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.

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

Take Back the Land! 12-18 July Douglas Valley action camp

Opencast coal mining in the Douglas Valley is about the ruling class destroying communities for their own financial gain. Its about ecological destruction on a massive scale for capitalism’s unquenchable thirst for cheap energy. Its about absentee fat-cat land-lords making millions off land that shouldn’t be theirs. Its about morally corrupt local (and national) government putting profit before people. Join us 12-18 July in the Douglas Valley, South Lanarkshire, to build on 20 years of community struggle and four years of direct action against the UK’s biggest opencast mining company. It’s time to Take Back the Land!

Take Back the Land! will be a space for taking action, sharing skills and learning through doing. It will be a welcoming and safe space for all those wishing to challenge the social injustice and environmental destruction caused by opencast coal mining operations in Scotland and throughout the world.

Building on previous years experience at camps such as the Mainshill Solidarity Camp, the Happendon Wood Action Camp and events such as the Outdoor Skillshares, we will be establishing a base for a week of high impact action and low impact, sustainable living.

In solidarity with the communities of the Douglas Valley, we will be directly confronting the power structures and infrastructures which have dominated and scarred the valley for too long with a mass action planned for the 14th July and plenty of room for skilling up, recruitment and affinity group actions to be taken.

The camp location will be announced nearer to the time, but will be in close proximity to many of the opencast coal mines in the area.

Whilst we recognise the camp to be a space to take action against external oppression we also hope a create a space which challenges socialised behaviours that oppress and exclude others and we will try and make the camp as inclusive a space as possible, for all people wishing to be involved.

We are calling for all those wishing to take or support actions in solidarity with community self determination, against destructive fossil fuel industries and towards a more sustainable and just society, to come to South Lanarkshire from 12-18th July and help Take Back the Land!

More updates are on their way. If you wish to find out more information or contact us for any reason please get in touch: contact@coalactionscotland.org.uk

Save Leyton Marsh Camp & Boules stop work

29th March 2012

The tent occupation which sprang up on Saturday in solidarity with the Campaign to Save Leyton Marsh has entered its 5th day. The camp continues to grow with supporters arriving every day. Local residents and campaigners visit all day long providing support, bringing supplies and chatting with the campers. Basic facilities have been setup including a field kitchen and washing up area. There is also a communications tent.

No construction work has taken place on the Leyton Marsh site since Friday when local campaigners from the Save Leyton Marsh group stood in front of lorries preventing them from entering the site. On Monday, the occupation campers joined with local residents standing in front and lying down under lorries.

Today a Police Community Support Officer arrived at the camp in the early morning to inform the group that the Olympic Delivery Authority will be coming to the camp on Friday morning. The PCSO said that the purpose of the visit was to negotiate with the Save Leyton Marsh Campaign and Campers about the situation (an update will be published when more info is known).

The occupiers welcome any and all support. There is plenty of space for more people to get involved. It is located Behind Lee Valley Ice Cente on Lea Bridge Rd, Leyton Map: http://tinyurl.com/6ntfscy

For more info check out:

http://saveleytonmarsh.wordpress.com/

http://www.gamesmonitor.org.uk/

—–

23rd March 2012

This Morning’s game of boules was a real joy. We managed to talk to a lot of people, including the police, the site manager, who said nothing, passer-bys . We prevented at least 4 trucks (8am) to enter the site. It was all very peaceful and joyful. Everyone wanted to play boules, even the police and the gate keepers on site were tempted.

Update: no lorries entered the site all day. This was really great team work in action…So they give the LVPRA planning permission for ‘assembly and leisure’ on Leyton Marsh and we take them at their word. Walkers of the world unite, you have nothing to lose but some boules!

Photos at http://saveleytonmarsh.wordpress.com/2012/03/23/boules/

Hinkley Barnstormers Eviction Imminent ! Help Needed !

JOIN THE HINKLEY BARNSTORMERS BEFORE THEIR EVICTION !

