Villa Road
51°28′02″N 0°06′41″W / 51.4673°N 0.1113°W
Villa Road is a street in
History
In the
Squatted
At the beginning of 1973, the Villa Road Street Group
Almost the entire street was squatted in opposition to the council's plans to redevelop the area, according to which 21 of the 32 houses on Villa Road would be demolished.
The council applied for possession orders for most of the buildings on Villa Road in June 1976 and eight out of 15 were granted. The street prepared to contest the evictions, building barricades and publicising its struggle. In October, the council suggested giving 17 of the houses to the street group; it refused, despite the difficulties created by maintaining barricades for months, since the houses were so run-down. In January 1977, the council went to the High Court, hoping to gain possession orders for the entire street. The judge suggested the two sides negotiate an agreement and set the eviction date for June 1977 in three months' time.[1][7]
The council decided to legalize the occupation in 1978, but only after demolishing the southern side of the street.[1][3] The barricades were taken down in March 1978 and many occupants of the remaining buildings formed a housing association called Solon, which renovated 20 houses with the council remaining as the owner.[1][3][7][2] A park was constructed where the southern side of Villa Road had been; at first called Angell Park, it was renamed Max Roach Park in 1986 after a visit by the American jazz drummer.[8] In the 2010s, Lambeth Council decided to sell off all of its housing stock and by 2017 there were no homes rented to Solon on Villa Road.[2]
In popular culture
Documentary film-maker Vanessa Engle made "Property is Theft" as part of the BBC series Lefties in 2006. She interviewed former inhabitants of the squats such as Cooper and activist Piers Corbyn.[9] In the 1980 gangster film The Long Good Friday, three criminals go to 33 Villa Road to accost a grass.[10]
References
- ^ ISBN 0-9507259-1-9. Archived(PDF) from the original on 7 December 2020. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
- ^ (PDF) from the original on 3 May 2023. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
- ^ a b c d "Sex, Marx and primal screaming — it was a wildly utopian place". Evening Standard. 27 November 2013. Archived from the original on 8 February 2023. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
- ^ Hutchcraft, Jak (6 January 2022). "Property Is Theft: A history of punk rock and squatting". Kerrang!. Archived from the original on 8 February 2023. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
- ^ Whelan, Brian (20 December 2013). "What's left: the ghosts of Brixton's radical past". Channel 4 News. Archived from the original on 8 February 2023. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
- from the original on 10 February 2023. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
- ^ a b "Housing co-ops". BBC. 21 March 2008. Archived from the original on 8 February 2023. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
- ^ "Villa Road squats, Angell Park, Brixton". Lambeth Landmark. 1 February 2018. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
- ^ Billen, Andrew (13 February 2006). "Rising damp". New Statesman.
- ISBN 978-0-7134-9062-6.
Further reading
- Davis, John; Furst, Juliane (2013). "Drop-outs". In Gildea, Robert (ed.). Europe's 1968: Voices of Revolt. Oxford, UK: Oxford Academic. pp. 193–210. ISBN 978-0-19-958751-3.