Squatting / Free Spaces / Protest Sites – Page 44

EARTH FIRST! WINTER MOOT: 5th – 7th Feb 2010, County Durham – exact location released, & other info (incl. for cyclists)

EARTH FIRST! WINTER MOOT
6pm Fri 5th – Sun 7th Feb 2010
North-east England

“A weekend of networking, reflection, strategic discussions & campaign planning for anyone involved in ecological direct action who believes in non-hierarchical organisation and directly confronting the forces responsible for the destruction of the Earth and its inhabitants”

EARTH FIRST! WINTER MOOT
6pm Fri 5th – Sun 7th Feb 2010
North-east England

Venue:
The Winter Moot will be taking place at the Dipton Community Centre, Front Street (A692), Dipton, Stanley, County Durham, DH9 9DR. Further information on getting there can be found via the How to get there link (now including cycling directions).

New poster to download
New flyer to download

Details of EF! Winter Moot announced:

The Earth First! Winter moot is an opportunity for people who feel affiliation with the ideas behind Earth First! to network, discuss and reflect on the UK ecological direct action movement and to plan for the future. Earth First! is about direct action to halt the destruction of the Earth. We believe we can make a real difference by doing it ourselves rather than relying on leaders, governments or industry.

This years Earth First! Winter Moot will be taking place in Co. Durham on the weekend of 6/7th February. As well as evaluations and updates from a number of ecological campaigns from around the country, this year we will have a themed event – The Crisis: evaluation, analysis and possible responses. We will be exploring the interactions between the various ecological, financial and resource crises, examining our own conceptions and experiences of crisis, then tying it altogether to find a way forward using non-hierarchical approaches.

We will also be hosting a discussion on how Earth First and the Camp for Climate Action intersect, to deal with quite a number of issues that emerged at the EF! Summer Gathering, including issues of generational understanding, anarchism vs. liberalism, are we seperate networks, and how can we go forward together in the future. This debate will be taking from 6.15-7.30pm on the Saturday evening of the Moot, and is open to all.

Everyone welcome

If your campaign (local or national) is interested in participating in the feedback please get in touch.

The venue will be accessible, and parent-friendly. Vegan food provided. Suggested donation for the weekend is £20. The venue will be announced one week beforehand so keep an eye on the website for details; however, for those who want to purchase advance tickets, the nearest station will be Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

For more information visit http://earthfirst.org.uk/ & http://www.earthfirstgathering.org.uk/2010moot/front.html
Tel: 0777 114 2131

1. It is in doors with communal sleeping areas (no camping – we’re not that mad 🙂 )

2. The actual venue will be announced a week before hand, so please check the website then, or email us.

For enquiries, offers of facilitation & help, ideas for workshops and TO LET US KNOW YOU ARE COMING! email : wintermoot@earthfirst.org.uk

More about the Moot
The EF! Winter Moot is an opportunity for people who feel affiliation with the ideas behind Earth First! to network, discuss and reflect on the UK ecological direct action movement and to plan for the future.

Following a popular discussion at 2009’s EF! Summer Gathering 2010’s Moot also aims to hold discussions on the theme of “readying ourselves for unpredictability and instability in the UK and globally”. The current & impending crises of economics, ecology, energy & society fundamentally alter the terrain of struggle; this in turn impacts both the practice and possibilities for a radical ecological movement.

2010’s Winter Moot is to be held in County Durham, an area with a large number of opencast coal mines, both active and at the application stage. The weekend will include opportunities to meet with activists involved locally in campaigns against these.

Cost including vegan food & crash-pad accommodation £20-£30 (depending what you can afford-but please don’t blag-even the organisers will pay).

