Guest Blog by TW,
I’ve had the most bizarre experience today when I tried to get to my council’s building in the North London Business Park to join others in protest of my council’s decision to slash the Art Depot core funding.
When I arrived at the NLBP I saw a small protest outside the business park, on the corner of Oakleigh Road, and the gates to the business park were closed for cars coming in, ‘because of a big demonstration’, as I was told by one of the security guards. So I parked in the street and came walking to join the protesters, only to hear that they were not allowed to have the action inside near the council’s building, as was advertised.
Trying to enter the fortress as a pedestrian I was stopped by three other security guards and asked who I was. ‘A resident’, I replied, ‘I’d like to go to the council’s building’. ‘It’s not allowed’, I was told.
‘Why?!’ – Because it is a private property, I was told. ‘But it’s my council’s building in there and I need to get in!’ – Not now, no one is allowed in unless they visit a named person...
Who gave the instruction? ‘The Site Manager’, I was told. ‘You can contact him tomorrow’.
OK. So that’s privatisation for you.
And one that is oh very convenient for the council (who rents the premises) to hide behind, although needless to say the council rents the place in order to carry out its public duties to its residents, i.e. it is a public place.
But also, that’s the face of democracy in Barnet nowadays; when local citizens are not allowed to carry out their civic duty to voice their anger by using the traditionally democratic means of protest.
Or, is Barnet council afraid of us ????!!!!
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TW is a member of the Barnet Alliance for Public Services. She was attending (or not attending) a protest to demonstrate against cuts to the budget for the Arts Depot on Monday. Guest Blogs are always welcome at the Barnet Eye. Send via the email link in the sidebar. You can click the petition to save the arts depot in the sidebar
3 comments:
@TW, I'm an LBB employee and whilst I thoroughly agree with and support your honourable sentiments; if you had gained entry to NLBP, where did you expect this demonstration to take place? Inside the building? By the reception? The staff entrance?
Believe me, with the vast majority of the staff here, you'd have been preaching to the converted. The ones you need to be targetting - as usual - are your councillors. THEY are the ones wielding the axe, not the staff.
We just do what we're told... (Cue Basil Fawlty flashback, "This is EXACTLY how Nazi Germany started...")But I'm afraid it's true.
On a related note, I'm afraid it's NOT a public place. It's still a place of business, even if that business is carried out for and on behalf of the public. You can't simply turn up and start wandering around ANY council's offices, you need an appointment of some kind.
And yes, Comer Homes owns NLBP, which makes matters worse, as the land is not even "publicly owned and anyone on the site without a valid reason is trespassing.
TW: the answer to your question is - yes, the councillors are afraid of you, and of public expressions of dissent, which is why it is so important that people continue to demonstrate regardless.
Very worrying. Seems to be happening all over the UK and World but Barnet should be a beacon of free speech and freedom.
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