Shiv Watson Ghost bike/memorial council notice Lauriston Road

Hi All,

Being a former resident of Vicky park village, having witnessed the aftermath of this accident and attended the vigil for Shiv Watson I was disturbed to learn that there have actually been some complaints made to the council for the removal of the memorial?!

Pics attached.

Does anyone have any more info on this at all? Has it happened elsewhere? Is there a petition to keep the memorial?

Its pretty disturbing to think there are people in the community willing to make such a complaint.

Any info anyone has would be much appreciated.

Apologies if this has been posted previously

Cheers
Rich

2 Attachments

What I remember from a news report a few weeks ago is a shop owner who witnessed the accident and aided the cyclist was the sole complainant.

He sees the bike daily from his shop window which triggers awful memories.

He doesn't want to be reminded any longer and feels it's time to move on.

You know - in all truth I've often wondered about the long term nature of ghost bikes. It's not the actual permanence of a memorial that I find difficult, quite the opposite. Over time they start to look quite unloved. The bike in question is usually well attended and still gets me every time I pass it. But an actual bike and flowers left in the elements starts to look a bit, well... forgotten. Which I always feel is a bit ironic and sad. As creative types I imagine it might be possible for us to come up with a commonly recognised icon, structure, road painting or something which would stand the test of time. Am I way out on this? My thoughts being that these 'icons' could and of course would be personalised and maintained by friends and family of the rider as they saw fit, but that the piece would have more longevity.

I find it tragic that in this case the motivation for the request to remove is one of a local person being haunted by this terrible event. I feel for them - I really do. It strikes me though that we are confronted with memorials to events which may disturb us daily. If not in actuality then in the media. One way or another, surely there is a way to preserve the memory of events such as this in a beautiful and appropriate way?

If the forum feels that my ruminations on the subject are inappropriate in this thread then give me a heads up and I'll either delete my thoughts or shift them into a more general place.

Love to Shiv Watson whose memory will very certainly remain whether this particular bike is there or not. And love of course to all affected by tragedies such as this just because their loved one was trying to get around.

As creative types I imagine it might be possible for us to come up with a commonly recognised icon, structure, road painting or something which would stand the test of time. Am I way out on this? My thoughts being that these 'icons' could and of course would be personalised and maintained by friends and family of the rider as they saw fit, but that the piece would have more longevity.

have always felt the ghost bikes to have strong resonance, especially when crossing the A10;

perhaps in places/circumstances such as this, simply a noticeable-to-cyclists ghost plaque/icon, could be placed on its own?

• something that would be unobtrusive to the shopkeeper.. and without nuisance/attention-distraction to other cyclists?
  

I live right in this area. These complaints come from people who can stand the hoards and hoards of hipsters hanging out well into the night at the pub outside which this memorial is chained, but they can't stand the memorial itself?

SMH. Have some shame.