If you have particular accommodation, access or dietary needs or are bringing children it would help us to know as soon as possible so we can plan suitable facilities; whoever you are please do try & drop us an email at least a week in advance so we can gauge how many to cater for.

www.earthfirst.org.uk

More Sabotage at Mainshill: Drilling and Harvesting Equipment Targeted

Two reports of sabotage at Mainshill Wood have been posted on Indymedia – one involving the drilling rig on site and another involving harvesting equipment which has been relentlessly targeted over the past month, both with sabotage and early morning actions. Things are heating up at Mainshill as the defiance of the community takes on Scottish Coal’s determination to profit at any cost.

From Indymedia Scotland:

An anonymous communique was received after two machines used for drilling and testing for coal on site were sabotaged in the early hours of Tuesday morning… The communique reads:

“On the morning of Tuesday the 20th of October two heavy vehicles had their Fuel lines, wiers, gears and fuel tanks destroyed. Their windows and bodys where also spreypainted.

The vehicles damaged have been working to prepare the Mainshill Wood area for coal extraction. If it is open casted then it will join several other mines in the Douglas Valley, two of which are currently expanding.

Scottish Coal, the land owner Lord Home and the government and more than prepared to sacrifice the health of local communities and environment, as well as contribute to climate change and nearly universal environmental degradation for wages, bonuses, targets and profits.

This action was taken by a group of autonomous people in solidarity with all those who oppose the development of Mainshill Wood into an open cast coal mine.”

Another anonymous communique has been received,

“On the morning of Tuesday the 20th of October three tree felling vehicles had wiers cut, lights and other fixtures broken. Their windows where also spreypainted and a free standing flood light was tipped and smashed.

This action was taken by a group of autonomous people in solidarity with all those who oppose the development of Mainshill Wood into an open cast coal mine.”

For more information about the campaign see http://mainshill.noflag.org.uk/

Reclaim the Earth Centre – conisbrough

There will be a walkabout the Earth Centre at Conisbrough (Doncaster, S. Yorks)on Friday, 23rd October at 1pm.

This meeting is an opportunity to meet each other an discuss plans to reclaim the earth centre for the people.

There will be a walkabout the Earth Centre at Conisbrough (Doncaster, S. Yorks)on Friday, 23rd October at 1pm.

This meeting is an opportunity to meet each other an discuss plans to reclaim the earth centre for the people.

The Earth Centre was a millenium commission funded project, it is a educational centre for sustainable living and after millions of pounds were pumped into it the site has been left derelict and closed to the public for 5 years. Unfortunately now in the hands of the council it is under immediate threat of development.

Imagine an island of low impact living structures, forest gardens, lush allotments, and the technology to be completely self sustainable this is the Earth Centre. Please help us save it!

Hot off the press and packed with Direct Action – the new Earth First! Action Update is out!

Rebellion, a spark in search of a powder keg – the new Action Update is out, the quarterly round-up of ecological direct action from the UK and beyond.

What’s in this issue?

Rebellion, a spark in search of a powder keg – the new Action Update is out, the quarterly round-up of ecological direct action from the UK and beyond.

What’s in this issue?
Old King Coal meets his Match, but the Nuclear Empire Strikes Back! Read tales of flotillas, bishop-bashing, blockades and occupations as the Rebel Alliance takes on the Empire. The rebels have also been hanging around in nets and on platforms, occupying and locking-on at coal terminals, and passionately attacking power station fences around the world, trying to shut ’em down. Mainshill protest camp continues to pro-actively resist open-cast mining – they climb, occupy, and by night, anonymous pixies sabotage. Who knows when they sleep – with a strong alliance with local villagers, they welcome YOU to come and play anytime, with a gathering at the end of October.

Want more? Radio-towers toppled, dams and trucks seized, naked oil streaks and green smears in defence of the wild, a shit dumped with shit…resistance to peat mining, genetic engineering, logging and Shell in Ireland, and for Vestas wind turbine factory and workers on the Isle of Wight.

Still not enough? Stopping Tesco, climate campaigning successes, runway invasions, more ecotage, and the EF! Winter Moot, plus contacts and upcoming dates.

