, serves a dual purpose of brandishing the culture of our community and portraying an image of disarray of the site.

! 8

Trader Marta pictured here is not only a

human rights lawyer but leads a Cultural

group called Talentos (pictured below) at the Latin Village.

2014 British Cinema Film Cuban Fury

starring local Colombian dance

teacher Saulo Gonzalez - his

dance school has mainly children from

the Latin Village - pictured on below

Intergenerational & cross cultural socialisation at the Latin Village

is the norm

Talentos group

25. Although, the majority of the traders are Latin American, in 2008 the BBC described this village as “a United Nations community.” In a recent campaign video in 2016, Adam Scarborough a White British regular visitor who was interviewed, described how he has enjoyed visiting the village for the past ten years and experiencing Latin culture. As a result, of Adam’s cross cultural integration he has visited Colombia and stayed with trader Blanca’s family members.

�

26. In 2007 UCL researchers reported integration in this particular postcode as ‘too complex’ for the government to handle in a borough that spoke around 193 languages. Yet integration has been managed by the local community.3

27. The government is concerned about extremism and the 2016 Casey Review into opportunity and integration, recommends social mixing with people from wider range of background because it enables social mobility. The Latin Village provide a heavily used public realm space 4

where cross cultural social mixing opportunities can occur. The majority of Latin American families live in overcrowded accommodation, 45% live in inadequate housing and “one third of Latin Americans share their

Jumana Farouky, ‘Unity Begins at Home’ (Times International (South Pacific Edition) 3

2/26/2007) Issue 7, P22.

Dame Louise Casey, The Casey Review A review into opportunity and integration, 4

(Department for Communities and Local Government 2016)

! 9

Adam Scarborough pictured here has

been coming to the market from Epping Forest for the last

10 years.

home with another family. Also, many work extremely long hours and 5

three quarters of Latin American families earn below the national minimum pay. A 55% of employed Latin Americans work in low-skilled 6

manual labour: and are over represented in the cleaning sector. Social 7

mobility is an issue for people from ethnic minorities because of socio-economic disadvantage. This MEB cluster provide a public realm for community networking to occur. I understand from my research that an 8

assimilationist approach to cross cultural integration is illegal according to international law and the removal of a community asset which fosters cross cultural community relations, is a provocation. Because where are the public spaces for these cross community relations meant to occur? In the private domain, in overcrowded living conditions?

28. There is an exemplary level of cross cultural integration that take places at the Latin Village. Pam Isherwood (White British local resident), one of the active members of the Wards Corner Community Coalition calls the Latin Village, “her second home.” Candy Amsden, one of the founders of the WCCC organisation (a White British local resident), when interviewed by the BBC presenter, defended the community and said, ‘You can’t party in WHSmith with the Latin Americans like you can in here.’ Also, our legal campaign is jointly supported by the WCCC, which are made up of a majority of non-Latin American members, with many members who are White British.

Cathy McIlwaine, Juan Camilo Cock and Brian Linneker, Towards Visibility: the Latin 5

American Community in London, (Trust for London 2016) P.73

Ibid, P.46.6

Patria Roman-Velazquez & Nicola Hill, Roman-Velazquez P & Hill N, ‘The Case for London’s 7

Latin Quarter: Retention, Growth and Sustainability’ (2015) < http://latinelephant.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/The-Case-for-Londons-Latin-Quarter-WEB-FINAL.pdf> accessed 09/01/16, P.10.

Ibid8

! 10

Candy Amsden WCCC “You can’t

party in Whsmith like you can party here with the

Latin

29. The cross cultural integration is two way. Trader Fabian has been trading for 11 years and his business has now expanded and he now has an English sign in his restaurant welcoming customers in English stating “Welcome, may all who enter as guests leave as friends.” The clustering of Latin businesses in this Latin Village, counteracts findings in the recent Casey Report; as social mixing has increased across traditional boundaries in spite of a very high concentration of a particular ethnic group.

! 11

WCCC members

2008 public human chain

aroundWards

Corner site

2nd public Human Chain 2017

with WCCC - witness Martin Ball - pictured left

�

30. For the local government to implement a regeneration initiative that undermines social cohesion, could be seen as a failure to promote equality of opportunity and fostering good relations between persons of different racial groups. The 2011 rioters did not attack this community asset and their attacks on shopping centres were linked to “an expression of revolt” of private sector led regeneration initiatives that excluded BME communities.

31. If Haringey and Grainger PLC had managed to get their planning proposal accepted in 2008 and developed before the riots, it would have definitely been targeted by rioters. There was a notable trend in the 2011 riots of targeting shopping centres. The financial cost of the riots would have been higher with this publicly funded development.

32. The alternative being offered by LB Haringey will destroy this cultural heritage housed in a locally listed former Edwardian department store and replace it with a sterile market place whilst displacing the community (as rents will rise by 300%-1000%). It will involve further marginalising a vulnerable community and ruining their livelihoods. The USA affords affirmative action measures to address social inequality with their BME

! 12

7/7 Terrorist Bombing victim Trader Fabian

of 11 years business mural

“Welcome, may all who

enter as guests leave as friends.”

communities. I believe that this regeneration proposal is at the polar end of affirmative action and it is discriminatory.

33. Note that Wood Green, a nearby and more significant town centre has been suffering a huge decline and main retailers such as Marks & Spencers and BHS have been forced to close. It is a model that has not proven effective in the borough. On the contrary, the Latin Village offers the UK a unique attraction and the potential to become a major tourist attraction, as it offers an authentic experience; as it does not mimic other town centres. Therefore this lends to its attraction and market appeal. Latin American culture is very popular and appreciated by non- Latin American’s which is clearly demonstrated by sheer number of Latin themed restaurants and nightclubs in the West End serving people from other backgrounds. Why would Tottenham want to lose this attractive part of its landscape? It highlights the fallacy in the argument that the new development would provide economic benefits to the area by erasing what makes Tottenham so appealing, which is its diversity.

34. I live in Oxfordshire and I would not travel for two and half hours (160km return journey) for a clone town centre. A campaign member David Mc Ewen travels to the Latin Village from the University of Cambridge. My sister travels an eight hour return 400 mile journey from Hull to access her Latin culture.

35. In conclusion, the demolition of the Latin Village would be a violation of our right to culture. This development signals to what extent minority culture is valued within the UK. The Latin Village is a second home not only to Latin American’s but to the BME community and local White British residents. It is registered as a community asset. Children, families, the Latin American BME community depend on this Village for their livelihoods and entwined with their human right to culture, well-being for a feeling of enfranchisement. The new proposal is not in the public interest, and could be perceived as discriminatory. Considering the history of the area it would be essential to promote social cohesion and cause further problems of disenfranchisement.

Statement of truth I believe the facts in this witness statement are true.

Mirca MoreraDate: 22th June 2017

! 13