Category: Transport

Earth First! Summer Gathering Update – programme, directions, website and more

It’s only weeks until the Earth First! Summer Gathering begins.
Five days of workshops, info sharing and learning new skills, 1-5 August.

It’s only weeks until the Earth First! Summer Gathering begins.
Five days of workshops, info sharing and learning new skills, 1-5 August.

The Earth First Summer Gathering takes place each year to provide a space in which the radical ecology movement can share skills and plan for future campaigns and actions.

Discussions around the importance of community building in inner cities, the state of the anarchist movement and patriarchy in activism.

Skill shares including women's self-defence, researching corporations and navigation.

Campaign round ups from Frack Off! Smash Edo and Luddites 2000 amongst others.

If you have workshops you like to run or discussions you'd like to facilitate then email us at earthfirstsummergathering@riseup.net

Full programme.

Camping is on a sliding scale of £30 to £15, pay what is genuinely appropriate.

Food will be from Anarchist Teapot and meal tickets will be £5 a day.

Kids can have separate meals if they want for £3 a day.

There will be a couple of kids spaces, and special workshops being ran for kids. If you’d like to run any kids workshops get in touch at earthfirstsummergathering@riseup.net.

If you want you dog to come along then you’re going to have to email us at earthfirstsummergathering@riseup.net

And of course there will be entertainment and a bar open in the evenings.

The camp is ½ mile from the Berrington village, and 1 mile from the larger village of Cross Houses.

We encourage non-cycling campers to use public transport if possible as Cross Houses is on a bus route.

BY TRAIN
The nearest train station is Shrewsbury. You can then get the bus to Cross Houses (see below). If coming from a long distance it can sometimes be cheaper to get a ticket to a large station such as Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Manchester or Crewe and then a separate ticket on to Shrewsbury. Check national rail for train times and prices. If coming from the London direction, it’s generally cheaper to buy a Super Offpeak Return, specifying “London Midland & Arriva only”.

BY BIKE
See here for directions and a map to the camp from Shrewsbury for cyclists and drivers.

BY BUS
When you arrive at Shrewsbury train station, ask someone to point you to the bus station. It’s only a few minutes walk from the train station. The bus service that runs from town to within a mile of Crabapple is the 436 towards Bridgnorth. It runs every hour from 7.40am to 5.40pm with a “late” one at 7.40pm. The journey to Cross Houses is approx 15 mins. You will need to press the stop button when you see the sign for Cross Houses. Some of the services on this route are low-floor accessible buses. Please note that the last bus leaves Shrewsbury at 7.40pm, Monday to Saturday and there are no Sunday bus services. For the bus timetable see here http://shropshire.gov.uk/bustimes/timetable.jsc?timetable=436mfi0412.
The camp itself is about 1 mile from the bus stop. From the bus stop at Cross Houses, walk back towards Shrewsbury past the petrol station (on your right) and take the first left turn signed “Berrington”. After about ½ mile, the road forks at the edge of the village. Take the right turn signposted “Betton Abbots” and we’re about ¼ mile up the road on the right.
If you intend to come by bus but need help getting to and from the bus stop, you can arrange a pick up with us: details will be available nearer the time.

BY TAXI
There is also a taxi rank just outside Shrewsbury train station. Accessible taxis can be got from here.- but it is MUCH cheaper to book a cab from a local company – Comet Cabs 01743 344444, or Vincent Cabs 01743 367777. Vincents also have a booking office just across the road from the station, which is handy if you don’t have a phone to book a cab in advance.

