Monday 17 June 2013 – London
Even when I wasn’t living nearby I walked Southbank fairly often, nowadays it is my main walking route when ever I go across the Thames and into London City or the West End. One of the places I always stop to look at is the skate park in the under croft of the SouthBank Centre. The skate park has been here for over forty years and has often been described as the heart of skateboarding in London.
I am no skater, but I like the are as it is a small anarchic section of the otherwise clean and tidy tourist dominated Southbank, plus of course I like the fact that the graffiti changes all the time and that skaters of all ages and races use the park at the weekends – though it was very quiet on a weekday morning…
The owners of the Southbank Centre recently announced plans to redevelop the area into a retail park as part of a larger upgrade to the centre. The skaters would be moved on to a new purpose built area further up the river. The last thing the Southbank needs is less fun and more coffee shops….
I dispair when “progress” means destroying a cultural icon for the sake of more retail outlets.
More here http://www.longlivesouthbank.com/
Where is Phil now? 
This is shame. I enjoy watching the skaters and seeing the graffiti art as much as the street performers. They’re part of Southbank itself!
It is a real shame and you are quite correct, they are a part of Southbank!