Ruislip & Eastcote & Northwood Gazette
Plaque tributes stolen from hall
PANELS WERE CUT OFF FROM SOUTHALL BUILDING
FIRE crews rushed to Uxbridge in the middle of the night after a huge pile of composting manure caught fire.
A total of four London Fire Brigade engines rushed to Newyears Green Lane in Uxbridge near the junction with Breakspear Road just after 1am on Wednesday (June 24).
Around 25 firefighters worked at the scene, where a 200 squaremetre pile of manure had caught fire at a composting facility just west of Uxbridge.
An industrial conveyor, which is used to transport bulk materials, was damaged in the fire but no injuries have been reported. Pictures from the scene show the flames around the conveyor in the middle of a large goods yard, while another shows smoke rising from the scene after the fire was brought under control.
Firefighters from Ruislip, Northolt and Hillingdon fire stations worked for around two-and-a-half hours to bring the blaze under control by 3.34am. An initial investigation by London Fire Brigades’s investigators has found the fire to be accidental and involved a piece of machinery at the composting plant.
HISTORICAL plaques that paid tribute to individuals within Southall’s history of fighting fascism and racism have been stolen from Southall’s Town Hall.
Three commemorative markings, which were unveiled just last year, were “cut off” the building and police and the council are investigating the incident.
The plaques paid tribute to Gurdip Singh Chaggar, an 18-year-old student murdered in a racist attack in 1976, and Blair Peach, an antiracist school teacher who was killed in anti-National Front demonstrations in 1979.
A third plaque recognises local reggae band Misty in Roots, known for their anti-racist activism. Their manager Clarence Baker was left hospitalised for months after he was badly beaten at the same 1979 protests as Mr Peach.
“It has taken four decades to get this recognition and to remember those terrible times in Southall’s history,” said Janpal Basran, of Southall Community Alliance.
“It has a real resonance with so many people involved at the time and subsequently now we have the whole national movement around Black Lives Matter – and the whole debate about reconsidering and reevaluating local history, with all of that going on – and the far right threats to take down statues. We do worry.
However, he added: “Without speculating too much, we want to investigate and get further answers.
“They [the plaques] are not the kind of thing that would have fallen off, or the kind of thing removed by somebody accidentally, so we are really kind of worried and anxious about what happened.”
The mysterious theft of the plaques also comes just weeks after Southall’s community came together outside the town hall to take the knee for George Floyd and support Black Lives Matter.
Reacting to the appeal on Twitter, community group Our Southall said: “This is extremely shocking and even more so at a time when just a week ago #Southall residents and businesses stood in solidarity with the #BlackLivesMatter movement at the #SouthallTownHall!”
Ealing Council leader Julian Bell said: “I am appalled that these plaques have been forcibly removed and stolen.
“They commemorate the untimely deaths of two young men in our borough. Blair Peach, a teacher from New Zealand who tragically lost his life in the 1979 Southall riots, and Gurdip Singh Chaggar, an 18-year-old student who was murdered in an unprovoked racist attack in 1976.
“The third plaque acknowledges Misty in Roots, a local reggae band known for their anti-racist stance and support for independence in Zimbabwe. They were at the protest in 1979 and their manager, Clarence Baker, was severely beaten and badly injured during the unrest. We will work with the police to identify who has removed them and I urge anyone with information of this theft to report it.”
The plaques were reported missing by residents on Thursday June 11. Anyone with information call 101 and quote crime reference number 2515276/20.