earthfirst – Page 120

Philippines anti-mining action

7.7.11 – 30 communist rebels torch Philex Mining’s vehicles, bunk house

At least 30 communist rebels raided on Wednesday afternoon the compound of Philex Mining Company in Barangay (village) Nabulao, Sipalay City in Negros Occidental.

7.7.11 – 30 communist rebels torch Philex Mining’s vehicles, bunk house

At least 30 communist rebels raided on Wednesday afternoon the compound of Philex Mining Company in Barangay (village) Nabulao, Sipalay City in Negros Occidental.

No shot was fired but the New People’s Army (NPA) rebels burned the firm’s three vehicles and bunk house and took six shotguns of their security guards, military and police officials said.

This was the second time in three years that the NPA attacked Philex Mining. In 2008, communist rebels torched millions of pesos worth of mine drilling and heavy equipment as well as the barracks of the workers.

Lt. Col. Rodrigo Sosmena, 47th Infantry Battalion commander, said about 30 armed rebels swooped down on the mining compound, disarmed guards of their service firearms and three hand held radios, at the their outpost located about three kilometers away from the compound.

The rebels, believed to be members of the Armando Sumayang Command, also torched a cargo truck rented by the mining firm, as well as a bunk house of the guards and workers.

The rebels also burned down a Kia Rio car and later commandeered the company’s service pickup vehicle, said Supt. Milko Lirazan, director of the 6th Regional Public Safety Battalion.

The rebels later withdrew towards the Philex airport site and burned the pick-up before fleeing in unknown directions, he added.

The police had yet to determine the extent of the damage, said Lizaran.

Sosmena said his troops were still tracking down the perpetrators as of Wednesday night.

The rebels conducted the raid in line with the campaign of priest-turned-rebel leader Frank Fernandez to enforce a revolutionary policy of completely banning “destructive” mining operations and explorations on Negros Island.

In late 2010, communist rebels raided the Maricalum Mining Company compound in Barangay San Jose, Sipalay City, and took 20 firearms from security guards and two policemen who responded to the raid, police records showed.

But ILt. Rey Balibagoso, 47th IB Civil Military Operations officer, said the NPA was just trying to project the raid as an anti-mining operation to cover up for its motive to extort money from the mining firm.

He said the attack was aimed force the mining firm to pay revolutionary taxes.

http://signalfire.org/?p=12134

The swoop cometh! Glos eco-village:meeting list.

Greetings all,

The beginning is nigh…

Hopefully this will be the last meeting list, so the next thing you’ll hear from us will be the swoop info.. anyone wanting to help out with the swoop, on the day- please get in contact now… Otherwise you’ll only be given short notice as to the date/location etc…

Greetings all,

The beginning is nigh…

We could do with a few more people on the ground, with a knowledge of the area to help out on the day- So get in touch if you wouldn’t mind helping to guide people in, and with some of the organisational aspects on the day and shortly before the swoop.

I’ll need some help getting the message out a few days before- spreading the news through activist networks/list and via SM…

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Wednesday 13th Gloucester @ 1:30pm, Meet in Gloucester City, pub or park!
Web 13th… Forest of Dean @ 3pm – Off to the Forest of Dean for a forage-about and nature walk. We’ll try to spot some Deer, or Wildboar, as we discuss the project.
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Saturday 16th Gloucester City @ 1:30pm – A continuation of last months guerilla gardening [see http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2011/06/480854.html ] weather permitting- if not, we’ll go to a park or pub for the meeting.
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Wednesday 20th West London, various sites @ times tba – Networking with other eco-villages, recruiting some extra hands for the day. Core groups members, wanting to move over shortly before the swoop of the main site- will have the opportunity to do so then. These people will then be able to help other members of the core group, with any geographic/logistical questions that arise on the day. (it is easy to get lost, round ‘ere)
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Get in touch for further details, and contact info…

