Attention All Undead!

Lovers of the beautiful General Cemetery in Sharrow will be pleased to know that the fight to save the Anglican Chapel from commercial development (see article 'Save Sharrow Cemetery') is going brilliantly. It ain’t over yet, though: Mr Wilkinson is submitting new plans. If we’re going to fight him off, we need to keep public attention focussed on the campaign. Here’s how to do it, and have fun at the same time: ZOMBIE MARCH!

The gory details…

1. Gather this Friday (28th) at the Cemetery Gatehouse (end of Cemetery Avenue, off Ecclesall Road) between 1 and 2 pm, to get into your finest zombie glad-rags and make-up. The awesome folk at Party Town on Eccy Road are sponsoring the event, allowing us free costume rental (small deposit required) and make-up for the day, but costumes will be limited so please try to bring your own. Ragged/Victorian/skeletal, or any combination of the three, but dressing up isn’t mandatory.

2. Around 2.30pm, we’ll shamble along Ecclesall Road, Hanover Way, Broomspring Lane and then Division Street, to arrive at the Town Hall around 4.30-5.00pm, where we’ll hand in the 3500-signature petition and hopefully talk to the press/TV (release to go out on Wednesday).

3. We could also do with bearers to help carry a coffin – don’t panic, it’s actually very light, and we’ll be taking it in turns.

4. Got a camera? Take good photos? Bring it!

5. Also, make and bring banners - "Save the Chapel", "Vampires Out!", "Zombies for Justice", “RIP Sheffield General Cemetery…?” – witty if possible, and pictures would be lovely, but please, nothing that’s going to offend anyone.

6. We’ve got quite a few people on board already – at least 30 – but the more the better, so please forward this information to anyone you think might be interested.

7. Dole moles, summering students, ladies and gentlemen of leisure: no, you DON’T have something better to do. Take a day off sunbathing, and make a difference. If Mr Wilkinson and his kind are allowed to carry on regardless, there’s going to be nowhere left in this city to sunbathe.

That’s all you need to know. If you haven’t heard the latest developments regarding the Chapel plans, please read on…

A grand total of 3500 signatures have now been collected by the Save the Chapel campaign – thanks to everyone who signed, and to everyone who has been involved in the various events and actions that have made the campaign such a success. There have also been over 150 posts from local people protesting against the plans on the Council's Planning Department website, letters in the Star and the Telegraph, and support from a number of Councillors and heritage bodies. It’s worked so well, in fact, that Mr Wilkinson (who submitted the original proposal) is now running scared, and is aiming to submit another application on the Chapel with more "sympathetic" plans: probably less visible alterations to the outside of the chapel, and almost certainly less Cemetery land pinched for private garden space, but you can bet your bottom dollar that the internal structure will be pretty much the same – Mr Wilkinson says he wants to build a ‘family’ home, which under current proposals involves the creation of six double bedrooms, all with en suite facilities. In other words, this is luxury flats by the back door, but the new plans are likely to be accepted by the board on planning grounds – unless we keep up the pressure. Keep your eyes and ears open for more events, a new petition, and new details of how, where and where to raise official objections. We’ve already beaten this nonsense once. We can do it again.

Kum By Ya, people. See you Friday.