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Medieval Curse versus Debenhams

The Knights of St Edmund | 14.11.2005 16:02 | Globalisation | Cambridge

Globalisation isn’t just about Third world countries. Residents of Bury St Edmunds have threatened Centros Miller and Debenhams with an ancient curse in order to prevent the construction of a 12 acre shopping development in one of England’s most historic towns.


The Cattle-market redevelopment in Bury St Edmunds is being bulldozed through by an unholy alliance of Tory and New Labour politicians on St Edmundsbury Borough Council. On three separate occasions that they have had the opportunity to have a democratic vote on the development, the people of St Edmunds have massively rejected plans for the cattle-market redevelopment.

This development means:

1. Unemployment: the ‘inefficient’ small shops and their suppliers in the town will be killed off in favour of the larger more 'efficient' businesses dominating the high street.
2. Crime and anti-social behaviour: Kids in hoodies just love to hang around the mall, as do opportunist criminals.
3. Lack of Diversity: Bury St Edmunds has many small family run businesses that will go out of business because they cannot compete with a Debenhams super-store.
4. Ruins a great architectural town: the blandness of the development is stunning, it has no reference to the local timber framed construction tradition for which the town is noted.
5. The development is being paid for from the money received from the sale of the Borough's council housing stock.

The curse will be unleashed at a public ceremony on the 20th November 2005 at 7.15 pm. Please check web-page for details and more information about campaign.

 http://www.knightsofsaintedmund.com

Deus lo volt!

The Knights of St Edmund
- Homepage: http://www.knightsofsaintedmund.com


Comments

Hide the following 4 comments

trashed towns and corrupt councils

15.11.2005 17:13

It's happening everywhere.

What do we do about it?

 http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2005/11/327884.html

keith


Better Thought...

15.11.2005 21:31

Forget the curse, chuck in £100 each and get a good planning QC on the case. Trust me.

Architect


better thought than 'better thought' above, really....

16.11.2005 17:18

Do the curse, start a campaign using all your ideas, including getting as many people to sign up to a 'beat the bulldozer' pledge ("I pledge if this goes ahead to take direct action against..." kind a thing) as early as possible (the threat of direct action has won many local campaigns if approached in this way), oh, and don't trust anyone who says 'trust the planning process/local government democracy/etc', though if you've got the money, do it as well as all else.

www.earthfirst.org.uk


Really?

16.11.2005 22:41

"don't trust anyone who says 'trust the planning process".

Really, where did I say that?

Planning is, ultimately, a political issue and yes sometimes officers' recommendations are overturned by Councillors themselves. There you go. But if you don't meet them on the proper playing field, the games a bogey before you even begin.

Direct protest? Good idea as part of an overall strategy. Direct protest/action on its own? You'll lose 9 times out of 10.

Architect


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