Dalston councillor challenges Mayor of London over Ridley Road funding

Market fears: Dalston councillor and London Assembly Member Zoë Garbett

London’s mayor Sadiq Khan has defended his £70 million community regeneration project amid concern for the capital’s market traders.

The Good Growth Fund, launched in 2017 to “give power to local people and grow prosperity”, has supported 138 projects across London.

At Mayor’s Question Time on 12 September, Khan said the scheme had brought “long-term benefits to local people” and protected “cultural heritage investment”.

But Dalston councillor and London Assembly Member Zoë Garbett pressed the mayor on whether the funding was being used properly, citing Ridley Road market as a prime example.

Garbett raised the issue of money being spent for cosmetic purposes like new decorative flooring rather than more essential works like guttering.

“My concern is that those funds are not going into those things that traders are asking for — and they’re[the traders] what make those markets what they are,” she said.

“Are you confident in how the community engagement part of the fund is going?”

The mayor said market traders are “integral” to the Good Growth Fund, though he was not aware of concerns over the allocation of cash in Hackney.

Longstanding anxieties over the future of Ridley Road Shopping Village were recently provoked when offshore private developer Larochette Real Estate put in a new bid to transform parts of it into flats.

The planning application has been met with fierce opposition from campaigners, including Cllr Garbett AM.

Speaking to the Citizen, she said: “The Shopping Village is recognised as an asset of community value because of the studio space it has historically provided artists, as well as the social and cultural use and significance. Flats go against this.”

Campaigners and councillors have repeatedly stepped in to protect the interests of market traders, who have faced frequent episodes of uncertainty, including eviction threats and a mass police raid in 2023.

Cllr Garbett AM was a prominent voice in the Save Ridley Road campaign, which two years ago successfully prevented plans to convert parts of the Shopping Village into shops, offices and “high-quality” flats.

That same year, Hackney Council announced it would take over the lease of the indoor market following the completion of a £1 million refurbishment as part of the Good Growth Fund.

Update: this article was amended at 2.30pm on 18 September 2024. It originally stated that Cllr Garbett referred to Ridley Road Shopping Village during Mayor’s Question Time, when she in fact referred to Ridley Road market. The Good Growth funding was allocated to Ridley Road market, not the Shopping Village.