At precisely 7:28pm my heart was pumping. The Development
Control Committee meeting was scheduled to start at 7:30pm. We hadn’t seen the
councillors on the committee since that fateful day (1) they approved
application to build an incinerator in Beddington.
Initially I had planned to blue tac the paper banner (above)
(2) against the tables in Meeting Room 1 but with two minutes to go Dave
Pettener and I conferred and thought the wall behind the councillors would be
more visually fitting. Just as the Chair of the committee Councillor John Leach
started the meeting, I got out of my seat in the public gallery and stepped
over the waist high rope barrier and made my way to the wall behind the
councillors. There were tables in front of the wall with pots of tea and coffee
and refreshments. Without hesitation I
jumped up on the table and started to unfold the banner. As I started to blue
tac it to the wall, with my back to the meeting, I noticed the first corner I
had stuck down had come loose. As I reached to stick it back down I was
suddenly confronted by Councillor John Leach. He was visibly snarling. He
grabbed the fallen end of the banner before I could pick it up and attempted to
pull the banner out of my hand. Given it was made of paper; this impromptu banner
tug resulted in it ripping. During this moment words were exchanged. I honestly
can’t remember what was said but I do remember his snarling mouth calling me ‘sunshine’.
It immediately didn’t feel right that he used the word ‘sunshine’. It was said
in a condescending derogatory way (3).
By now security guards were ushering me to come down from
the table as I held what was left of the banner aloft. I could hear Dave giving
his speech from the public gallery. He started with, “This is a peaceful protest.(4)”
It must have been quite a scene. I headed to the corner of the table setting
and it was about then I considered for a brief second what I must have looked
like: - a bearded Asian man standing on a table in a room of aging white middle
class people staring at him.
The elephant in the proverbial room regarding the
incinerator is: white middle class men and women have taken a decision that
will predominately affect a working class black and minority ethnic community
living downwind from this incinerator.
Through my eyes I regard Councillor John Leach as an equal.
However, through his eyes - and I looked
straight into his eyes as he called me ‘sunshine’ – I am not his equal. More importantly,
if this is the social perception and the mindset of the Chair- and the lead
councillor on the committee - then taking decisions which affect the health of
a community which he may view as inferior is not uncomfortable for him.
It is important to remember that one may only
develop a modern British outlook if you live or have lived in modern multicultural
Britain .i.e. your local parade of shops might be a Jerk chicken shop, Halal
butchers and Polish Sklep. I regularly speak to a shopkeeper who keeps reminding me, "look around you [referring to the multi-ethnic area we live in], is the incinerator going to affect the white people south of the [Croydon] borough?" I try to impress upon him that it is rich folk preserving their area at the expense of poorer people. Maybe I've been wrong.
Dave had now started to read a list of pollutants that will go into the air we will breathe. Throughout the protest the security guards were
incredibly professional and it was only a few minutes later that I peacefully stepped
down from the table to be escorted along with Dave out of the building.
Ends
Notes
4) This is a peaceful
protest. We declare this planning committee no longer fit for purpose. By
agreeing to the immoral and illegal incinerator on Beddington Lane you are
putting the lives of local people at risk. The needs of the people have
been ignored in preference to the needs of big business. You are putting
profit before people, wealth before health. Children will die. We will see
you in court.
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