STURRYROADOVIA COUNCIL MEETING

Article by Karen McDermott

Sturry Road. Home to innumerable students/residents, the Run of the Mill public house, a KFC in the making and known to many as the Long Walk to Asda. One man is attempting to forever alter our perception of the place, sweeping the name ‘Sturry Road’ off the map to replace it with the awe-inspiring and somewhat exotic-sounding ‘Sturryroadovia’ – with its grandiose suffix, and connotations of freedom, change and revelry. With official recognition by Downing Street, Sturryroadovia is well on its way to capturing the hearts and minds of other mini-realms (wherever they may be) in its quest for dominance.

Very much a tongue-in-cheek conception, founder Emperor Oliver I (a.k.a. Oliver Stobbart) however uses his credentials as student of War Studies & Management Science at UKC for and overall resident for 5 years to draw attention to globalisation (evident in Canterbury’s 3 Starbuck outlets) and the opportunities available to residents to reject standardisation and put forth their own views about how a nation, however small in size, can be run.

Sturryroadovia was created with the intention of nurturing an exciting and interesting environment where its members share the common goal of developing a perfect state – incorporating legal, governmental and constitutional arenas. With some hardcore partying thrown in for good measure.
 
The first meeting of the Sturryroadovian Council was held in The Parrot on 11th March 2009 and 7 attendees witnessed the birth of the world’s newest and greatest micro nation. Topics discussed varied from possible innovative ways of attaining allies to what events are to be held in the forthcoming Micro Olympics (it was suggested reintroducing games so readily banned by the British Government for their ferociousness, such as ‘conkers’). All present agreed that freedom from slavery is a must.

Dual citizenship with the UK was a preliminary item on the agenda – with a general consensus formed that UK laws will be adhered to for now (with a view to improving upon them, of course). As to requirements for citizenship: any skill which may be of merit, be it fluent Sturryroadovian, guitar-playing or nose-picking must be stated upon application.

Until the website is up and running, as a recently-appointed Officer I urge you to follow this link to join the Facebook group to have a go at designing a flag, or contributing an entry to the forthcoming ‘Battle of the Bands’ style competition for national anthem, or just having a small say in the shaping of Sturryroadovia.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=67512&id=637397558&saved#/group.php?gid=53417052595&ref=ts

The group (which now stands at a staggering 80-odd members) recognises:

“In today's global community the boundaries of nationalism are becoming less and less important to the identity of a state and it is my [Emperor Oliver’s] aim to create a nation of great likeminded men and women to redefine the shape of the world.”

So there you have it. Sturryroadovia. There’s the whole war in Australia thing, and the space programme could be described as jumping the gun just a little, but a nation can perhaps be pardoned its hiccups in its ambitious infancy.