To download your copy go to this website:

http://www.earthfirst.org.uk/efau/actionupdate_oct09.pdf

If you want paper copies to distribute, contact us at: actionupdate@earthfirst.org.uk or pick up a bunch from our stall at the Anarchist Bookfair in London. To print your own, download from http://www.earthfirst.org.uk/efau/actionupdate_oct09print.pdf

Wanted: We are very skint! Please send us some dosh to help us pay for the printing.
Cheques can be made out to Earth First! Action Update, and posted to The Basement, 78a Penny St, Lancaster LA1 1XN

Love and Rage
Your Action Update collective

Mainshill Solidarity Camp Gathering – Saturday 31st October & Sunday 1st November + video

Building – Workshops – Action

Join us at Mainshill Wood for the weekend of the 31st October & 1st November or longer if you can.

Building – Workshops – Action

Join us at Mainshill Wood for the weekend of the 31st October & 1st November or longer if you can.

Work has started at Mainshill, where Scottish Coal want a new coal mine but the community does not. Huge areas of plantation are being felled and JCBs have moved in. This gathering will strengthen the campaign and give new energy to the Solidarity Camp.

Events over the Weekend:

* Saturday 31st October, 13:00: A walk of the area with people from surrounding and affected communities, visiting areas that have been destroyed by Scottish Coal and areas that we can still save. A discussion on the campaign so far and where we can take it will follow.
* Climbing, tree-house building and tunnelling workshops
* A “work day” to build the Solidarity Camp some new defences
* Evening camp-fire entertainment
* Plenty of chances to stop a beautiful area of Scotland’s countryside from being turned into an opencast coal mine

What to bring:

* Warm clothes and water-proofs, a tent, sleeping bag and mat
* Any food, building materials and tools you can
* Most importantly, bring yourself and your friends

The Solidarity Camp has been doing its best to stop work on the site, but now we need your support and solidarity to win this fight against Scottish Coal, Lord Home and South Lanarkshire Council!

Stopping Work at Mainshill – Solidarity Camp Gathering 31st Oct & 1st Nov video

http://coalactionscotland.noflag.org.uk/

Rampart Eviction – The Priest and the Chainsaw

The rampART Social Centre was evicted at 5:30am this morning by 45 police, bailiffs and a priest.

After over 5 years and many eviction scares it has finally happened… 3 people and a dog were inside when police attempted to chanisaw the door. They also had climbers going up to the roof conjuring up memories of the raid during the G20 in April. Police are blocking the entrance to all three roads leading to the social centre with vans and their bodies. They are handing out a piece of paper with a telephone number to call to get belongings out of the building. If you are able to help move or store stuff please contact the rampART collective – rampart@mutualaid.org.

Northumberland Road Eviction, Sheffield

14th October 2009
The second site of the Sheffield Social Centre on Northumberland Road was evicted today.

Today at 11:45 the NHS Trust had a possession order granted, with permission to pursue eviction through the High Court.

14th October 2009
The second site of the Sheffield Social Centre on Northumberland Road was evicted today.

Today at 11:45 the NHS Trust had a possession order granted, with permission to pursue eviction through the High Court.

Two hours later bailiffs were at the door demanding we leave, and gave us two hours to remove everything before they began sealing the building. Several other buildings on the road were also in the process of being sealed as we were packing the stuff into vans, presumably for fear that we may move to one of the other empty buildings opposite us.

Those involved in occupying the social centres at Pisgah House and Northumberland Road in the last two weeks came to the decision that a break is needed, to recover and consolidate our thoughts on the experiences we’ve had. We remain positive and believe that an autonomous social centre is still possible in Sheffield, and will be reconvening again soon to consider the options for the future.

Watch this space.

http://www.sheffieldsocialcentre.org.uk

Work stopped again at Mainshill as loggers are blockaded out of the Wood

Early yesterday residents of the Mainshill Solidarity Camp in South Lanarkshire stopped logging for the day by putting their bodies and ingenuity between machinery and the trees, rigging up a sky raft across a logging path used by heavy machinery to rip up unoccupied parts of the site.