Other news…
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Radical Artists call-out… Any artists/ painters/ decorators/ spray-painters/ Art teachers wanting to take the class out and do something exciting/ any other creatively minded people at all, wanting to help turn an ugly, unloved space into a vibrant and beautiful freespace, WE NEED YOUR HELP. Email the address given with “radical artist here” (or something similar) in your emails title, and come down to help us bring some color to an otherwise dreary area.
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A plan to join forces with some of the more active woodland protection campaigners around Gloucestershire is currently being worked on. Anyone networked with local or national wildlife protection groups, forest conservation activists -not of the armchair variety- or any other radical tree-top-camper, please put me in touch with them regarding an opportunity to protect an area of mixed/native woodland from further felling.
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I’ve started setting up a social media type website to allow people already involved, or interested in this project and others similar in nature, to communicate, share knowledge, network and collaborate on projects -it’ll have a forum, media/file sharing, wiki, subgroups/ friends features. I’m looking for anyone interested in helping out with this, I’ve got everything I need bar enough time to get a workable beta up-and-running any-time close to the swoop, so if you’d like to get involved -as much, or as little as you can- drop me an email.
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Peace and Love,

Apok
admin [AT]] apokaluptein [dot]] org [dot]] uk

Mobile Guerilla Garden

A convoy of shopping trollies planted up with vegetables and flowers salvaged from a demolished community garden back in May took to the streets of Brighton on Saturday (July 9).

A convoy of shopping trollies planted up with vegetables and flowers salvaged from a demolished community garden back in May took to the streets of Brighton on Saturday (July 9). Shoppers were encouraged to grow their own and support local independent grocers and boycott Tesco and Sainsburies who are taking over the city centre in a supermarket war.

The Mound community garden – 15 veg beds – was destroyed by Littlehampton-based developers Hargreaves ltd on May 19. They cynically avoided all contact with gardeners, ignored clearly signposted wildlife conservation areas and actually dug over a pond containing newts and tadpoles.

Out of all this the Mound gardeners collective have stayed together and kept various plants and flowers saved from the garden which are now being stored in the mobile trollies at a secret location.

Saturday’s action was in support of the Wildcatz Community Centre – a recentlly occupied empty mobile phone shop which is now a free caff & shop/debating & anti-cuts chamber – and the No More Supermarkets in Kemptown campaign.

After a pitstop outside the Churchill Sq-based Wildcatz the trollies – seven in all – dodged their way through crowded high streets to the newly opened Sainsburies in Kemptown where a pro-local food and anti-supermarket demo took place for the rest of the afternoon.

The gardeners are calling for Brighton’s ‘green’ council to put their money where their mouth is and withdraw Hargreaves planning permission and in doing so promote green spaces in city centres

People before Profits Gardens before Supermarkets!
http://brighton-mound.org.uk/

Stokes Croft Freeshop Eviction

7th July 2011

The popular squatted Freeshop and attached Emporium Gallery on Stokes Croft were evicted this morning. Bailiffs entered the building with sledgehammers at around 6am, surprising the occupants, and had managed to secure the building before support arrived.

7th July 2011

One occupant was arrested inside the building. The rest were allowed to leave with a single personal bag each. Bailiffs, with the full support of the police, then refused to fetch a bag containing vital documents for an occupant who had been out at the time. One supporter was arrested for holding up a banner outside, and the banner was confiscated. The arrestee was manhandled by an unbadged steward from Delta Security, and people attempting to help or advise were threatened with batons and pushed into the road. Police also prevented a passing traffic warden from ticketing the illegally-parked Sitex vehicles nearby.

The building has now been fully evicted, but the project will continue in a new space, and plans to buy the building may still go ahead. Both arrestees have been taken to Trinity Station, and we’ve made sure they have access to solicitors. Parties directly involved in the eviction seem to be the local County Court Bailiffs, Delta Security (not sure exactly who as SIA badges hidden), local police, and our old friends Sitex Orbis.

The Age of Evictions … and Resistance!

Two different communities. One living in Clifton Mansions, an inner city block of long term squatted flats in Brixton, south London.

Two different communities. One living in Clifton Mansions, an inner city block of long term squatted flats in Brixton, south London. The other made of 90 families part of the UK’s largest Traveller community in Dale Farm, a former scrap-yard purchased by the Travellers ten years ago near Basildon, Essex.

They both now face one common problem: the threat of eviction. Dale Farm’s long battle has now reached a critical point as Basildon council yesterday served a final notice of eviction giving families until midnight on August 31st to abandon their homes. The community of squatters of Clifton Mansions have learnt that the police is planning to block off Brixton’s Coldharbour Lane on Tuesday 12 July to enforce the eviction of all the people living in the 22 flats.

See calls from both communities for solidarity in resisting the planned evictions: Clifton Mansions | Dale Farm

Clifton Mansions:

Clifton Mansions On Coldharbour Lane is a community of squatters in the heart of Brixton. Squatted since the 1990’s the 22 flats are home to a large and diverse group of people. The residents have repaired and maintained the properties after Lambeth Council left them empty and neglected. Clustered around a central courtyard Clifton Mansions is a safe and vibrant community where violence and abuse are not tolerated.

