Bernie Coutu, who is devoted to making the area on the Bridge a cleaner and more vibrant place, handed in a petition signed by 366 people at Sir Charles Frossard House yesterday.
She is determined to claim back the refreshments stand she established two years ago.
‘Most of the Bridge has supported us,’ she said.
‘We’ll wait and see now, but fingers crossed we can get it back for Liberation Day. That’s our goal. It was a real community spot – something for youngsters, and everyone, to do on the Bridge. We get a load of visitors there as well. We want to do tea and cakes, and do it up for Liberation Day. Everyone loves to get involved with it.’
In its time, the hut, opposite the former HSBC branch on the Bridge, has been a police station outpost and a sub-station, and had a clock added over the entrance in 2019.
More recently the lease was taken on by the Vale Floral Group which allowed the hut to be used by the Bridge Neighbourhood Watch group.
The group cleaned, painted and transformed the site into a safe and welcoming place where young people could pop in for a coffee and to charge their phones.
Mrs Coutu, who set up the group about 16 years ago, ran the hut from about 4pm to 7pm on Mondays and Wednesdays for a year, before the lease was handed back to the States. The Vale douzaine paid the water and electricity bills. Although the lease was never held by the douzaine, it ended up with the key to the building, and let Ms Coutu use it as well as giving her a £100 contribution.
Aside from a brief, one-month takeover at Christmas – when Ms Coutu gained special, festive permission from the douzaine to have the key back temporarily – it has remained unused.