Nestled between two railway tracks near the famous Electric Avenue, Brixton’s Pope’s Road street market is bustling with activity. Sisters Natalie and Marie-Claire prep for the day, chopping fish heads and stirring stew at their stall selling cuisine from across West Africa. Opposite them, Didas and his team of traders unpack boxes of Jamaican herbs, vegetables and spices, arranging them on the stall he’s held here for years. It’s an everyday scene, but this morning the traders have cause for celebration.
Since 2020, a major threat has loomed large over the area – controversial plans for a 20-storey office block in Pope Road from Hondo Enterprises, a developer owned by Texan millionaire Taylor McWilliams that has already bought up significant swathes of the south London neighbourhood, including Brixton Market.
The proposals sparked a passionate Fight the Tower community campaign and, over the last 12 hours, news has been filtering through to stallholders, campaigners and locals that the plans are no more – they have won. Last night, four days before a scheduled hearing with the mayor of London at City Hall, Hondo withdrew its planning application.