On Tuesday 12 July 2011 the police plan to block off Coldharbour Lane and enforce the eviction of all the people living in Clifton Mansions. Making the astonishing claim that evicting Clifton Mansions will somehow solve the problem of drug crime in Brixton, the police failed to consult with local councillors before pushing ahead with this plan. Clifton Mansions residents have received only two weeks notice that they are to be evicted from their homes.

Following the evictions, Lambeth Council will pay Camelot, a private company, to provide “live-in guardians” to occupy Clifton Mansions. The squatters have been providing a free guardian service for years. Why make people homeless and then pay a multinational company to occupy their homes?

Eventually Lambeth wants to sell Clifton Mansions to property developers, further reducing Lambeth’s social housing stock in central Brixton. Clifton Mansions will be turned into luxury flats priced well beyond the means of the local community.

Please contact the council and the police to let them know what you think.

Show your support on eviction day:
12 July – 8am – Clifton Mansions – 429 Coldharbour Lane

They’re closing the street so lets have a party!

Dale Farm:

Dale Farm, in Crays Hill, Essex, is the UK’s largest Travellers’ community, consisting of nearly a hundred separate properties, lying well outside the village and made up of extended family plots or yards.

Most are owned by Travellers of Irish heritage, although some Romani families also own yards. The estate is divided in two sections, the front part (about 45 plots) has planning permission; while the back part (52 plots) despite numerous applications and appeals, has been refused planning consent, even though the site was previously a disused scrap yard! 90% of traveller planning applications are initially rejected compared to 20% overall.

Caving in to racial prejudice, Basildon District Council (BDC) has set aside 9.2 million pounds to demolish the homes in the back 52 plots and have asked the Home Office for 10 million more. This could happen as early as June. We view the destruction of half this community as ethnic cleansing.

The planning history of the area has shown that the site had been used without planning permission since early 1990’s for a variety of industrial uses. In 1992 BDC issued Enforcement Notices against various unauthorised commercial activities that were being pursued on the site. Part of the land at the east side of the site was previously the subject of two temporary consents for the breaking of motor vehicles, sale of vehicle parts and dealing in scrap metals. This use ceased following the vacation of the?land by the business proprietors in 2001.

When the unauthorised development of the application site first came to the Council’s attention in September 2003, the land to the east of the site had been used as a scrap yard from 1978 until 2001 under a permission granted by the Council to be used as such. If an exception was allowed for the scrap metal yard, surely an exception can be made for a vulnerable minority group to continue to live there, particularly given that many of them have already been through traumatic experiences of forced eviction.

In May 2005, the BDC voted to take direct action, setting aside some three million euro for an eviction and demolition operation. Residents sought a Judicial Review of this decision and won in the High Court. This judgment was overturned by the Court of Appeal on 22 January 2009. An appeal to the House of Lords was denied on 14 May 2009. After extensive research into the needs of Travellers and Gypsies in the UK, on 20 July the Department for Communities and Local Government informed BDC and the Gipsy Council that the District Council is required to provide sufficient land for 62 (sixty two) additional pitches. This requirement can be easily met by BDC if it decides to grant planning permission for the 52 (fifty two) unauthorised pitches already in existence at Dale Farm.

As mentioned before, the main desire of the families is to not move from Dale Farm; they wish to get planning permission for permanent residence to continue living in the site they privately own.

We say no to home demolitions, and no to ethnic cleansing!

Countering the GM come back summer camp

Bring your stove and tent for an anti-GM weekend. Fri 22nd pm: Camping available. Sat 23rd: Delivering a trailer load of organic spuds to the doors of the John Innes Centre in protest at GM potato trials there. Sun 24th: a day-long planning session: GM is coming back – we’ll be ready. See below for more information.

The Spuds Don’t Work rally, Saturday 23rd July

British trials of genetically modified blight resistant spuds have been failing for the last ten years. But a conventionally bred variety of blight resistant potato has been available for 3 years. So why are we still paying for this dangerous experiment?

Come ride with us on the back of a trailer load of safe effective spuds as we go to deliver them to the Sainsbury Laboratory outside Norwich. It’s one of only two possible open air trials for GM crops in Britain this year. Yet despite being publicly funded, it’s so secretive no one will even say if it’s been planted. Join us for tunes, chips and good cheer as we go and show them that we have already got the answers they say they’re looking for.

