Parklife

Camp Bling announces ‘the end’ as road scheme stopped.

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Long running road protest and counter-cultural campaign site Camp Bling, based in the middle of Southend-on-Sea, Essex, is set to be decommissioned by the summer, after the long awaited announcement that the controversial Priory Crescent road widening has now officially been cancelled. (1)

Members of the camp met with Council leaders last night with a view to resolving the situation, after the publication of an open letter from Transport Councillor Anna Waite, stating that £5m in central government funding would be spent solely on the Cuckoo Corner roundabout, with possible junction improvements – but no widening – to follow at the Prittle Brook industrial site at a later date. (2)

As a result, campaigners intend to honour their public pledge to clear and vacate the camp, now that their objective to stop the road has been met completely. It is expected that it will take a number of weeks to fully return the East Saxon king’s burial to its former condition, with all structures and materials on the site to be removed by the group, with the objective of incurring no cost to the local taxpayer.

Speaking from the camp Ginger said, ‘We would like to thank each and every one of the people who have been involved, not just with Camp Bling, but also with the ongoing campaign which ran from 2001 in opposition to the scheme. It’s not every day that you get to be part of an effort to stop a £25m road widening, with the added opportunity to warn people of the culmination of environmental and social crises that we now all face.’

‘For many of us this has been our first taste of an alternative, lower impact, and more compassionate lifestyle. We have shared our experiences – both good and bad – along the way, and often got people to acknowledge the real choices that we all have. It is time for everyone to confront reality, as western industrial society continues to overshoot the ecological limits of the Earth.’ (3)

People are still welcome to visit the camp whilst decommissioning is underway, and are also encouraged to check out some of the alternatives at: www.campbling.org

NOTES TO EDITORS:

(3) Climate, Peak Oil, Overpopulation, Mass Extinction, Overconsumption, etc.