Dorothy Skrytek was so angry at plans to re-develop an Art Deco bus station that she spent five months in a one-woman publicity campaign living on the roof. Siobhan Curtis reports.
How long can one woman live on the roof of a bus station? The answer: around five months. That’s how long Dorothy Skrytek, a protester from Derby, lived on top of her beloved Derby bus station in a onewoman publicity campaign to prevent the builders from re-developing the 1933 Art Deco building.
The development, called the Riverlights, will feature bars, cafes, restaurants, offices and apartments as well as 24 bus bays. And although a lot of Derby people originally protested about the plan, nobody tried to follow through their complaints to the extent Dorothy did. Dorothy and two fellow Friends of the Earth activists moved in on the day last October that the station was closed for re-development to start. It caused instant problems for the developers.
Derby City Council had planned to spend around £90m on the scheme,which angered protesters who believed only a fraction of that would be needed to renovate the Art Deco bus station. One member of public said: “It just needs cleaning and painting. I don’t think all the disruption that change is going to cause will be worth it.”
Dorothy, who became spokesperson for her fellow protesters, said: “By taking this action we are trying to inform and prevent the damage that will be caused by unsustainable development, which does not take into account the effects onfuture generations, or on the climate.”
Her accommodation while on the roof she was a small bell tent and she readily admitted it was very cold. But she believed that it was all worth it. Even during the freezing conditions near Christmas Dorothy was not disheartened.
She said: “The ice up here is an inch think, but in my tent I’m absolutely fine. I also have a little stove that keeps me warm and means I can cook meals.”
She was even happy to stay on the roof throughout Christmas if it meant preventing the developers from carrying out any work. In fact she took a festive break of just three days. Masked man In January and back on the roof, temperatures plunged and Dorothy’s resolve was tested anew. Yet she was not deterred, saying “my anger is keeping me warm”.
The end of the month saw a much appreciated arrival up on the roof - a caravan!
Dorothy’s fellow members from Friends of the Earth felt it was time she received some extra help in order to help sustain her vigil. Passers-by were to say the least surprised when on their way into work they saw a caravan sitting on the roof of the bus station. Dorothy’s friends had moved the developer’s barriers and a masked man craned up the caravan under the cover of darkness.
By this time, members of the public, although amused by her protest, were starting to question where the campaign was heading and whether it would ever be resolved. And the Derby Evening Telegraph started receiving scores of letters and emails from people who had had enough of Dorothy’s behaviour.
One writer said: “Like me, there are many more who think this eyesore must be knocked down to bring the city of Derby into the modern world. If I were to protest up on the roof where that lady is, I think I’d more than likely be arrested.” Another said: “People have a right to protest in this country but in putting a lightweight and dangerous unsecured large object on the roof, she has taken it too far.”
Yet Dorothy still felt the public were behind her. She said: “We’ll continue this protest until the development plans are changed.”
But in early February Dorothy was soon to face new problems when her caravan was attacked. Dorothy claimed three youths attempted to topple the caravan in the early hours of one morning, before hurling rocks at her.
She said: “They told me they were going to rape me and kill me and set fire to the caravan.” And she said she would not be bullied into giving up her campaign. But within days Dorothy finally admitted defeat and both her and her caravan were removed and life in Derby returned to normality.
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