Practical details

Meet at the Forum in Norwich City Centre at 12 noon for free chips and fun. We will set off from there to the John Innes Research Centre by bike, tractor and coach at 1pm. Bring waterproofs and umbrellas! If you would like to travel from town to the John Innes Centre by coach or if you want help finding accommodation (camping or otherwise) get in touch as soon as you can, and by Friday 15th July at the latest. Contact info@stopgm.org.uk

Camping

Camping is available at the Norfolk Showground on the 22nd and 23rd July. Camping will be in the Red Car Park (note the Country Music Festival is taking part in the main showground). There will be access to toilets and drinking water. Arrive after 4pm on Friday 22nd. Red car park is to the east of the Park and Ride.
Bus: you can catch the Costessey Park and Ride to the Park and Ride itself (Mon-Fri). This service takes 20 mins and runs approx. every 20 mins from the bus station running via the university. Alternatively catch Konnect bus 4 from the bus station and ask for the Showground. This service runs approx. every 25 minutes. Buses run regularly between the train and bus station in Norwich.

Countering the GM come back summer camp
Sunday 24th July, 2011

A day long camp to get productive and plan the next stages of the campaign. Camping spaces available from Friday afternoon. Come equipped with a stove and food for self-catering. The site is five minutes from a regular bus route to the city centre. Contact info@stopgm.org.uk as soon as possible and by Friday 15th July at the latest to let us know you want camping spaces reserved for you.

What we need…
…for both events…

You, and the people you know, and anyone you think might be interested.

This project is being worked on by Stop GM in conjunction with the Genetic Engineering Network. Several experienced grassroots campaigners will be working on the project from now until the event, but we need help getting the word out. If you think you could help by distributing email information about the event, dropping it about in any social media you may be involved in, letting your local growing projects or social justice groups know, distributing our ‘Little Red Tractor and the Quest of the GM-free Spuds’ leaflet or even organizing a coach to attend from your area, we’d love to hear from you.

For more information phone 07595 506673 or email info@stopgm.org.uk. Visit www.stopgm.org.uk for more background information on GM and campaigning against it in general.

A tale of two spuds…
For the last 10 years, researchers at the Sainsbury laboratory at the John Innes Centre in Norwich have spent 1.7 million pounds of public money failing to develop a genetically modified potato resistant to the fungal disease blight. This project is so secretive and unaccountable that the laboratory has refused to even confirm if a trial has been planted this season, or if they’ve been forced to abandon any hopes of making the technology work. Public rejection of the risks associated with eating genetically modified food means that even if the engineering involved was successful, there would be no market for the crop.

Meanwhile, 3 years ago a small Welsh research charity dedicated to conventional breeding techniques developed a spud that is spectacularly resistant to blight. Not only does the crop pose no threat to health, the environment, or neighbouring farmers; it works. Over 6 different varieties are now available, and being grown on a commercial scale.

The rationale

The campaign against GM crops ten years ago was so successful that GM almost completely vanished from our fields and supermarkets, and many people have forgotten the issues associated with the technology. But in many other parts of the world peasant farmers have been desperately fighting its spread, and laws are changing in Europe that would make it much easier for GM to be grown in Britain. Despite pre-election promises to the contrary the coalition claims it intends to be ‘the most pro GM this country has ever seen’.

Let’s call time on an outmoded technology that continues to waste money in failing projects, while simultaneously threatening the very science that’s actually producing working alternatives quickly and cheaply. For too long the biotech companies have gone unchallenged in their claims that GM can
create genuinely useful crops when in fact all the significant advancements in the last decade have come through conventional breeding.

With the renewed threat of GM on the horizon campaigners need to get together again to show the rest of the country (and each other) that we’re still here, and we’ve got an even better case than ever. This is a chance to take the initiative with the media, to tell a story which explains clearly and practically why the pro GM lobby is wrong. That it’s us, and not the corporations that have the answers to the food crisis.

For more information please check this briefing written to help people object to the proposed field trial of GM http://www.gmfreeze.org/publications/briefings/99/ and how to get hold of the solution www.sarvari-trust.org.

