The main thing I remember about the protest camp at Crystal Palace was its proximity to the transmitter tower, which gave everyone headaches and was believed to be responsible for a mildly dystopian atmosphere on site. I was only there for two days, travelling up with other activists from Brighton in response to an alert of a possible eviction. My friend Tom and I spent the night in a treehouse, wearing climbing harnesses inside our sleeping bags, throbbing with adrenaline. We were braced for the arrival of police vans and cherrypickers, used to drag protesters from the trees. I don’t remember sleeping much, though by dawn it was obvious it had been a false alarm.
The camp was established in 1998 to protect five hectares (12 acres) of parkland from destruction for a proposed £56m leisure complex. Its enticements included a 20-screen cinema and parking for more than 1,000 cars, necessitating the elimination of 200 mature trees. Local people opposed to Bromley council’s plans for their cherished park had raised £35,000 for a judicial review to overturn the planning process. When the high court rejected their case, protesters stepped in to protect the site.