USEFUL LINKS
See here directions and a map to the camp from Shrewsbury for cyclists and drivers.
See a map of where the site is here
See the bus timetable
Directions from places other than Shrewsbury

Earth First! Summer Gathering Collective
earthfirstsummergathering@riseup.net

http://earthfirstgathering.weebly.com

bikes alive bike blockade protest at king’s cross

12.3.12

12.3.12

earlier this evening, a couple of dozen cyclists brought a little chaos to the junctions outside king's cross station in protest at new revelations over TfL's complicity in road deaths there. despite dozens of deaths and injuries to cyclists at the dangerous king's cross road intersections, it has recently come to light that between 2005 and 2009, TfL actually instructed its planners to ignore the needs of cyclists.

also, where the planners, buchanan and partners, made bicycle-friendly recommendations, their draft report was watered down by TfL before final publication.

tonight's protest, attracting just a couple of dozen cyclists and pedestrians, held up traffic by processing slowly in a route up and down the euston road outside the station, while more than 200 explanatory leaflets were distributed to passers-by. it was the latest in a series of fortnightly actions, and the next one, to which all pedestrians and human-powered vehicles are invited, will begin promptly at 6.30pm on monday the 26th march.

later that week, friday 30th will celebrate the 15th anniversary of critical mass in london.

more info at http://bikesalive.wordpress.com
also see http://www.criticalmasslondon.org.uk/main.html

Mass Action, Barricades and Lock Downs Fail to Halt Development for the Mega-Rich

18.2.12

City officials said on Wednesday morning they were pleased with how the operation in the Schlossgarten park went. They said 2,500 officers had encountered little violence.

18.2.12

City officials said on Wednesday morning they were pleased with how the operation in the Schlossgarten park went. They said 2,500 officers had encountered little violence.

But protesters, who were trying to protect 176 trees that authorities say need to be cut down or moved as part of the project, charged that police had been overly aggressive during the eviction and had even attacked people with batons.

A spokesman for the protesters, Matthias Herrmann, called the operation “hectic and escalating.”

But a Stuttgart police spokesman said that there had been only “occasional baton use” when protesters attempted to set up a barricade. A 38-year-old man was arrested after he allegedly set off fireworks near officials, according to police.

Other protesters had to be forcibly cut away after they chained themselves to trees. Some used pallets to erect barriers on access roads, police said. Two even encased their arms in concrete and police were still figuring out how to deal with them as of mid-morning.

Stuttgart 21 is a multi-billion-euro project that aims to transform the Baden-Württemberg state capital into a major European transport hub by laying 57 kilometres of new track and rebuilding the city’s main train station underground while turning it around 90 degrees.

But many have baulked at the cost of the plan and what they say will be damage to the local environment. Violent protests flared in 2010, but the government has insisted that construction must continue. On Sunday, protesters tried to mount heavy equipment to prevent the cutting down of trees but were removed by police in a prelude to Wednesday’s eviction.

At the park, protesters had set up dozens of tents and tree houses before the police operation began at about 3 am. Officers first asked protesters to leave on their own – which some did – before they began the eviction.

Stuttgart 21 project spokesman Wolfgang Dietrich said the police operation had gone “very well” because protesters had, for the most part, abstained from violence. Authorities could begin felling trees as early as Wednesday afternoon.

Protesters mount diggers in bid to save trees in Stuttgart

22nd January 2012

22nd January 2012

Demonstrators against the controversial "Stuttgart 21" rail project tried to block workers from felling more than 30 trees early on Sunday. Police removed protesters from trees and demolition equipment to allow teams to finish the work.

On Saturday, rally organisers said some 4,000 people gathered to protest the station's construction, while police estimated the number of demonstrators at 1,200.

About 40 protesters tried to block teams from clearing the trees, but a police spokesman said officers were able to disperse the crowd. The work was completed by 6 a.m. on Sunday but had to be stopped twice when two demonstrators climbed on top of demolition equipment.

A spokesperson for Parkschützer, an initiative that aims to preserve the park, criticised the action, saying the trees should not have been taken down due to wind and poor visibility.

Matthias von Herrmann of Parkschützer took aim at the state government in Baden-Württemberg.

"It is a travesty when (state) premier Kretschmann continues to preach about how the government has to adhere to the law, but then police are out at a construction site without a building permit," he said.

The multi-billion-euro project aims to transform the Baden-Württemberg capital into a major European transport hub. The station has sparked a wave of protests.

