London belongs to us

This poster publicises a protest march from Covent Garden to Trafalgar Square on 1 April 1973. It includes a drawing by Ralph Steadman of 'helter-skelter'-style road constructions.

The People's March was organised by the Covent Garden Community Association in protest against the London County Council’s plans for the large-scale redevelopment of central London. Piccadilly and the historic fruit and flower market buildings at Covent Garden were both threatened by the LCC’s plans. Over 1,000 people joined the protest, including actors, concerned about the loss of central London’s theatres. The chairman of the Covent Garden Community Association told the ‘Times’: ‘London is being smashed apart: people are being forced away by soaring rents. Office blocks replace community neighbourhoods, motorways cut through the city and juggernauts and cars clog the streets’.