In the past week Scottish Woodlands Ltd have been removing trees from the site of the camp. The clear felling is facilitating the creation of a new open cast coal mine on the site by Scottish Coal Ltd. Despite local outrage at the development plan and over 700 letters of objection sent to the council in protest, plans are going ahead to create what could become the 5th mine in this already heavily polluted area of Scotland.

But people from all over the world and all walks of life are determined to stop them! Residents of the Solidarity Camp suspended a sky raft above the access road with one person in it, effectively preventing the tree harvester from gaining access to part of the wood where felling was to resume. The blockade lasted for 8 hours, after which one arrest was made at 12:30pm.

Residents of the camp condemn the behavior of Scottish Woodlands Ltd in the last few weeks, who have endangered peoples’ lives by working dangerously close to tree houses and continuing work despite being within a distance deemed inappropriate by health and safety standards.

Despite dangerous conditions and worsening weather, campers remain determined to continue fighting against the injustice of this development and to stand in solidarity with the local residents of Douglas who have been ignored at every level of the planning system.

As one inhabitant of Mainshill camp site stated ”We will not allow work to continue on the Mainshill site as long as we are here. Plans for this new open cast coal mine are a blatant case of putting profit before the health of Douglas Valley residents and environmental concerns, in particular climate change.”

The camp needs YOUR support today. Go to http://coalactionscotland.noflag.org.uk/ for information on what help is needed, and how to get to the site.

No more mines in the Douglas valley! No New Coal!

http://coalactionscotland.noflag.org.uk/?p=814

New social centre in Bath – come and help out

Bath Activist Network are proud to announce the opening of a new, and yet unnamed occupied social centre in the heart of Bath.
The building is massive, and in pretty good nick, but we need help before we open the doors, so come and get involved at the beginning of an exiting new social centre with loads of potential.
In particular, we need people who are up for coming along and helping get the place ready for opening, and to run activities once the place is open – cleaners, painters, electricians, artists, minor hole in roof menders, artists, musicians, radicals, dreamers, schemers, your mates and assorted malcontents are all welcome!
We already have several initiatives in the pipeline, such as a freeshop, infoshop, radical library, salsa, café, workshops, activist self defence sessions, squat games and more – and we are up for anyone with ideas or skills to share to come and contribute to the space.
The social centre is being run as a counter-capitalist initiative, run by consensus, and giving a living example of how we can create a world based on solidarity, mutual aid and co-operation, not greed and authority. To get involved in any way, big or small, contact us at bathsocialcentre@gmail.com
(we are not freely giving out the address at the moment, so email us for directions)
We are slowly gathering the stuff we need to complete the space, but our wish list includes (but is not limited to) –
*Chairs
*Tables
*Sofas
*Kitchen stuff
*Paint
*banners
*decorations
*Any unwanted stuff for the freeshop
*Any books, pamphlets or leaflets for the library

This is a really great space, and an exciting opportunity to build something brilliant in Bath, so come down and get involved from the beginning.

Cheers

Bath Activist Massive x (A)

Sheffield Social Centre – New Location & another eviction hearing!

New location announced for the Anti-Capitalist, Non-Hierachical, Liberated Space.

Sheffield social centre has moved, nothing else has changed.

New location announced for the Anti-Capitalist, Non-Hierachical, Liberated Space.

Sheffield social centre has moved, nothing else has changed.

The new location is 10 Northumberland Road, just off Glossop Road. The building was vacant when we entered and no criminal laws were broken.

We are keen to enter into discussion with the buildings owner to avoid costly legal proceedings. In the meantime the cafe and the full programme of events are running as usual in this open and inclusive community space. Come down any time, all are welcome.

http://sheffieldsocialcentre.org.uk/

—

9.10.09: yesterday, at around 5pm, notices were served at 10 Northumberland which state that a trespass hearing is due to take place at Sheffield County Court at 10:30am on Wednesday 14th October.