On 27th February at the Royal Courts of Justice, London, EDF won a possesion order against anti-nuclear activists who are occupying a barn on the proposed new site for a nuclear reactor at Hinkley Point.

The barn has been successfully occupied for over two weeks now but the eviction could come at any time in the next few days.

The occupiers are welcoming any one who wants to come and help dismantle the camp. There is lots of food available and a cosy and convivial atmosphere to be enjoyed ! Please come !

PHONE : 0793 392 0425 or 0753 094 7554

The activists will be celebrating what the camp had achieved in terms of raising awareness of Hinkley to the national level , as many people do not know that the government is planning to build new nuclear reactors, they want to slip these plans in "under the radar" to avoid a proper public debate taking place, like there has been in Italy and Germany, in the wake of Fukushima.

Nuclear power is a catastrophic choice for Britain's energy future. A part from the fact that nuclear power is still very fossil fuel reliant and won't make much of a dent in the carbon emmissions: If Hinkley C is built, it won't be in operation until 2023 at the earliest ! Also, nuclear is a bottomless pit of expense to the tax payer, all that money will be diverted away from investment in safe and sustainable alternatives.

There is no such thing as safe nuclear power, problems occur in the reactors for inumerable reasons, including human error, and once every 12 years or so there is a major disaster. There is also the ever looming problem of nuclear waste, Britain already has enough to fill 5 Albert Halls and no where long term to put it. Only an insane government/industry would want to make more.

After Fukushima, many countries are saying enough is enough, Nuclear power is finished. It's a dinosaur of the 20th century and leads to the proliferation of nuclear weapons. It's time we said the same !

Please show your solidarity and go to the camp for some fun !

If you can't make it to the camp, there's another chance for you to show your opposition to new nuclear on 10- 11 March at Hinkley Point for the Surround and Blockade action. Details below :

Coach tickets are available to take you to the Surround action on 10 March from Bristol CND:

secretarybristolcnd@gmail.com

For more information about the 10-11 March see:

www.stopnewnuclear.org.uk

Anti-Development Protest Gets Heated in Armenia

17 February 2012

Police used force on Friday against more than a dozen environmental activists who were camped in a public park in downtown Yerevan to protest against the construction of several shops there.

17 February 2012

Police used force on Friday against more than a dozen environmental activists who were camped in a public park in downtown Yerevan to protest against the construction of several shops there.

The Yerevan municipality authorized the construction after ordering the shop owners to relocate their businesses from large kiosks that stood on a major street in the city center until last month. They were dismantled along with hundreds of sidewalk kiosks across the Armenian capital.

Environment protection and other civic groups condemned the choice of a new location for the shops, saying that it would inflict further damage on Yerevan’s green areas that have shrunk significantly over the past decade. They also say that the municipal administration failed to follow all legal procedures before issuing the construction permit.

Dozens of mostly young activists have staged daily sit-ins in the park since Monday, preventing the construction from going ahead. Their representatives met with Yerevan Mayor Taron Markarian earlier this week to demand that he scrap the controversial decision. Markarian rejected the demand.

Eyewitnesses said riot police pushed a group of protesters away from the construction site to allow workers to resume their work on Friday morning. The site was cordoned off by police officers as the activists continued to demonstrate nearby.

The protesters stood in the way of a heavy truck carrying concrete for the builders. The truck driver had to turn away and leave the scene after two young men lay on the ground in front of the vehicle.

The chief of Yerevan’s police department, Nerses Nazarian, arrived at the scene in the afternoon to urge the protesters not to interfere with the shop construction. The head of the municipality’s legal department, Zaven Arakelian, also addressed them, showing copies of documents purportedly proving the legality of the construction.

“All those decisions were made in breach of the law,” said Sona Ayvazian, an anti-corruption campaigner also taking part in the protest. “Therefore, they cannot be deemed legal.”

To check out the article online click here

Road construction disrupted in Philippines

Leftist rebels attack road project, torch equipment in Cotabato

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Xinhua) – Suspected leftist rebels struck anew in southern Philippines early today, burning road construction equipment and several vehicles owned by a local trader, the military said.

