West Norwood road declared a beach
The South London Press (18 August 2009) article on Carl, Andrew, Suzanne and a resident declaring St Gothard Road a beach
Carl, Andrew and Suzanne have highlighted the condition of a road surface in West Norwood that is in such desperate need of resurfacing that in parts it is down to the sane. In protest, they declared the road independent of Lambeth Council and turned it into a beach for the day.
Lambeth Council had promised Andrew that St Gothard Road would be resurfaced when a nearby housing development on nearby Vale Street had been completed. Work have have started before April this year, but the road remains untended.
In the absence of any action, Andrew issued the following proclamation: “The highway of St Gothard Road is hereby declared a beach, henceforth known as St Gothard Sands. The beach will be returned to municipal ownership once Lambeth Council begins work on resurfacing, as promised to our fathers and forefathers.”
He adds: “West Norwood is being short-changed. Borough engineers have confirmed to me that our micro-climate is very different to that of the North of the borough. Our area is hilly and has little urban heat, so our roads crack more often. Yet the Council won’t spend money in this area: it seems stark-struck by prestige projects in Vauxhall and Waterloo. Hopefully our declaration will remind the Town Hall about residents in Norwood.”
A copy of the article was featured in 'The Post' newspaper
[...] and it follows over a year of campaigning and meetings with officers by Carl, Andrew and Suzanne. Last summer we declared the area a beach when the surface became so bad that sand appeared, but it has taken another 5 months for action to be [...]