The procession will leave from Darfield Road SE4 (to the side of Crofton Park Library) at 12.30 pm and follow the route from Brockley Rd, via Stondon Park, Brockley Rise, left into Stanstead Road (A205 South Circular), along Catford Hill/Catford Road arriving at Lewisham Town Hall, arriving at 1.30 pm approximately.
The organisers say: 'Please muster at 12.15 at Crofton Park Library, wearing bright clothes and come with bells and whistles to join the Carnival march of protest. Alternatively join us along the route'.
Details of how to contact the five local campaigns (New Cross, Crofton Park, Blackheath, Sydenham and Grove Park) can be found on The Friends of Sydenham Library blog
There's a report at Green Ladywell about a meeting on the future of Crofton Park library. I'm not sure I go along with the tactics of some campaigners which involve coming up with alternative options for running the libraries. This might be a fall-back position, but the point isn't just to keep buildings open but to have properly staffed and resourced libraries. The movement against cuts risks being defeated before it really gets off the ground if campaigners buy into David Cameron's Big Society rhetoric about local communities doing the work for free that people used to be paid to do properly.
I don't think it was campaigners' tactics to look for alternative uses for the library - I think it was more officers seizing on any community group/social enterprise showing an interest and urging them to come along and make a presentation. They were somewhat stitched up, I think. Campaigners have been saying 'why don't we make better use of the building, eg get a bit of revenue by leasing out the upstairs space', but so far officers have been exceedingly cagey in divulging info about the state of the upstairs space and how much it would cost to bring it back into use.
ReplyDeleteI think it's about time the Mayor of Lewisham told us what his views are, rather than let it be an entirely officer-led exercise.