Limehouse comedian Lee Hurst joins park protesters on march to City Hall
LIMEHOUSE comedian Lee Hurst joined protesters who marched to city Hall this morning asking Boris Johnson to save their park.
The funny man walks his dog Sandy in King Edward VII Memorial Park near Wapping most days. The park is under threat from a super-sewer being built by Thames Water which would be on the site for seven years as part of its massive Thames Tunnel project. This morning, members of Save KEMP marched to City Hall to deliver a petition to Boris Johnson with more than 4,000 signatures calling for him to ask Thames Water to consider alternative sites.
Hurst said: “I have made friends there from assembling with our dogs. You can easily pass an hour there. In summer it gets mobbed. If they take the park away it will have an economic effect on the area. Lots of cafes and shops in the area depend on people coming in the summer.
“Joggers will be force onto the highway and there are no other parks in the area.”
Councillors and MP Jim Fitzpatrick joined protesters as London Assembly Member John Biggs handed in the petition to City Hall.
Members of Save KEMP are meeting with Thames Water bosses at Tower Hamlets Town Hall later on today to ask them to consider other more suitable brownfield sites in the area.
ON Monday, Wapping resident and Oscar winner Helen Mirren came out in support of the campaign.
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A spokeswoman for Thames Water said: “The nub of all this is that untreated sewage currently overflows into the river via a ‘Combined Sewer Overflow’, located beneath the park. We recognise intercepting these unacceptable discharges - ie getting them into the tunnel, not the river - won’t be easy, but they have to be tackled. Our consultation is all about finding the best way to do it. Listening to local views, including Dame Helen’s, is a key part of the process.”
