Proposed Missile Site Bow Quarter photo: Alex Bishop
The letting agents and landlady at the centre of the row with the Bow missile whistleblower Brian Whelan say the ending of his tenancy has been caused by “a disagreement regarding the renewal of the tenancy” and his “refusal to sign a new contract.”
Whelan exposed the proposed siting of missiles for anti-terrorist measures at the forthcoming Olympics and has complained about the lack of consultation.
Oliver Jaques, property managers for Bow Quarter on Fairfield Road, Bow confirmed Whelan has been given notice to leave the property.
The dispute between Whelan and his landlady, Rachel Roberts, became public on Twitter yesterday. She gave permission for Oliver Jaques to forward to East London Lines a copy of an email she sent to the BBC and reveal that “she was contacted and interviewed by The Sun, Mail, Independent, Guardian and Daily Telegraph, and this morning by Radio 5 Live. All have dropped the story.”
The Evening Standard reported today that Roberts, a freelance PR, said: “The whole thing has been a bit of a nightmare. There’s absolutely no conspiracy on my part. I’m a really nice landlord.”
She confirmed to the BBC that she had provided two months’ notice to Whelan and his partner.
She only became involved when the letting agents contacted her to say that: “It’s a condition of holding a lease that film requests must be made in advance to Bow Quarter Management. As the leaseholder, the actions of my tenant actually put me in breech of my conditions as a property owner.”
She agreed that Whelan should be informed that future media filming required permission: “At this stage it was a friendly reminder and we had no issues with the media activity Brian had been undertaking.”
She explained that the two months notice was due to Whelan’s refusal to sign a new lease on the grounds she was unable to specify a date for some maintenance work.
Oliver Jaques image: http://www.o-j.co.uk/
She says Whelan did not contact her before going public with the allegation that he was facing eviction and “If it was a misunderstanding I’m sure it could have been resolved very quickly, but the situation has gone too far now.”
Whelan admits he will have to find new accommodation and told East London Lines he may find new arrangements living on a boat, or in Brighton.
Meanwhile, until Whelan’s tenancy expires he is maintaining his vigilance on the Ministry of Defence’s activities at Bow Quarter. This morning he posted a video online which appears to show military equipment, apparently unguarded and in the grounds of Bow Quarter.
Image captured from Brian Whelan
His own media activities and pursuit of the developing story of security measures for the forthcoming Olympics continues to receive national coverage.
