A Green Party council has been accused of carrying out ‘ethnic cleansing on steroids’ by installing ‘racist and classist barricades’ under the cloak of darkness with police protection.
Green-run Bristol City Council claims the blockades in Barton Hill, east Bristol, are anti-traffic and pollution measures but Somali and white working-class residents fear it’s a ploy to keep them away from the gaze of their posh neighbours.
Even supporters of the scheme have admitted the council is blockading the area off – which they say could lead to ‘riots’, turning the roads into a warzone. Other locals said the area was being turned into a ‘segregated ghetto’ that their posh white neighbours could avoid.
Barton Hill is one of the most disadvantaged regions of the UK. According to The Quartet Community Foundation, an organisation enabling donations to charities across the west of England, more than a third of people living in the region are under the age of 16. Of those children, 55 percent are living in deprivation below the breadline.
The area is also one of the most ethnically diverse in the city, with a large Somali immigrant community and 55 percent of all residents being non-white. A fifth of homes have no one with English as a first language living there.
Speaking to MailOnline, people living in Barton Hill said they were horrified to wake up at 3 am on March 13 to council workers nailing down barricades while dozens of police officers stood guard. Some of the police were armed with Tasers.
Shopkeeper Naveen Challagundla, 26, has worked in Barton Hill for two years but now fears for his job after the ‘race wall’ was installed. He said: ‘It’s like a prison. There’s no difference between pollution here and [in richer areas], but here it’s closed. We will lose all that business.’
Disabled resident Melissa Topping, 55, has lived in Barton Hill for 11 years. She broke down in tears as she said: ‘It’s going to get to the stage of guerrilla warfare. It’s ethnic cleansing on steroids.
‘The physical [road]blocks are so scary. What if we need the fire brigade? They are blocking us in. We have eight tower blocks.
‘Lots of the [Somalis] work five or six different jobs a day. They need to get out. It’s seriously affecting their livelihoods.’
Bristol City Council has pledged to cut personal car usage by 44 percent in the next five years to meet its climate targets.
It said ‘liveable neighbourhood’ schemes like the EBLN were ‘key’ and would ‘re-design streets so that they are people friendly’.
Bristol City Council says the EBLN is a six-month trial after which it will ‘re-engage the community for feedback’.
It said: ‘Proposals for a permanent scheme layout will be consulted on after six to nine months of the scheme being in place.
‘Local considerations may mean that a Liveable Neighbourhood warrants more time and adjustments before considering if it should be made permanent.’
Locals who spoke to MailOnline suggested that whatever happens, the council will not have the money to dismantle the scheme and agreed the barricades were ‘racist and classist’.
And although the Green-run council said the measures will improve air quality across a 450-acre area, people living in Barton Hill said the traffic will simply be forced around their homes instead.
Locals also said that despite the measures trying to push people to give up cars in favour of public transport, buses only come once every half an hour if they show up at all.
Melissa added: ‘The council did the consultation here because an English online-only [consultation] would not be read.
‘It’s nuts. What’s the negative impact if this doesn’t go ahead?
‘We would like cleaner, safer streets. But they are not supporting any of the businesses at all. We have got nothing here.
‘They close all of this area. Why not another? The businesses are not going to be here in six months.
When she heard council workers installing the barriers, she went out on the road with her neighbours – and were met with dozens of cops from police riot vans lining the streets.
She claimed the police weren’t from Bristol.
Melissa added that far-right groups who are against traffic measures were also trying to infiltrate the area, bringing even more tension to the streets.
Her friend, charity worker Lisa Whitehouse, added: ‘They are ghettoising it. They are segregating them.
‘[The council] doesn’t fund us. If it wasn’t for the lottery we would be f***ed.’
Not all residents, though, oppose the plan.
Father-of-one builder Terry Wilson, 47, lives in Redfield within the EBLN. Like many of his neighbours in the area where homes market for an average of £327,000, he backs the scheme.
Yet even he admitted the council had constructed it in a way that could lead to brutality on the streets of Bristol.
He said: ‘Some of it is good. It’s safer for bikers. They are doing this under the umbrella of pollution.
‘Most of the locals here are for it. A lot of people who aren’t in flats, who own their own houses, are very happy. House prices are going to go up.
‘It’s not for the poorer people. There’s massive construction – a huge development. Some of that has been swaying what’s happening here.
‘They put this [barrier] in stealthily overnight at 3 am.
‘They are trapping people to make them get the bus, but there aren’t many buses.
‘The Somali community think it’s a conspiracy against them. They have been protesting en masse.
‘It’s going to really kick off down there.