Leftist rebels attack road project, torch equipment in Cotabato

Six New People’s Army gunmen swooped down at a quarry site and torched three dump trucks, a mechanical excavator (backhoe) and a pay loader in San Roque village, Kidapawan City, North Cotabato province past 10:30 a.m. local time, according to Colonel Leopoldo Galon, spokesperson of the Eastern Mindanao Command.

http://signalfire.org/?p=17366

Action to re-occupy the ZAD

A reoccupation action is being planned in case of an eviction at the ZAD, near Notre-Dame-des-Landes in France: To re-plant and rebuild against the construction of the airport: Vinci get out! Not here, not Khimki, not anywhere! Meet on the 4th Saturday after the first eviction with your pitchforks, tools, beams and camping gear. Although we don't know when the troops will be sent in, we are launching this call-out now to be able to create a massive rapid reaction.

A reoccupation action is being planned in case of an eviction at Notre-Dame-des-Landes in France: To re-plant and rebuild against the construction of the airport: Vinci get out! Not here, not Khimki*, not anywhere!

This is a joint call out from occupants of the ZAD and the network Reclaim the Fields to meet on the 4th Saturday after the first eviction, near Notre-Dame-des-Landes.

To give an idea of some of the things that have happened:

On 7 May 2011, we were a thousand people on an action, pitchforks in hand, to clear and put to use an abandoned plot of agricultural land. This was to create a space to grow food to feed the struggle against the airport – and it's been thriving since the action! We'll be back to strive to protect this farm and other occupied places on the ZAD (Zone d'Amenagement Differé), or in other words, Zone About to be Destroyed).

On 24 June, Vinci started eviction procedures against eight squats, including Les Planchettes, our collective space of organising and hospitality.

On 10 July, during a gathering a few thousand people made a human banner saying "Vinci d égage!" (Vinci get out!)

On 23 August, the president of the region Pays de la Loire, Jacques Auxiette, asked the local authorities to clean out the radical occupiers of the ZAD. It was an unambiguous brutal call for repression, but this will not prevent us from resisting, re-occupying and re-growing.

To follow up on May 7, occupiers from the ZAD and Reclaim the Fields, a network of young activist peasants, are inviting you to be a part of a huge demonstration to re-occupy in case of an eviction, and urge all groups and collectives to support this action. If the police force does arrive to clean us out, we want to be back by the thousands to give shape to the cry "Vinci get out!" and to continue to occupy the zone and to stop construction works in their tracks.

For forty years, decision makers and construction managers have been pushing a new airport next to Nantes, at Notre-Dame-des-Landes, to make their dreams of massive economic expansion and a metropolis. The ZAD: it's 2000 hectares of cultivated and inhabited land that they want to annihilate under concrete. The resistance against this project is at the crossroads of many challenges on which to unite, to address issues of common strategies and thinking.

Through this struggle we are fighting industrial society and agriculture, its economic development policies, its climate change and its control of the land, the megalopolis and the normalisation of ways of life, the privatisation of the commons, the myth of endless growth and the illusion of democratic participation …

The decision-makers are constantly trying to sell their project and to give the impression that going backwards is unthinkable at this stage. So after forty years struggling, the preliminary construction work of the airport and its highway have started: drilling for soil analysis, environmental assessments, archaeological excavations and clearing works… all prerequisites for pouring concrete all over the area.

But its opponents are far from giving up and the actions intensify: blocking drillings, disturbing the environmental assessment work of Biotope*, distributing newspapers, occupying offices, construction sites, opening up Vinci's tollways, and much more..

In addition, for more than two and a half years, instead of the ZAD gradually emptying to the rhythm of blackmail and destruction, life and activity has been flourishing.

