Just wanted to share some of the real history of the site.

In 1955 the then local authority started carrying out burials on land at Honor Oak which had been in use for recreation since Victorian times. They did this without planning permission being granted for a change of use, so it was unlawful.

So London County Council and the Local Government Minister became involved and they came out very firmly in favour of the land being used for recreation. The local authority was told to come back with plans for leisure facilities. Only 2 acres was allowed for burials (at the area where burials had already been started without permission) and the Local Government Minister referred to the quality of the rest of the landscape and said that he did not want to see gravestones covering it.

What's more, even recently Southwark Council had no plans to use Honor Oak Rec at all. They did commission a very extensive report in the 1970s, which I was told by a colleague of the author,rejected trying to extend Camberwell New Cemetery and showed how the other, old cemeteries could be managed sustainably, long term, to provide burial space.

In 1990 they were due to continue using Camberwell Old Cemetery, where there was a large area designated and ready. And at that point, the committee of the Friends of Nunhead Cemetery started lobbying Southwark Council to use Honor Oak Rec instead. They didn't even have a remit to do this on behalf of their members. I have a letter from one of the active Friends of Nunhead members who was also a Rec user, who had discovered what was happening and wrote to the Friends of Nunhead ctte protesting at their behaviour. [/b] He explained to them how much the Rec was needed and used. Unfortunately this person didn't alert anyone else in the area, or there would no doubt have been a campaign of opposition at the time. It all proceeded behind the scenes.

I think it is important for people who support the Rec to be fully aware of all this, because Southwark Council continues to publish statements about the Rec to create the impression that they are someow tied to a "historical" plan to use it as a cemetery. It simply is not the case. The current situation started because of behind the scenes string-pulling and trading of influence that the general public knew nothing about. These are recent decisions, there is no ancient history obliging Southwark to destory the park, the current politicians are entirely responsible for what is being planned.