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@Skülly
They took the heart out of southbank years and years ago. 2004 to be exact. When they put those hoardings up during the renovation of RFH - they said they needed the space for construction stuff. This was the first time spraycan art was actively encouraged by SBC. To take your attention away from the fact that they took away all that space from us. And it made it look more aggressive and 'street' which in turn has allowed them to view skating as a problem outsider activity. IMO.
Before that they:
turned off the lights
put up fences at the foot of the big mellow banks
put up a fence at the foot of the bank-to-wall
gouged strips out of the concrete near the three steps at the south end
set large pebbles into the banked risers to the 'loading bay' that was on the approach to the bank-to-wall
I'm not sure in what order all these things were done to the undercroft. But I reckon the last one was the earliest. I reckon this last step took place about 1990, or about that time. So they've been doing all this for a looooong time.
I'm filled with anger at SBC. But for some reason I reckon it's all too little too late. Winstan Whitter made a film called Save The South Bank, made in about late 2004, and in it we raised all these questions about why a cultural institution didn't see street stuff as part of culture. That was the time to do something.
It's all too late.