Displaced Travellers outraged as confusion reigns over funding for long-promised site

The Travellers’ former licensed site at Waterden Road. Photographs: Philomena Mongan

Hackney Council has come under fire from the borough’s Travellers amid uncertainty over millions of pounds set aside for the community more than a decade ago.

Twenty Traveller families have been waiting for years to be given a small piece of land that was guaranteed to them after being relocated from their licensed site because of redevelopment for the 2012 Olympics.

The London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) earmarked £2 million in 2019 for a new “culturally suitable” location on Bartrip Street, but the council later ruled out this specific area after it concluded the noise and air pollution would be too severe.

London Gypsies and Travellers (LGT), a non-profit supporting social inclusion for the minority ethnic groups, said it had pressed the Town Hall, London Mayor Sadiq Khan and LLDC in recent months for an update on an alternative site.

The group’s spokesperson added that, at an event marking last year’s Traveller History Month, councillors hinted that a new location had been found, but could not yet be announced.

LGT had supported residents in questioning the cabinet about the status of the promised site at last week’s full council meeting, but despite being “accepted”, the deputation was not scheduled or heard.

Philomena Mongan

Philomena Mongan, an Irish Traveller who has lived in the borough for 35 years, said: “Two million pounds was not loud enough for Hackney councillors to hear. Where are our sites?

“My boys were kids when we started campaigning, and now they are grown men with kids of their own, still stuck in temporary and unsuitable accommodation all over the borough. I hope to see the future of this new site being delivered before my grandkids have grown up.

“Are we not integrated in Hackney long enough to see our homes being delivered and our deputation to be heard? We deserve to be treated with respect and enjoy equal life chances.”

At the last cabinet meeting, the situation became even more unclear when housing services chief Cllr Clayeon McKenzie said the money from LLDC was “now lost”, as it “had to be used before the 30 November”.

“There still may be other funds that could replace it. Council officers are talking to the GLA [Greater London Authority] this week about possible grants to support Gypsy and Traveller pitches in the borough.

“However, even with external funding, setting up a new site in Hackney will come with a high cost to the council and there are still practical and environmental challenges to address,” he said.

Nancy Hawker, policy officer at LGT, said her organisation had warned the council weeks ago that it needed to apply for the LLDC funding by 30 November.

She had learned from LLDC that the money was still allocated to the original Bartrip Street site, but if the council missed the deadline, the planning powers would revert to the area’s four local authorities on 1 December.

Despite their attempts to speak with Hackney Council, “we received no answer, except a vague holding message through the intermediary of a councillor on 15 November”, she said.

Cllr Alastair Binnie-Lubbock (Green) told the Citizen he had received mixed messages from cabinet members on the issue.

Having asked Cllr McKenzie how it was possible that money had been “lost”, Binnie-Lubbock was later told the £2 million was attached to a planning application for the original site, which would at some point be released to Newham, but it would still be allocated for new Traveller sites.

Cllr McKenzie said he was happy to meet with Mongan this month, and the Citizen understands that the council has offered to hold a private meeting with the community next Tuesday.

Hawker said the sequence of events suggested that neither Hackney Council or LLDC had prioritised their needs while there was still time and money.

“Since LGT reminded them of their commitments and obligations, the information provided has been vague, stuck in silos and time loops, contradictory, or inaccurate, if provided at all.

“The opportunity for straightforward information sharing, created by Hackney’s Travellers’ willingness to engage with processes for civic engagement, was postponed from the eleventh hour to dead time.

“What local government leaves £2 million on the table in the middle of housing and budget crises? It is difficult to escape the impression that had the money been lying around for the construction of specialist housing for any other community, time would not have been lost in this manner, and the deputees would have been given a respectable hearing,” she said.

Cllr Guy Nicholson. Photograph: Hackney Council

Cllr Guy Nicholson, deputy mayor and cabinet member for delivery, inclusive economy and regeneration, yesterday confirmed that Hackney no longer had control over the £2 million.

‘’The funding that was allocated in principle to Hackney by the LLDC was specifically for use in identifying and delivering a third Gypsy, Roma and Traveller site within or close to the LLDC boundary in Hackney Wick.

“The two existing sites for the community in Hackney Wick were delivered because the council stood up for the community as the Olympic Park was being planned and built.

“The council and the development corporation had identified a number of potential sites including a site identified in planning policy.

“However, due to environmental and planning constraints that included poor air quality and current land use designations, these sites were not suitable or safe for community use.

“Now the development corporation is no longer the local planning authority, returning the planning powers to Hackney, Newham and Tower Hamlets, this specific Section 106 funding has been re-allocated to the London Borough of Newham as the development that the funding is linked to is located in Newham.”

‘’Hackney Council remains committed to supporting the Gypsy, Roma and Traveller community. Despite the challenges, the council is in discussions with the GLA about an opportunity to apply for grant funding to support the delivery of a site in the borough,” he said.

The Citizen asked the council how much it had spent on rehousing the community since their initial displacement, but this was not clarified.

Years ahead of the 2012 Olympics, Twenty Traveller families were told they would have to move from a Hackney-licensed site on Waterden Road because the land was earmarked for the Games.

At the time, the government’s now defunct London Development Agency said the regeneration plans for the area “would bring long-term benefits to the local community”.

The forced relocation brought significant changes to the community, with some families “broken up” and 100 people split between three temporary sites.

When the Olympics eventually came, the Travellers were not given tickets, Mongan said previously.

Cllr McKenzie added that the new local plan for the borough will start in 2025, and will “also look at whether more Gypsy and Traveller sites are needed in the future”.