Many of the houses left abandoned were refurbished and occupied, new houses were constructed on the ground and in the trees, collectives occupied land to make vegetable gardens. Meeting spaces, guest accomodation, a bakery and a library were opened for one and all. There are more than a hundred people permanently occupying the ZAD, supported by many others, local and elsewhere, who meet and organise. The occupations are part of a movement that has many different forms. Among other things, they have a allowed rapid reactions to the first steps taken by Vinci towards construction work.

In June 2011, Vinci began eviction procedures in order to have the legal means to remove the occupiers of the ZAD who have "no right or title". Now they want to stop the growth of the movement and make a clean sweep to start the work: as well as evicting the occupiers, they are thinking about the tenants, owners and farmers. At the same time, those names who are pro-airport do everything they can: running a campaign to isolate the occupiers, attempting to divide the movement and break up solidarity, reinforce the daily police presence and repression of collective action.

Despite this context, we're keeping the memory of past victories in France against megalomanic projects, from nuclear to military, like at Carnet, Plogoff or Larzac, and we know that this airport can still be stopped. We look to the other side of the Alps, where opposition to the construction of the Lyon-Turin high-speed train line across a valley, where tens of thousands of people prevent work. We are preparing the same here: any attempt to concrete the place will cost them dearly.

This call for action signifies that evictions do not mean in any way the end of the struggle; it allows us to launch collective attacks after the potential evictions as well. It affirms that they cannot militarise or sterilise this place at all times and that whatever their efforts they won't stop us reoccupying it. It shows the common will to keep the occupations going to prevent the airport project. This event will allow, as necessary, the reconstruction of collective spaces for organising, housing, or again for growing food.

Although we don't know when the troops will be sent in, we are launching this call-out now to be able to create a massive rapid reaction. We propose to meet again on the fourth Saturday after the first eviction – bring your pitchforks, tools and beams – to reclaim the land and rebuild together.

In addition to this call for reoccupation, other initiatives are clearly welcome: solidarity actions wherever you are, presence at eviction time to hinder the police … And until then, efforts continue to prevent the airport, and life on the ZAD as well!

Practical Info:

– Check regularly http://zad.nadir.org, especially in case of an eviction. The date and exact meeting location will be specified at the time.

– It will be possible to arrive on the eve of the event, for the final preparations and bringing everyone up to speed. Come prepared to camp.

– We invite you to stay here after the action to protect the re-occupied spaces and continue the construction.

*Extra explanation:
Vinci is the biggest construction company in the world and is responsible for building the airport at Notre-Dame-des-Landes. It is also engaged in building prisons, highways, nuclear power stations, detention centers for illegal immigrants, exploiting the uranium mines in Niger and destroying the forest of Khimki near Moscow.
Biotope: An entity responsible for ensuring, through environmental expert on the flora and fauna, the ecological sustainability of the airport … the new frontiers of green capitalism!

A call-out from occupiers on the ZAD and Reclaim the Fields

reclaimthezad@riseup.net

zad@riseup.net
zad.nadir.org

Protesters mount diggers in bid to save trees in Stuttgart

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.

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

Indian Maoists set fire to a tipper and earthdigger

BHADRACHALAM: Maoists have allegedly set ablaze a tipper and a proclainer (earthmover) near Alubaka in the Bhadrachalam Agency area of Kammam district on Friday night.

It is said that the Maoists torched the vehicles to obstruct the road works taken up under the Left Wing Extremism Affected Districts Development Scheme. The Maoist had warned the contractor earlier not to take up work on the road that connects Bhadrachalam with Venkatapur and Bhoopalapatnam in Chhattisgarh. According to sources, around 60 Maoists, 20 of them armed, from the neighbouring state entered the district, poured kerosene over the vehicles, and set them ablaze. The contractor suffered a loss of Rs 50 lakh.

A case has been registered at Venkatapur police station against those involved in the offence and investigation is in progress, Venkatapur circle inspector of police KRK Prasada Rao has said.

from …. http://signalfire.org/?p=16492

original article …

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/maoists-set-afire-tipper-earthdigger/212951-60-114.html