The owners of a southeast London restaurant are campaigning for the large telecomms boxes outside to be removed after stifling their business.
Debbie Monfries, 65, said the five cabinets have significantly impacted sales as they restrict the view of her high street eatery, Umana Yana on Croxted Road, near West Dulwich train station.
They were installed in 2012 – only months after Debbie and her husband Junior, 63, remortgaged their home and spent thousands of pounds on refurbishing the Guyanese restaurant.
But the couple have fought to have the boxes removed ever since.
Debbie, who moved to the UK in 1990, told Metro that when the first telecomms cabinet was placed right in front of the restaurant, she called the company that installed it and warned that ‘it’s too big, it’s going to damage our business’.
But she said the company told her they ‘didn’t see a problem because Caribbean shops come and go’.
In 2011, Umana Yana’s sales were high. However, they started to decline after the boxes were installed.
Debbie said footfall has decreased due to the restaurant’s lower visibility to passers-by.
She said: ‘It is a stressful time. Just imagine, our electricity bill is £2,000 a month. In one day, it could be £74 or £116.
‘Those are the kinds of figures we’re paying, so it’s very stressful.
‘Normally, I will go to the market on a Sunday and that helps us to keep afloat.’
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The couple’s struggle has also had an impact on Debbie’s health.
She had to go to A&E last weekend after suffering breathing problems following a meeting about the boxes with her MP, Helen Hayes.
Debbie added: ‘I think the stress of everything, I took it to heart, and I couldn’t breathe. They discovered a blood clot in my lungs.
‘But it’s not fair. I should be stressing about my children and my family, not being behind on my business.
‘It’s like, for all your life you wanted my own business and someone’s trying to take it away from you, but I can’t afford [to lose it].
‘It’s my life, it’s my dream, it’s my lifeline as well. I have no pension. I’m hoping we can turn things around in the next couple of years, that we can gain some money [and retire].’
Despite the couple’s 13-year battle to have the cabinets removed, Debbie said residents have been very supportive of the campaign.
Rapper Central Cee, who has Guyanese heritage, visited Umana Yana after seeing Debbie’s campaign on social media.
He was given a cooking lesson and donated £15,000 to the struggling business.
Debbie said: ‘He was great. What I liked about him was that he was so down to earth.
‘When we heard a celebrity was coming down, we were panicking, but he was so cool, he made me feel at ease, and we got along so well you would have thought we’d known each other for years.
‘But he’s very good, he keeps us in mind. He pops in here and there.’
The restaurant is fundraising to pay off outstanding bills, which Debbie said are the result of the business struggling to gain customers.
She said the Government isn’t doing enough to support small, independent businesses like Umana Yana.
The couple have been back-and-forth with the authorities to have the boxes removed.
In February, the local MP put a petition into Parliament.
It said the decision lies with Ofcom – but the regulator told Debbie the Government is responsible.
Helen Hayes, MP for Dulwich and West Norwood, told Metro: ‘Umana Yana is a fantastic local business in my constituency which has been badly impacted by the thoughtless placement of utilities cabinets on the pavement in front of the business.
‘I’ve been supporting Debbie for many years in her search for a resolution to the problem, but the telecommunications companies have refused to move their cabinets.
‘As the cabinets have been legally installed, there is currently nothing that can be done to enforce their removal, although Southwark Council has taken steps to ensure that this cannot happen to another business in the future.
‘Earlier this year, I introduced a petition in Parliament on Debbie’s behalf.
‘The petition called for legislation to protect small businesses like Umana Yana from telecommunications infrastructure and for fair compensation from telecoms companies for disruption and loss of trade.’
The MP met Debbie last week to discuss the Government’s ‘initial response and next steps’.
She said she has continued to ‘advocate on her behalf’.
Councillor Helen Dennis, cabinet member for new homes and sustainable development at Southwark Council, said: ‘We support the Umana Yana campaign and have tried to facilitate a resolution with the telecom companies so they remove their boxes.
‘Under national rules, telecom companies can install these boxes without planning permission from councils, and these boxes were lawfully installed some years ago.
‘Our planning committee has recently agreed to use Article 4 powers in an innovative way, so telecom companies cannot install more boxes outside the restaurant without applying for planning permission.
‘Although we hope this is a helpful step and will stop more boxes being installed it does not affect the existing lawfully installed boxes.’
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