It was cancelled firstly because at the last minute, after a number of concerns were raised by a number of parties, it was disclosed that 'Portobello Rocks' was being part funded by Warren Todd!
This is the letter sent out to various people in the neighbourhood, I was given it by a pissed off market trader friend:
Dear Sir/Madam
I am writing to you, in what are hard and challenging times, to try and help find a realistic solution to maintain the unique charm of Portobello Road.
I understand that the last thing people want on Portobello is commercialisation – what’s best is if it can stay like it is in so many ways. But there are problems with keeping it the same and I want to confront them with you.
I have sponsored Portobello Rocks – an arts event at The Tabernacle designed to start a dialogue about what we are all facing on our road.
Portobello Rocks is hosting a forum for traders, councillors and residents at The Tabernacle on Wednesday 28th July at 2pm. At this forum we will confront all of the problems we face in keeping Portobello unique and charming, so that we can find a solution that actually works. I would like to invite you to attend that forum and give your view.
Please email [illegible] or call 07954 051 458 to reserve your space at the forum on the 28th July at the Tabernacle, 34-35 Powis Square, W11 2AY. Refreshments will be served and your opinion will be sincerely listened to.
Yours sincerely,
Warren Todd
Portobello Group
I am writing to you, in what are hard and challenging times, to try and help find a realistic solution to maintain the unique charm of Portobello Road.
I understand that the last thing people want on Portobello is commercialisation – what’s best is if it can stay like it is in so many ways. But there are problems with keeping it the same and I want to confront them with you.
I have sponsored Portobello Rocks – an arts event at The Tabernacle designed to start a dialogue about what we are all facing on our road.
Portobello Rocks is hosting a forum for traders, councillors and residents at The Tabernacle on Wednesday 28th July at 2pm. At this forum we will confront all of the problems we face in keeping Portobello unique and charming, so that we can find a solution that actually works. I would like to invite you to attend that forum and give your view.
Please email [illegible] or call 07954 051 458 to reserve your space at the forum on the 28th July at the Tabernacle, 34-35 Powis Square, W11 2AY. Refreshments will be served and your opinion will be sincerely listened to.
Yours sincerely,
Warren Todd
Portobello Group
Secondly the 'Rocks' boys seemed to think that they had a remit to organise some kind of forum at the Tabernacle whether the community or Tabernacle liked it or not!
For those not in the know Warren Todd is the property developer behind the All Saints intrusion as well as owner of a number of other 'prime' sites on the road. For the 'Rocks' boys to get into bed with Warren was the final straw... Portobello Rocks had become advocates of the very person they claimed they were fighting.
The management at the Tabernacle had no choice but to cancel the gig... Acts were already beginning to jump ship before it foundered on... Portobello rocks.
The Tabernacle has had a reputation in the past for being difficult (it is a difficult collection of balls to juggle) but in this instance the management acted in the only way they could in order to maintain some integrity. The Tabernacle after all has to sleep easily with the whole community, not just Warren Todd.
For Portobello Rocks to say on their Web site: 'Who needs the Tabernacle' beggars the question; Who needs a Warren Todd funded 'save portobello' event anywhere.
It would have been right for the 'Rocks' boys to put their hands up and say: 'We got it so completely wrong. Not the Tab's fault... Sorry!'
Having said that the Event is going ahead at the Drawing room in Portobello Road on Saturday night and I shall be there to support them... Let's hope they leave the politics at home.
And no! I do not work for the Tabernacle... The Tabernacle works for me!
