Coronavirus: Construction of luxury flats picketed by ShutTheSites protesters

Local campaigners are repeating calls for the closure of construction sites across the borough during the ongoing public health emergency.

Following continued pressure on Hackney Council to pause construction at its redevelopment of the Britannia leisure centre site on Friday, ShutTheSites protesters picketed the Parkhaus development on Downs Road.

They are demanding that the developers close the site for the safety of workers and the wider community.

Activist George Binette also argues that sites such as Parkhaus cannot be considered essential work, pointing to the lack of social housing included in the project, where one-bed flats start at £550,000 and planned features include a rooftop pool and outdoor cinema. 

Binette, who is trade union liaison officer for his local Labour party but was speaking in a personal capacity, said: “It seems to me that profit has been put before people, with original guidelines on social distancing diluted with working practices on the sites.

“We’re calling on Union Developments to shut down the site until the lockdown is eased, because it is inherently impossible to have proper social distancing. You can’t say it’s two metres for the rest of the population, and less than that for construction workers.

“Given the high level of inherent risk, I think it’s inappropriate so long as we have mortality and infection rates at this level when the levels of testing are still lagging behind other large European countries.”

ShutTheSites protesters are also continuing to call on the council to pause work at the Britannia redevelopment, while accepting the difference between it and the type of housing planned for Parkhaus.

When asked whether ShutTheSites are calling for projects of social housing tenures to be allowed to continue while luxury housing should be paused, Binette added that all sites should be paused “unless the project was very near completion and it was a situation where people were going to be moving in in weeks or months”.

He added: “I can appreciate the argument that is being put forward about the Britannia, and it is different in some senses from a project like Parkhaus, which is entirely about luxury flats, but at the same time the arguments are the same in terms of protecting the workforce.”

ShutTheSites, which was supported at Parkhaus by Labour and trade union activists, are also calling for the government furlough scheme to be unlocked for construction workers, aiming to pressure big construction companies to “pay up” as the crisis’ impact continues to be felt.

Currently workers in the industry face loss of all pay if not working despite the attendant difficulties faced in maintaining social distance and using the correct PPE onsite, with most construction sites not covered by the furlough scheme and many paid on piecework rates rather than hourly.

Both Scotland and the Republic of Ireland have shut down construction sites as part of lockdown measures, with workers placed on furlough schemes and pay continuing at 100 per cent of usual wages for workers.

The Town Hall, which has been under pressure since April to shut down all its construction sites across the borough, continues to follow government guidance by keeping work going while putting measures in place to protect workers and locals.

Hackney Council is coming under pressure to shut down all construction sites across the borough in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Town Hall is understood to be working site-by-site putting measures in place to protect workers and locals through social distancing and increased sanitation.

Property developer Berkeley Homes suspended construction work on the Woodberry Down Estate at the beginning of the month, but yesterday reopened the site, albeit with fewer staff.

The Town Hall has maintained that it will follow government guidance on the running of construction during the crisis, pointing to comments from business minister Nadhim Zahawi in support of companies keeping their sites going.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph on 30 March, Zahawi said: “These businesses need to be defended because we need to minimise the damage to our economy where possible, and be ready to spring back into action as soon as this lockdown is over.

“There will always be some work that cannot be done from home, whether it is construction or packing boxes in an Amazon warehouse – but we still need houses built and for deliveries to be made.

“If the scientific view changes, and all of this work becomes too high risk, the government will update its advice. But until then businesses should not be criticised for following the rules.”