Community Development

Eleanor Street Site, Tower Hamlets

Eleanor Street Residents group

On site meeting with John Biggs – London Assembly member

Residents meeting with their London Assembly Member

In 2003 site residents approached LGTU for support with trying to get the Council to improve the management of their site. With our support they set up Eleanor street residents group. Three site residents participated in our activist training programme and took part in computer training. They set up an email for the residents group and have found this to be very useful way to correspond with the Council and other agencies.

Communication between residents and the site management has improved a great deal since then progress has been made in addressing some of the longstanding site management concerns. Site residents have continued meet with the Council officers responsible for the management of the site. The residents have participated in consultation on a new lettings policy and currently taking part in the consultation process on a new site licence/tenancy.

Click here for Gypsy and Travellers voices, Marian Mahoney

My name is Marian Mahoney
I live in the London borough of Tower Hamlets on a Gypsy and Traveller Caravan Site which is run by the local council.

I have lived there for 23yrs due to designation laws which made it very difficult for Travellers and Gypsies to stop anywhere. We found it very hard to get a reasonable quality of life and basic education for our children.

So when we moved to our site in Eleanor Street we decided to stay for those reason and also for the amenities which the council provided on the site for us I am one of the longest residents on the site which is mostly made up of the same families that are there since the site opened. This is also a help when we have residents meetings as we all nearly have the same needs when it comes to keeping our site a pleasant place to live.

We have our own residents group which we set up ourselves to get good relations with our local council which so far is achieving a lot of good work so far. Also our site is a the moment under threat of closure because Crossrail, a company who wants to build an electric railway which runs underground from London to Maidenhead, wants to build a ventilation shaft on the land that our site is built on. We started negotiations with Crossrail, and the residents group succeeded in coming to an agreement with Crossrail to build a new site on land adjacent to the old site which pleased all parties.

I also attend forums and meetings to keep up to date with what is happening in government with laws and other matters that affect Travellers and Gypsies. This gives a lot of good sources of information directly about council sites and private land sites

Crossrail and the Relocation of Eleanor Street Site

Marian Mahoney represented
Eleanor St at the Crossrail
Select Committee Oct ‘06

Not long after Eleanor Street Residents group started, residents discovered that their site was under threat from the proposed Crossrial scheme which will directly affect the site due to the construction of a ventilation shaft at Eleanor Street. Residents made contact with Crossrail in 2004 and since then have been involved in negotiations over the future of their site. They were legally represented by Chris Johnson from the community law partnership.

Site design consultation meetings

In 2006 a three party agreement was reached between the residents, LBTH and Crossrail. The secretary of the residents group attended the House of Commons to give evidence at the Crossrail Bill select committee.

The Government has finally given approval to the Crossrail Scheme and the Crossrail Act was given Royal assent in July 2008. Since then the residents hosted a number of site visits made by the Crossrail design team and were actively engaged in consultation on the design of the new site. This process is still ongoing and residents are involved in meetings with the Crossrail design team and the Council to agree the final design for the new site.

London Gypsy Traveller Unit - North and East London boroughs

London Gypsy and Traveller Unit

Community Development

Eleanor Street Site, Tower Hamlets

Eleanor Street Residents group

Crossrail and the Relocation of Eleanor Street Site