Deutsche Bahn wants to replace Stuttgart's existing train station with an underground one that it says would greatly improve links between Paris, Vienna and ultimately Budapest.

http://www.thelocal.de/tag/Stuttgart_21

Earth First! Winter Moot, what to expect

This years Earth First! Winter Moot takes place in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. In a months time environmentalists from across the UK and beyond will converge to discuss and debate. Below is an update from the organising collective who are working on the program.

This years Earth First! Winter Moot takes place in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. In a months time environmentalists from across the UK and beyond will converge to discuss and debate. Below is an update from the organising collective who are working on the program.

The Moot 2012 collective has felt that at previous EF! Gatherings groups have primarily attended to recruit for their respective campaigns. Yet those who attend EF! Gatherings are predominantly already active, making them good places for networking, but not necessarily for outright recruitment. We recognise the effort gathering organisers put into planning agendas but often the more discursive aspects of the gatherings focus on larger, abstract questions and debates have often been framed by self-appointed experts. We feel that these discussions ineffectively attempt to find answers or reach consensus where this is inappropriate.

For example at the first EF! Gathering 20 years ago the question was asked: 'What is EF!?' 20 years later in 2011 at the last Moot the same question was still being asked . . .

The answer is EF! is what we make it, and this year we are going to make it a space in which we can approach our campaigns both critically and analytically by asking more specific and practical questions. Our activism should be constantly evolving not stuck in a rut asking the same questions again and again.

The agenda will be designed to ask questions around four key issues: the tactics we use; the strategies that we employ in our campaigns; community solidarity; and sustainable activism. There will be no attempt to reach conclusions or consensus especially about what EF! is. Instead we want to have discussions that lead to new ideas that could evolve ongoing campaigns or give creative inspiration to ones that are just getting started.

A free space will be provided in which campaigns will be able to hold meetings and have further discussions if they wish, and there will also be some space given for campaign updates with an emphasis on honest analysis rather than promotion.

For updates and more info check the website or email us.

EF!WM Crew
e-mail: efwintermoot@noflag.org.uk
Homepage: http://earthfirstgathering.org.uk

report from tonight’s ‘bikes alive’ protest

9.1.12: 'bikes alive' is a new direct action campaigning group to counter the lethargy of transport for london, and its prioritising of london traffic flow over the safety of pedestrians and cyclists.

9.1.12: 'bikes alive' is a new direct action campaigning group to counter the lethargy of transport for london, and its prioritising of london traffic flow over the safety of pedestrians and cyclists. tonight saw the first of a series of direct action traffic calming gatherings at king's cross designed to pressure TfL into more urgent action over the deadly junction.

at the 6pm start numbers looked a little thin, with no more than a few dozen cyclists gathered on the corner of euston road and york way in front of king's cross station. they were observed by several police cyclists and a few others on foot.

numbers did gradually build up, and by about twenty past, the action began with probably a little over a hundred cyclists making their way up york way at a snail's pace, forming an effective blockade against the rush hour traffic.

they looped round and back via the scala before completely blocking the busy junction between euston and pentonville roads with york way.

here – next to the white ghost bicycle left as a memorial to 'deep' lee, the young cyclist who was the 16th cycle fatality of 2011 – they chanted slogans against boris, and reclaimed the streets. police began re-directing traffic up york way and round, and traffic tailed back along euston road a long way.

for the next half an hour, the cycle blockade, accompanied by quite a few people on foot, made slow progress back and forth along both sides of euston road outside the station. near the front of the procession were des kay, the bicycle activist who won landmark court battles against police attempts to restrict the monthly critical mass rides, and jenny jones, the green campaigner on the london assembly and the metropolitan police authority.

police response remained (i suspect partly because of jenny jones' presence) reasonably low key, although inspector mcdonald kept asking people to 'keep moving' and he was accompanied by an over-eager community support officer who liked shouting at and grabbing people in an offensive manner.

finally at just after 7pm, after holding the start of pentonville road for several minutes while traffic was once again directed up york way, cyclists agreed to leave en masse rather than dwindle in numbers, des kay recited one of his infamous cycle activist poems, and the cyclists went off into the night.

the plan is to hold regular, possibly weekly, blockades until TfL promise to act. check the www.bikesalive.wordpress.com site for details of next week's ride at king's cross.

