Support us reduce oversized events on Clapham Common

Friends of Clapham Common

Dear Green Spaces,

I have the honour of living 2 minutes away from Clapham Common, which is beautiful and every time I cycle across, reminding  me of the time when I used to walk my young children and my dogs and now walking my grandchildren.   The Common allowing one to be with nature, seeing the variety of birds and other wild life the Common attracts, breathing in the fresh air when one is there.  I have lived by the Common for 50 years, unfortunately in that time I have also seen damage done to this beautiful Common by so many events that are allowed to take place which is so damaging.

I am a member of The Friends of Clapham Common and was on the Committee for about 20 years.  The Friends have achieved a lot in Educating the Local Council in the care of the Common, still big events are allowed to happen which I feel is a tragedy.

Yours sincerely

Marietta Krikhaar

These open spaces must be preserved, it would be a tragedy if the lungs of London which are badly needed were no more.

One thought on “Support us reduce oversized events on Clapham Common”

  1. This issue has been allowed to grow and grow and now it has become a crisis. And I do mean a crisis, since Lambeth Council seems to think this so-called “events area” – a name it has given to this important and large space of our Common – belongs to it. We, the council tax-paying residents of Clapham Common, need to take back the Common – for our own health and for the future of this part of London, our children and grandchildren. At this point there is no other way to do this but to stage a peaceful demonstration to show Lambeth Council we oppose the way it is damaging this space and to raise awareness, since many people think it is “nice” to see treated rye grass planted all over it, not realising that in the process tens of thousands of worms have been killed and not a single flower will ever grow there, since the soil has been impoverished. Soils cannot breathe without worms and vegetation which the worms help to compost.
    What is more, while the council claims only 9% of the Common is being used for events lasting many months during the year, the enormous amount of pollution which emmanates from all the generators and parked cars, lorries and vans, encompasses the whole of the Common, polluting everyone’s lungs. In summer, when most of the events are held, enjoying the Common is impossible.
    And then the revenue the council makes it spends on multi-million pound projects such as the new library on Clapham High Street, someone’s vanity project where the layout is totally wrong, the internet does not work and the computer rooms are prison cells without windows. Please go there one day, there is hardly a soul. And that is how our council tax money is being spent.
    We desperately need to raise awareness and protest, since this part of the Common seems to be left to the wasteful and greedy machinations of the council. I support the FCC and am a participating memeber, but most of the FCC’s energies focus on South Side while the North Side has been left by the wayside.
    How should we protest and claim back our Common? Talking about it on the internet will not move the mountain that is Lambeth Council. Perhaps we can settle on a date and all those interested can gather by the bandstand at a given time? Keeping a 2m distance we can agree on a course of action!

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