Danish riots in defence of kids' playground
Socialist Press1980 1980-05-21Read it in the scan (PDF), scan page 3 →
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alternative open spaces is a variety of moves to force the AN ON THE SPOT REPORT BY JACK JOHNSON More Kindergardens!
Less police!
These were the slogans under which the inhabitants of Norrebro-one of the slum areas of Copenhagen-waged pitched battles with the police for nearly a week.
The point of conflict was an adventure playground known as "The Builder" , set up by local people some years ago on a building site.
Most of the kindergardens in the area use "the Builder" as an open-air playground because they do not have such facilities heard. themselves. One of the few churchyard!
There have been four different plans for developing the area-one from the bourgeoisie, one from the Social Democrats, one from the Danish Communist Party and a joint plan submitted by the Left Socialists and the Socialist People's Party. Only the last of these proposed keeping the Builder' The Communist Party quickly abandoned their plan and lent support for the Social Democrats, who proposed to scrap the playground. The local inhabitants' nninions were not YY WIL JIVL The city council tried a closure of 'the Builder'. Every one was rejected by the local population because they meant abandoning other promised facilities.
Eventually the Communist Party proposed closing a sandpit playground for small children and moving 'the Builder' to that site-the "Kapelvej solution". This was at once opposed as a cynical move to split the resistance.
The council then attempted to demolish half of the Builder'. They were countered by trade unions who promised local people that their members would not work under police protection.
But officials of the Stalinist-led union arrived on the site three hours after most of the play houses and playthings had been moved.
As soon as the police left, local people promptly moved everything back. A 24-hour watch was installed on the playground, and reinforcements drafted in to restore it to its original state.
While the CP and Social Democrats desperately attempted to press the compromise "Kapelvej solution" " the Social Democratic chief burgomaster gave orders for the complete demolition of "the Builder", A large squad of police and bulldozers moved in on April 29. It took them from 9 am to 6 pm to clear the area-as local residents blockaded the main streets, puncturing the tyres of buses that tried to pass and using them as roadblocks, while barricades were built round "the Builder"
Driven back
The police were driven back several times. Even after clearing the area they were unable to Copenhagen protestors stop thousands of angry workers storming nearby building sites and seizing materials to rebuild the destroyed playhouses and apparatus.
By midnight "the Builder" had been reconstructed -and so had the barricades!
This situation remained during May Day and for several days afterwards.
Wait and When the police once more attacked the barricades, the Left Socialists, who had been in the leadership of the struggle advocated a "wait and see" policy-but failed to stop the resistance of local workers.
Though the police succeeded in smashing the barricades it took them two days to demolish "the Builder"
In the aftermath of these battles an extraordinary meeting of the town council was beseiged by an angry 10,000strong demonstration-a : sure sign that both Social Democrats and Stalinists must have sacrificed a great deal of support in this working class area of Copènhagen.