This week 10, 20, 30 years ago

10 Years Ago

Thousands of South Londoners joined a protest march against public spending cuts.

The Trades Union Council (TUC) said 150,000 people turned out at the weekend for a national demonstration against Government austerity measures, amid fears they could lead to a general strike.

A pre-march rally was staged by around 2,000 people outside the Imperial War Museum in Lambeth Road, Kennington, before the main gathering in central London.

Some criticised Labour for admitting that South London rallies against cuts were necessary.

A war of words erupted over a £1.5billion estate regeneration – with a leading MP calling for a complete rethink to include more homes for poorer families.

Plans to rebuild the Heygate Estate in Elephant & Castle were first put forward a decade before.

Southwark council said it had negotiated with developers Lend Lease to ensure 25 per cent of the homes will be affordable.

But Bermondsey and Old Southwark MP Simon Hughes claims just eight of the 235 homes in the first phase would be for low-income families.

A lollipop lady was installed at a crossing where a five-year-old boy was killed by a lorry.

Hichame Bouadimi died while returning with his family from Charlotte Sharman Primary School in Elephant & Castle when he was hit by the lorry in St George’s Road.

Southwark council used emergency funding so the crossing would be staffed.

The decision was taken after Southwark councillors heard from parents of Charlotte Sharman pupils.

The parents said the introduction of a supervised crossing patrol would provide high-visibility reassurance for children, parents and teachers.

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20 Years Ago

Bulldozers were poised to move into Streatham’s historic ABC cinema to transform the crumbling eyesore into a plush gym and a restaurant after Lambeth council gave developers planning permission.

The building had become a magnet for squatters. A series of 24-hour parties had also caused severe damage to the interior of the cinema.

The new complex would also include 62 luxury apartments, a family restaurant and a leisure centre over the lowest two floors.

Plans were announced for a memorial service to remember four children who died in a house fire.

April Orlebar, 15, Verinya Foste-Payne, eight, Tre-Marcus Foster-Payne, eight and Casey-Joseph Foster-Amos, 18 months died on November 2, 2001 after their Deptford Wharf home was gutted by fire.

A year on, the children’s family and friends held a memorial service at Ruach Ministries in Brixton Hill, with a party planned at the Fez nightclub in Lewisham Way New Cross, with film footage of the youngsters played on big screens.

One of the leading civil rights campaigners in the US visited South London to persuade more black people to vote.

The Reverend Al Sharpton was in town to promote Operation Black Vote.

He visited the spot in Peckham where Damilola Taylor was killed and visited Brixton.

Rev Sharpton became a preacher in the states when he was just four and had gone on to crusade against crack houses and police brutality.

The flamboyant minister was in the middle of his bid to become a Democrat candidate for the US presidency.

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30 Years Ago

A sickening dog fighting ring was burst open by a chance search of a car that jumped a red light.

Police found the savaged body of a pit bull concealed in the boot of the car in Walworth Road, Walworth.

The Vauxhall Cavalier also contained an array of equipment known to be used in the illegal fights when it was pulled over at 5am.

The driver’s home was also searched and two more pit bulls were found.

Parents voted for their children’s school to opt out of local authority control.

Dunraven Secondary School in Leigham Court Road, Streatham announced plans to apply to Education Secretary John Patten for grant-maintained status to allow it to break free from Lambeth council.

More than 67 per cent of parents with youngsters at the school voted in favour of the change in status, to the delight of governors, who were in favour of the decision. But the council branded the move as a re-introduction of the grammar school system.

Plans to breath new life into South London’s crumbling housing estates were in danger of hitting the rocks amid a severe round of Government spending cuts.

A report by the London Housing Unit (LHU) warned that cash set aside to spruce up social housing across South London could dry up by 1999.

The report followed news that London councils were having to borrow £78million in the 1992/3 financial year to keep estate action schemes on track, prompting claims that even projects already underway by 1992 might not have the resources to be completed.

 

Pictured: Pitbull.  Pixabay /  manfredrichter