‘bikes alive’ action at kings x tomorrow

8th January 2012

8th January 2012

In the absence of any timetable or genuine willingness from either the mayor or transport for london (tfl), bicycle activists will stage the first of several direct actions tomorrow evening at king's cross road junctions.

cyclists and supporters are expected to arrive in large numbers for tomorrow evening's 'critical mass' style blockade at king's cross in protest at the large numbers of cyclist fatalities at the junction and at tfl and the mayor's reticence to do anything about it.

tomorrow's action, which will last an hour from 6pm, follows on from a recent vigil, pictured above, which attracted around 100 cyclists and featured speakers from the london cycling campaign, road peace, london living streets, and the green party, as well as friends and relatives of some of those killed.

sixteen cyclists were killed on london roads last year, up from 10 in 2010.

campaigners are calling on tfl to introduce dutch-style cycling systems. in dutch cities, cyclists face statistically less than half the dangers of their london counterparts, and yet tfl have rejected proposals put forward as long ago as 2008, and instead is reducing the number of pedestrian crossings to 'improve traffic flow'.

tfl's grounds for rejecting junction changes at king's cross is that they may cause 'traffic delay'.

last year, 24 yr old fashion student 'deep' lee was killed by a lorry at king's cross. in december, after rejecting safety proposals at a meeting at camden town hall, tfl officials asked her boyfriend if they could now remove the flower-covered memorial ghost bike. he responded that they should 'sort out the junction first'.

in response to tfl's lethargy and failures, and in a direct challenge to their concerns about 'traffic delays', bicycle activists have called for cyclists and their supporters to join them at king's cross at 6pm tomorrow evening and to cycle around the junction en masse at a safe slow speed, perhaps stopping every now and then as sheer mass of cycle traffic sometimes causes delays.

this will be the first of several regular such actions to show tfl that cyclists are fed up of being treated as disposable citizens and are entitled to protection, safety, and consideration in road planning.

for more info and contacts for tomorrow's and future actions, see www.bikesalive.wordpress.com

and for some excellent opinion pieces and well-researched links, see www.cyclelondoncity.blogspot.com

The militarisation of the Susa Valley: final act & Brief History of the No TAV movement

12.11.11

12.11.11

Berlusconi’s moribund government has finally managed to pass a decree – with the opposition’s approval – that formalises the current state of militarisation in the Susa Valley. The construction site in La Maddalena will become a “site of strategic national interest”, that is, a military area. The consequences for those who trespass will be the same imposed by law for any other military area trespass: a prison sentence between 3 months and one year, or the payment of a fine between 51 and 309 Euro. That’s not it, though! The rock extracted on the site will become a legal construction material, even if contaminated by uranium, asbestos and other chemical products released by the excavation process. This will have a huge impact on the industry of the “great useless public works” beloved by the current government; and it’s a huge present to the construction mafia. Also, it’s another heavy attack to freedom of protest and dissent, and a clear message for the people of the Val Susa: don’t disturb the construction!

In the meantime, a couple of weeks ago a public youth hostel managed by an organisation close to the NO TAV movement was attacked and vandalised. The building is often used by NO TAV protesters coming from the surrounding areas. The attackers stole money and damaged the furniture. Special attention was reserved to the books, magazines and original materials about the Antifascist Resistance which the building makes available to the public. Just in case it wasn’t clear who was behind the attack.

Nevertheless, the state of permanent mobilisation declared last May by the NO TAV carries on; the national tour that started in October in Bologna will conclude in the next few days in Genoa, and more initiatives have been announced to protest against the new decree. 

Sources: this article, and various other things borrowed and recycled from Italy Indymedia.

Written/translated by Italy Calling.