Stop GM
info@stopgm.org.uk
www.stopgm.org.uk

Activists temporarily halt work at Huntington Lane

On Tuesday 5th July activists from the Telford no new coal (aka Defend Huntington Lane) protest site halted early morning operations by storming the open cast mine. Two protesters dead locked on to heavy plant machinery, disrupting the destruction caused by them. Activists have been on the site for 15 months and are awaiting eviction papers.

https://wmclimateaction.wordpress.com/2011/07/11/activists-temporarily-halt-work/

More environment protests in Inner Mongolia

Chinese Mongolians protest again, herders beaten-rights group

BEIJING, June 30 (Reuters) – Chinese police beat up and detained ethnic Mongolian herders who protested over the weekend against pollution caused by a lead mine, an overseas rights group said on Thursday, in the latest unrest to strike China’s remote Inner Mongolia.

Chinese Mongolians protest again, herders beaten-rights group

The New York-based Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Centre said the protest was sparked this month in Inner Mongolia’s Bayannuur after a lead mine expanded onto a piece of grazing land.

“After repeatedly petitioning the (local) governments expressing their concerns regarding the danger to their environment and health with no satisfactory response, on June 24 … frustrated herders marched to the area of the mine and shut down the mine’s water pump,” the group said in an emailed statement.

“On June 25, the (local) government mobilized more than 50 riot police and attacked the protesters. Many herders were beaten severely and taken away by police. Their health condition and status are unknown as of the date of this report,” it added.

An official reached by telephone at the Bayannuur government said he had not heard of any protests, and declined further comment. Calls to the lead mine went unanswered.

Bayannuur, more than 400 km (300 miles) northeast of Beijing, has been home to a lead mine since 1978, according to the Inner Mongolia government.

The vast northern region of Inner Mongolia was rocked by protests last month sparked by the death of an ethnic Mongolian herder who was hit and killed by a truck after taking part in protests against pollution caused by a coal mine.

Angry ethnic Mongolians took to the streets across Inner Mongolia demanding better protection of the environment as well as their rights and traditions.

This month, a court in Inner Mongolia ordered the execution of a man for murdering the herder.

Beijing, ever worried by threats to stability, is trying to address some of the protesters’ broader concerns about the damage done by coal mining to traditional grazing lands.

The authorities have launched a month-long overhaul of the lucrative coal mining industry, vowing to clean up or close polluters.

Ethnic Mongolians, who make up less than 20 percent of the roughly 24 million population of Inner Mongolia, have complained that their traditional grazing lands have been ruined by mining and desertification, and that the government has tried to force them to settle in permanent houses.

http://signalfire.org/?p=11963

ITALY : Repression against NO TAV movement & No TAV press conference

4 july 2011

4 july 2011
After a crowded torchlight march on the night between June 26th and 27th, the Free Republic of the Maddalena in Piedmont was brutally assaulted by a full-scale military operation performed by around 2000 forces that turned the place into a battle site : teargas thrown at eye level, bulldozers and heavy vehicles used to evict the camp, water jets against protesters, beatings, tents and equipment smashed up. In the nearby town of Venaria, a riot police vehicle on its way to the site ran over and killed “by mistake” an elderly woman. Demonstrations, pickets and several other initiatives were organised all over Italy to show solidarity with the NO TAV movement that for years has been fighting against the construction of a high speed train line between Turin and Lyon in France. A national demo was called out for today 3rd July, and it’s still going on as I’m writing this. It’s about 8.40pm and it’s difficult to have a clear idea of what’s been happening at the Maddalena today, but what is clear is that there have been hundreds of people injured on both sides (but it’s only one side that I care about). Police have been using rubber bullets and at least one young man is seriously injured after being shot in the face. Protesters have compared the military operation to the repression in Palestine…check out some of the videos to make your mind up : video 1, video 2,video 3 (and more on the same website).

The Val di Susa (Susa Valley) has been one of the most important political campaigns of the last few years, organising resistance and fighting to protect the local territory and the locals’ health, that governments and companies would like to sacrifice once more in the name of profit. The TAV project (where TAV stands for High Speed Train) is basically a transfer of public money to a group of private companies united under the name Impregilo – multimillionaire companies such as FIAT, Benetton and others. After construction, these companies would be allowed to set up and run their own private rail service in competition with the State Railways (just in case they didn’t make enough money already). Despite not being finished yet, the business enterprise has already earned its contractors (all of which are millionaire businessmen) a very high income.