‘They are getting ready to push them in. It’s all thought out. The high-rise flats are being pushed into one area.
‘Once the other measures are put in place, that’s where we are going to see riots.
‘It’s just bonkers. If they had listened to people we would have a better situation.’
For father-of-one Mark Gottshalk, 39, a cooling systems commissioning engineer, said ‘Enough is enough.’
He issued a rallying call to his neighbours, saying, ‘We need to come together and get our roads back.’
Mark said the new measures would mean driving his elderly father to hospital would take an extra 40 minutes.
He added: ‘I wish it never happened. [We have been] squashed in together. It’s beyond me. They are going to make it permanent.’
Barton Hill taxi driver Abdiweli, 45, said he was furious at the ‘race wall’.
He said: ‘I don’t understand why they are doing it. We need to open. We need to be fair. Why are they closing this area?’
Meanwhile, Zeravan Sadik, 40, who has run the kebab shop Alibaba’s Grill for five years, said the new barrier opposite the takeaway would put his store in the ground.
He said: ‘I’m going to close the business. We can’t do delivery. We are going to lose lots of customers. Nobody is happy.’
Another local said the council’s measures were ‘racist and classist barricades’.
Local greenkeeper Chris Southie, 34, added: ‘What are they trying to achieve? Everyone pro the scheme has the same answer – emissions.
‘But all you have done is move it to someone else’s. It’s disgusting.’
Avon and Somerset Police and Crime Commissioner Clare Moody has said she is ‘investigating’ the police presence during the installation of the ‘race walls’.
Councillor Ed Plowden, Chair of the Transport and Connectivity Committee, said: ‘We want residents in east Bristol to benefit from safer, greener and quieter streets while maintaining access to their homes, businesses and local services.
‘We recognise there are mixed opinions about the trial, and we fully support the right to protest, and the right for people to campaign for the change in the area. Trialling these measures for 6 months is the best way to gather the information needed to make an informed decision on the permanent solutions to improve air quality, increase walking and cycling, boost footfall for local shops, and make roads safer for all in the area.
‘Because some people have been putting themselves and our contractors at risk by placing themselves in the way of heavy machinery and large items being installed, such as the planters, works were planned for early morning. This was to reduce the risk of harm to all involved, which was the safest way to install the measures while supporting people’s right to peaceful protest. We apologise for any inconvenience caused by the early start of the works, including to residents currently observing Ramadan. We will be returning to complete the remaining work at a later date.
‘Everyone can still drive to their properties within the trial area but they may need to go by a different route. Walking, wheeling and cycling access remains as it was. We have tested routes for all sized vehicles, including our waste vehicles.
‘This trial has been extensively consulted on over three years and has been co-designed with members of the community. It was planned and developed under the previous administration and has now, in the main, been delivered by the council. We will be asking for feedback about the trial and reviewing monitoring data, before making any decisions about the long-term proposals for East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood.’
A Bristol City Council spokesman added: ‘In January, Bristol City Council attempted to install a traffic management system in the Barton Hill area of the city, however, the works were disruptive and police were required to attend.
‘The local authority gave us advanced notice it was planning to recommence the works on March 13, and we decided to stand up a policing operation, with the first officers attending at 4 am, by which time the work had already begun. A total of 28 police officers were involved.
‘The policing operation had the objectives of ensuring peaceful protest could be facilitated and to prevent a breach of the peace. A small protest did take place and officers engaged with protestors to ensure the safety of everyone concerned.
‘Neighbourhood officers remained in the area throughout the day to engage with the public and answer any questions they may have.
‘We understand the strength of community feeling around this scheme and would encourage anyone with concerns about our policing to please speak to us. We received two complaints about the operation, but neither relates to the conduct of any of the officers involved.
‘Complaints about the behaviour or conduct of officers can be made through our website and will be assessed by the Professional Standards Department. Any allegations of this nature would be treated incredibly seriously and we’d encourage anyone to report them to us so they can be investigated.’
A request for a response from Avon and Somerset Police was not answered.
These are the things we should look forward to. Gated communities are on the way for the wealthy which will house everything they need – the remainder will be left in total deprivation, and don’t think you will be immune, you won’t!
One may wonder why there are so many Somalis living there. To protect themselves and their families, they are escaping war as a result of the severe civil turmoil that has occurred in their nation. In any event, that was the plan, but after this incident, I’m not sure that will be the case.
This is purely ethnic cleansing. Give Google a little look and then all we have to say is ‘Heil Hitler.’ And it looks like apartheid has gained approval in Green Bristol.
But let’s face it, the UK is becoming an Islamic state, and if they can put a barricade up in Bristol, why can’t they put one across the English channel?
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 