With their premises hidden behind five large telecom boxes, the owners of the Umana Yana Guyanese restaurant in Herne Hill are asking for people to sign a petition to help change the rules on how these installations can be sited.
Their fight for the restaurant to be visible from the street has gone on for more than a decade and has left the award-winning restaurant financially struggling.
For the past 14 years, five large telecommunication boxes have stood directly in front of my small Guyanese restaurant, Umana Yana, at 294 Croxted Road, Herne Hill, London SE24 9DA.
These intrusive units have hidden us from public view, keeping potential customers at bay and inflicting severe financial losses. The battle with debt collectors has become part of my life, as has the daily struggle to keep the restaurant’s doors open. All because people cannot see us.
Umana Yana Roti is more than a business—it is a community hub and a celebration of Guyanese and Caribbean culture.
We are a Double-award-winning restaurant, and were recently named Best in the City by Time Out, and have been endorsed by our local MP Helen Hayes in the House of Commons and by UK No: 1 Top rapper Central Cee, who called our food the best Caribbean food in the UK.
Despite these achievements, our visibility has been destroyed by these five telecom installations. For over a decade, we have been denied a fair chance to trade, to grow, and to share our culture with our community.
We are calling on Ofcom, Virgin Media, O2, and Vodafone to remove these units as a matter of urgency and to compensate Umana Yana Restaurant for the massive losses incurred.
This fight is not only for one restaurant—it is for every small business that deserves fairness, visibility, and the right to survive.
Umana Yana Restaurant is more than just a restaurant—it’s a community hub, a place where people gather to share stories over a plate of comforting roti and other authentic Guyanese delicacies.
It’s more than a business; it’s a lifeline for myself, my family and the community. To continue to serve our community and preserve our cultural heritage, these telecom boxes must be relocated.
Our plea is simple: Remove the telecommunications boxes that obstruct our visibility. Many cities have successfully worked with telecom companies to relocate such installations when they pose a significant public nuisance or potential harm to businesses.
We ask that Ofcom exercise its power to do the right thing for our business and our local community, our local council (Southwark) in Herne Hill we called on you to review your data and policy regarding these telecommunication companies, for the information we have received recently has shown someone is not taking their responsibility seriously, and for the stakeholders to engage in a constructive dialogue to find a viable solution that enables Umana Yana Restaurant to thrive once again.
According to telecom regulations and urban planning guidelines, any structure that obstructs a business entrance or visibility should ideally be placed in a manner that mitigates its impact on local enterprises.
This is not only a fair expectation but a necessary one to ensure the livelihood of small businesses like mine. We understand that the infrastructure is important, but it shouldn’t come at the cost of a community fixture and people’s livelihoods.
By signing this petition, you’ll help ensure that Umana Yana Restaurant can continue serving as a beloved dining spot and cultural landmark. Please, help us remove the barriers closing us off from our community. Sign and help save Umana Yana Restaurant from a slow and unjust disappearance.
Yours sincerely,