Sources for this article : Indymedia Piedmont and the new Italy Indymedia site. Cool postcard images also found on Indymedia sites – thank you unknown artists !

https://madrid.indymedia.org/node/17884

http://italycalling.wordpress.com/2011/07/03/brief-history-of-the-no-tav-movement/

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NO TAV press conference – “This is the people’s resistance”

In the midst of the riot porn that can be found on the internet about the NO TAV protests of Sunday 3 July – and that I’m not going to post here because a) you can find it anywhere and b) you can have too much of it – I’ve found a story that I think is much more important. On the Monday after the protests, the NO TAV network held a press conference in Chiomonte. So what?, you might ask. Well, it could’ve been a disaster. In 2001, after the ferocious state violence of the G8 summit in Genoa, the Genoa Social Forum made the big mistake of retreating: instead of staying united, some groups left the alliance, others stayed but distanced themselves from the “bad protesters” (namely the Black Block) and blamed them for the violent reaction of the police. The State, the police and the media had won their war: they had wanted to tear the movement apart and they succeeded. So, you can imagine what a joy it was for me to read the NO TAV network statements:

“It wasn’t the Black Block, it was just people, and the majority of them locals. We came prepared with helmets and masks after what happened on the 27th June (see my previous article), but we came with bare hands. After the police started attacking us with teargas, stones and water jets, we defended ourselves in any way we could. We couldn’t do anything else”, declared Maurizio Piccione, who opened the conference. Another representative said “Popular resistance is our way of doing things. The only accusation we will agree with is that we resisted against a situation that wasn’t created by us. The Black Block is being used as a scapegoat, because people can’t accept the fact that a whole valley wants to resist. We must thank the Valsusa residents for resisting, and we’re proud of this”.

The people's Resistance in the Susa Valley

Despite it being a press conference, the marquee was crowded with about 50 people, not just representatives and delegates of the different groups, but also people who wanted to tell their version of the story. When a journalist of the right wing paper Secolo XIX asked about the Black Block, a person just replied “I was there and I’m not the Black Block”. The journalist was challenged and finally left the conference. Other journalists left “in solidarity” with their colleague. Gone forever are those times when journalists in Italy (or any other country) would literally risk their lives to speak The Truth. Now they just mouth the words of those who stuff their mouths with gold.

The Catholic groups in the No TAV alliance criticised Susa’s local bishop for closing down the cathedral and obeying the prefect’s order of keeping the priests under him quiet. A local wine farmer described his by-now daily experience of having to travel into the militarised territory to get to his vines. Everyone was united in their rage and outrage at the lies perpetrated by the media, and expressed solidarity and sympathy with the protesters injured and arrested. At the moment there are 4 people still in prison – they were going to know today if their arrests would be confirmed or not, but the meeting has been postponed, so they’re still in. To send them cards and letters:

Marta Bifani / Roberto Nadalini / Salvatore Soru / Giancarlo Ferrari
Casa Circondariale Lorusso Cutugno
Via Pianezza 300
10151 Torino
Italy

Looks like there’ll be a protest camp at the end of July and an international one in August, so…stay tuned!

Article based on this text – if you understand Italian you can watch some videos of the press conference. This is a good website in general, and it’s got a page with English translations, so take a look!

Translated by Italy Calling

Stop New Nuclear newsletter no 1, July 2011

Welcome to Stop New Nuclear’s first newsletter. You receive this newsletter because you have signed one of the pledges, or you signed up to the newsletter. Thank you for this.

We plan to send a newsletter to all pledgers and newsletter subscribers about once a month, and possibly more frequently in the weeks before the blockade. Feel free to share and distribute this newsletter.

Welcome to Stop New Nuclear’s first newsletter. You receive this newsletter because you have signed one of the pledges, or you signed up to the newsletter. Thank you for this.

Stop New Nuclear, an alliance of eight anti-nuclear groups committed to preventing the further expansion of the nuclear power industry in the UK was formed in May 2011. The plan for our first action, the blockading of Hinkley Point nuclear power station on 3 October is progressing well, and we already have a site for a camp (not far from Hinkley Point), and people working on transport and local accommodation for people who are unable or unwilling to camp. There is still a lot to do, but there is also a committed team in place around Hinkley Point working on it.

Since the publication of our call-out in late May, we have received about 100 pledges in total, of which more than 30 are blockading pledges. This is a good start, but we need many more. We need to grow. Our vision is to blockade Hinkley Point nuclear power stations with hundreds of people, and we think we can achieve this, if we all work together. We still have three months.

