The price of fish paid by local residents

On Saturday 4th June the Tarling West Estate Tenants & Residents Association held a rally to show shoppers who come to the world famous Bangla Bazar on Chapman Street the ‘nuisance they cause’ when they use a residential street to park.

The Bazar consists of many shops that all sell ethnic foods and has many traders who all sell goods such as vegetables, meat, fish and other groceries. The Bazar operates from commercial railway arches owned by Network Rail.

The residents wanted to demonstrate the level of traffic that comes through their small residential street which although is a two lane street, it only has a single entrance and exit.

This street is used by thousands of cars, vans and lorries. A local said that “no one would put up with that (traffic) on their doorstep”.

The traffic issue had been made worse after TFL closed off one end of the street to accommodate a second entrance/exit for Shadwell station after they finished upgrading the old East London Line into the Overground network.

A resident who went to the protest said: “It used to be a quiet and safe street and legally it should still be but gone are the days when kids … and people in general could be safe. Now you got to worry about lorries crashing into the gate of the playground and cars mounting the pavement and smashing in to people’s front fence.”

The famous Bazar is located beside the train line in railway arches on Chapman Street just off Cannon Street Road. The Bazar is visited by British Bangladeshis who want to do their ethnic food shopping. It’s really good place to get good deals on fresh and frozen food but it can get busy.

Local residents who live behind the Bangla Bazar say the traders have ‘been a nuisance’ for a number of years. Traders have customer parking and also receive deliveries via Cornwall Street which part of a residential estate and gated.

Cornwall Street is a private street and access is only for residents and emergency services. The demand for fish and other products is huge meaning the businesses are doing well. This is great for the businesses and the community who get to buy ethnic foods but businesses and their customers must remember to consider and respect residents who live nearby.

Some businesses in the Bazar said they will do better and residents have seen a slight improvement but it’s a collective problem because the ‘bigger fish’ (pardon the pun) try to get around the legalities.