NO TAV (No to the High Speed Train) is a movement based in the Susa Valley in Piedmont that opposes the creation of the new high speed railway line between Turin and Lyon in France. This line is part of a EU project which plans to connect Lyon to Budapest and then onto Ukraine. Similar protest movements were active in the early 90s in Florence, Bologna and Rome, but their militancy and the brutal repression that this triggered in the Susa Valley has made the Piedmontese movement the most talked about.

The simple principle behind the movement is that a new high speed railway line in the Valley is completely useless and not needed, its only purpose being the profit of the many private companies that have shares in it. The NO TAV  think that the current railway line between Piedmont and France is more than sufficient, considering that traffic in the area has never been incredibly high. More importantly, the construction of the line would utterly and irreversibly destroy a huge part of the Susa Valley, causing not only an environmental but also an economic and social disaster, with businesses closing down and villages being completely disfigured or disappearing.

High speed railway lines in Italy are considered to be of “strategic interest”, which translated from political bullshit language means that the law allows this type of works WITHOUT consulting the local population and institutions whatsoever. At a time of economic collapse such as Italy is going through, the works require billions of Italian taxpayers’ money, at the expense of primary services like education and health. It would mainly be construction and other private companies profiting from it, but when finished and in use, the low demand for the line would end up making it a loss-making burden on the taxpayers. Like in Rossport, Ireland, the locals’ concerns and proposals are being completely ignored in the name of the only Modern God: money.

The NO TAV came up with their own plan for the area which would include:
– changing the production and distribution processes to decrease transport of people and goods, especially on long distances
– supporting local sustainable trades instead of big industries  
– creating or improving local means of sustainable and green transport for workers and students
– supporting and incrementing the use of the already existing local railway line

The main source of this article is Turin’s NO TAV website.

Earth First! Winter Moot 2012 – 24-26th February 2012. Updated: location & what to expect

A weekend of discussion and networking for those taking direct action against ecological destruction. 

Please note date & location change (due to date clash & venue problems):

24-26th February 2012, near Glasgow

Nearest train station: Lanark.

A weekend of discussion and networking for those taking direct action against ecological destruction. 

Please note date & location change (due to date clash & venue problems):

24-26th February 2012, near Glasgow

Nearest train station: Lanark.

See earthfirstgathering.org.uk for further information about location,  programme and contact details

Update:

Where – this years Earth First Winter Moot will take place in Glespin Village Hall, South Lanarkshire. Glespin is a small village about 14 miles south of Lanark, and 35 miles south of Glasgow. South Lanarkshire also has many beautiful areas with rivers, hills, forests and peat bogs.  Full directions

What to expect – this years Earth First! Winter Moot takes place in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. In a months time environmentalists from across the UK and beyond will converge to discuss and debate. Below is an update from the organising collective who are working on the program.

The Moot 2012 collective has felt that at previous EF! Gatherings groups have primarily attended to recruit for their respective campaigns. Yet those who attend EF! Gatherings are predominantly already active, making them good places for networking, but not necessarily for outright recruitment. We recognise the effort gathering organisers put into planning agendas but often the more discursive aspects of the gatherings focus on larger,  abstract questions and debates have often been framed by self-appointed experts. We feel that these discussions ineffectively attempt to find answers or reach consensus where this is inappropriate.

For example at the first EF! Gathering 20 years ago the question was asked: 'What is EF!?' 20 years later in 2011 at the last Moot the same question was still being asked . . .

The answer is EF! is what we make it, and this year we are going to make it a space in which we can approach our campaigns both critically and analytically by asking more specific and practical questions. Our activism should be constantly evolving not stuck in a rut asking the same questions again and again.

The agenda will be designed to ask questions around four key issues: the tactics we use; the strategies that we employ in our campaigns; community solidarity; and sustainable activism. There will be no attempt to reach conclusions or consensus especially about what EF! is. Instead we want to have discussions that lead to new ideas that could evolve ongoing campaigns or give creative inspiration to ones that are just getting started.

A free space will be provided in which campaigns will be able to hold meetings and have further discussions if they wish, and there will also be some space given for campaign updates with an emphasis on honest analysis rather than promotion.