Please contact as many of your friends and relatives as possible and invite them to take part.

News about Hinkley Point
EDF (Electricity de France), the owners of Hinkley Point, did put in an application for preliminary works for its new nuclear power station in late November 2010,involving pre-construction activity across an area of more than 420 acres stretching from the Severn Estuary to the village of Shurton, filling in a beautiful valley and even starting excavation of the power station foundations down to a depth of up to 11 metres. It is still possible to object to this planning application. The deadline for objections has been extended to 28 July 2011. For more information, go to Stop Hinkley’s website at http://stophinkley.org/Temporary/31Jan2011.htm.

After the government published the set of National Policy Statements on Energy, including the one on nuclear power generation (see http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/meeting_energy/consents_planning/nps_en_infra/nps_en_infra.aspx), it is now up to parliament to approve them. It did not come as a surprise that the government approved eight existing nuclear sites for nuclear new build: Bradwell,Essex; Hartlepool; Heysham, Lancashire; Hinkley Point, Somerset; Oldbury, South Gloucestershire; Sellafield, Cumbria; Sizewell, Suffolk; and Wylfa in Anglesey.

EDF announced that it aims to put in an application for the nuclear power station at Hinkley Point to the Infrastructure Planning Commission in October. This shows how important it is that our blockade on 3 October is big enough to provide a strong signal to government and EDF that we will not rest until they give up their plans for nuclear new build in this country (and elsewhere).

Mobilisation
We need your help with the mobilisation for the blockade. We have already distributed nearly 5,000 copies of the call-out (see http://stopnewnuclear.org.uk/node/10). We have just ordered a second print-run of 10,000 copies, and we need your help to get them out. Please let us know if you can help distribute some, or go to a festival this summer where this might be appropriate, and we will send you as many as you need. If you can contribute to the expenses for postage, that would be great, but more important is your help in getting the message out.

You can also help us by talking to your local Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, Transition Town, People & Planet or any other group that you think might be open to support the blockade. Asks them to sign the organisational pledge (see http://stopnewnuclear.org.uk/pledges), or maybe even to organise a group or minibus to go to participate in the blockade.

Training
We have teamed up with Seeds for Change and Turning the Tide to provide training for the blockade. We are in the process of organising training days/afternoons/evenings in Bristol, Yorkshire, Wales, London, and Somerset, but this list is open-ended. You can help us by organising a group and a venue for a training in your area. If you have any questions regarding training, please get in touch.

Training dates will be announced on the website. So please check back regularly for updates.

What you can do
The campaign and the blockade become powerful through your participation. You can help us by organising an affinity group to take part in the blockade (or to give support), by mobilising in your community, by organising a training, but also by reaching out to your local media about the dangers of nuclear power and our campaign to stop new nuclear power stations in Britain.

On the weekend before and the day of the blockade, we will need a lot of practical support. Some of you have already kindly indicated when you signed the pledge that you can help in various ways. Thank you. When you arrive at the weekend camp or at the blockade your support will be invaluable. If anyone else wants to help by waving a placard, helping with legal support, helping out at the tea stall or by providing practical help with camp logistics, then just let us know.

Stop New Nuclear in the news
On 15 June, we sent out our first press release (see http://stopnewnuclear.org.uk/node/24). Since then, we have received more news coverage than expected, thanks partly to the government’s publication of the National Policy Statements on Energy, and eight sites for nuclear new build. Stop New Nuclear was mentioned on the BBC News website (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-13887579), and in local media around Hinkley Point
(see http://www.burnham-on-sea.com/news/2011/hinkley-selected-22-06-11.php, http://www.thisisthewestcountry.co.uk/news/somerset_news/9105147.Protesters_plan_Hinkley_Point_blockade/, http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/Nuclear-plants-ahead-day-West-changed-forever/story-12826052-detail/story.html).
We also did a few interviews for local radio. This is an encouraging start, more than three months before the action. You can check news coverage about Stop New Nuclear at http://stopnewnuclear.org.uk/inthepress. Let us know if we missed anything.

Donations!
We need them. We expect the campaign to cost about £10,000, of which we have been able to raise £2,000 until now. This means we need your help to raise the funds needed for this campaign – to cover for the flier, the camp logistics, transport, etc… Every donation is welcome – no matter how small. Please send your donation to:

Stop New Nuclear
c/o 5 Caledonian Road
London N1 9DX

Or donate online at http://stopnewnuclear.org.uk/donate