The Horror Of Gentrification..

Gail's has confirmed the opening date of its new Brixton branch, which is taking over a former takeaway unit next to the Tube station.

'Hurrah!', said most people? No? No, Reader, you're forgetting....  

Earlier this summer, a petition opposing the plans was launched on Change.org and amassed 1,312 signatures. The petition set out several key demands, including recognising the potential impact that Gail's could have on small independent traders and businesses, which are already facing financial issues.

The petition stated: "The proposed development of a Gail's Bakery branch in Brixton is causing genuine concern among residents and local business owners.

Why? Brixton is full of millennials and hipsters now, surely they aren’t fickle folk who love to get in on the latest trend and so will abandon their local artisan bakeries for a taste of the new one? 😏

The chain has been accused by some of being "insanely overpriced" and has become synonymous in London with gentrification though others point out it's a successful business people are clearly using.

Fast forward and the protests became violent, because of course they did:

Cash4Commons – the activists who were behind a series of posters highlighting the growing commodification of public green space in Lambeth – have struck again, attacking Brixton’s new Gail’s Bakery which is scheduled to open today. A few days ago they put up anti-Gail’s billboards outside Brixton Market, as well as a series of posters on the soon to be opened Gail’s premises.

They told Brixton Buzz: We want to draw attention to the damage being caused by Gail’s bakeries across London through a capital-driven ownership which prioritises aggressive corporate expansion into our local communities, whilst also maintaining significant ties to the genocidal State of Israel through investments into Israeli cybersecurity & defence firms. We’re aware that the displacement of local communities across London is nothing new, but we believe Gail’s embodies the current wave of what can only be described as late-stage gentrification in Brixton. Continuing on from our last project ‘Cash4Commons’, our broader focus is on the relentless prioritisation of capital over people, and how Lambeth council continues to allow corporate developers to eat up what little space we have left in the name of ‘development’.

So you’ll smash it up to prevent it being eaten up? Surely both result in no progress at all for the ‘local people’ you claim to care about?