For updates and more info check the website or email us.

efwintermoot@noflag.org.uk

London September critical mass – pics and short report

sept 30 critical mass. police allow motorist to leave the scene of an assault and refuse to take details despite witnesses. did you witness the assault?

the balmy indian summer weather ensured a good turn-out for the critical mass bike ride last friday evening, and hundreds of cyclists enjoyed a joyous ride round london despite the occasional psychopathic motorist and a couple of crazy cops. the critical mass bicycle ride, now in in its 17th year, takes place on the last friday of each month throughout the year.

sept 30 critical mass. police allow motorist to leave the scene of an assault and refuse to take details despite witnesses. did you witness the assault?

the balmy indian summer weather ensured a good turn-out for the critical mass bike ride last friday evening, and hundreds of cyclists enjoyed a joyous ride round london despite the occasional psychopathic motorist and a couple of crazy cops. the critical mass bicycle ride, now in in its 17th year, takes place on the last friday of each month throughout the year.

the critical mass bicycle ride, now in in its 17th year, takes place on the last friday of each month throughout the year. cyclists meet from about 6pm on the south bank under waterloo bridge near the national film theatre, and normally set off on a ride by about 7.

the ride has no official organisers, and the route is never agreed in advance, relying instead on a ‘critical mass’ of front runners persuading the rest of the crowd to follow in any particular direction.

on friday, the convoy of four or five hundred cyclists (also including an increasing contingent of skateboarders) headed north over the bridge, and unusually took the underpass into kingsway before heading west and on to oxford street.

as the main purpose of the mass is to celebrate human propulsion over carbon, reclaim the streets, and show that cyclists have as many rights as drivers, it is sometimes a little contentious when the route includes oxford street so early in the evening, as it mostly disrupts public transport rather than general traffic (which isn’t allowed onto oxford street until later in the evening). however, the mass kept up the pace and only stopped briefly at oxford circus before heading to marble arch and down park lane.

by this time, cyclists had spread out a little and so it was harder to take all four lanes of the road. so despite the neon sign at the start of park lane warning motorists ‘delays possible’, some of them were frustrated to find cyclists in their path (even though they were quite likely to get held up again at a traffic jam at the south end of the highway), and among these motorists there was a police car, whose driver recklessly kept changing lanes without signalling, and deliberately cut across cyclists forcing them to veer to the left, and seriously risking injury.

further down park lane, there had been some sort of altercation, and a woman claimed she had been assaulted and pushed over by a motorist. the police car had stopped and the officers got out, but instead of investigating the assault, one of them was making comments loudly that “you cyclists are pests”. the young woman, along with witnesses to the assault, kept telling the police that she wanted to make a complaint and press charges, but the cops just ignored her, returning to their vehicle and winding their windows up. they also for a while refused to give any of their own details until several cyclists surrounding the car kept asking for their badge numbers, with which they eventually complied. they however refused to take any details of the alleged incident. the young woman is considering an official police complaint. if anyone witnessed the assault or took pics/video, please contact me and i’ll put you in touch. i only have the clip of the police ignoring her requests.

sometimes after an incident like this, the mass gets stretched out or split, but this time, the front runners were cycling round and round the duke of wellington arch at hyde park corner, so everyone reconvened and hundreds of bicycles once again rode together east along piccadilly, completely trapping a red diplomatic police car at one point, and on into piccadilly circus, trafalgar square (where a couple of cyclists jumped into the fountains to cool off), and down whitehall to parliament square. there, one rider briefly hitched a lift on the back of a lorry before we all headed up to buckingham palace, back to hyde park corner and then down to sloane square.

two hours in, and although numbers were beginning to lessen, when i left the ride there were still at least a hundred riders heading west down the king’s road.

the next ride will be 28th october.

http://www.criticalmasslondon.org.uk/main.html
More pictures and videos at http://london.indymedia.org/articles/10323

Check out if there’s a Critical Mass in your town – or start one