South East England – Page 39

Oxford Tree Protest Brings Fences Down; update & latest on end of protest/arrest

12.1.2008 A demonstration in Oxford against the felling of trees and the building of a monstrous new shopping centre saw hundreds of people gather around Bonn Square. Many of them then took spontaneous direct action to stop the fencing-off of the square, and forced the Council to take the fences back down! We won this … Continue reading “Oxford Tree Protest Brings Fences Down; update & latest on end of protest/arrest”

Oxford Saturday tree protest 3

12.1.2008
A demonstration in Oxford against the felling of trees and the building of a monstrous new shopping centre saw hundreds of people gather around Bonn Square. Many of them then took spontaneous direct action to stop the fencing-off of the square, and forced the Council to take the fences back down!

We won this time, but the struggle to save the trees and stop the Westgate Centre goes on. On Monday, the tree-sitter is in court and the Council is seeking final permission to go ahead with the felling. Support is always needed down at the Square, and watch this space for announcements of future actions.

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Activist arrested while trying to give tree protester water

13.1.2008
An activist is arrested for “on suspicion of littering” while trying to throw Gabriel, the Bonn Square tree protester, some water.

At about 2 AM on Sunday morning two activists went to Bonn Square to try to give the fenced-off tree protester, Gabriel, some water. As one distracted the security, the other tried to throw a bottle to Gabriel, but unfortunately it wasn’t a very good throw 😉

Police sitting in a nearby car quickly noticed and the bottle-thrower was arrested “on suspicion of littering”. Fortunately only about 3 hours was spent at the police station before the activist was released without charge – the police seemed to have changed their mind and decided it wasn’t a prosecutable offence.

The arrestee was advised by a solicitor that whilst the arrest was potentially unlawful, pursuing legal action would likely only result in a different charge such as “public disorder”. An IPCC complaint may be made.

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14.1.2008
Latest update from BBC:

Police arrest tree man protester

A protester who was living in a tree in an attempt to stop it from being chopped down has been arrested on suspicion of aggravated trespass.

Gabriel Chamberlain set up his makeshift tree house in Bonn Square, Oxford, 11 days ago.

The city council secured an eviction order to force him down, but Mr Chamberlain came down voluntarily after he ran out of water and supplies.

The tree was later felled as part of a £1.5m facelift in Oxford’s west end.

The sycamore was the largest of four trees which have been cut down.

The operation sparked protests in Bonn Square from other residents and police have arrested at least two other people.

The trees will be replaced with seven semi-mature robinia pseudoacacia trees.

A council spokesman said Bonn Square was in a key location at the intersection of four major routes.

He said the plan was aimed at making the square more attractive and improving CCTV surveillance.

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Yesterday morning Gabriel was arrested and work began on destroying the tree. I don’t know the exact details; whether it was a planned eviction or whether he was grabbed having come down from the tree for supplies or a break.

Protesters were outnumbered by cops and security and the tree itself was surrounded by several layers of fencing. Nevertheless a few attempted to block the work, but were quickly dragged away. They were arrested for aggravated trespass and I believe all have now been released on police bail, and will find out in a few weeks whether or not the charges will be dropped.

This is not the end of the campaign though; there are still tens of trees under threat as part of the Westgate expansion, and the Bonn Square campaign has served to galvanise local action. Watch this space 🙂

Meanwhile the Radley Lakes Town Green application was turned down by the County Council, despite plenty of evidence; campaigners will take the case to the High Court.

Climate Camp– Open invite to a UK wide decision making meeting – Leeds 26-27 Jan

The Climate Camp on its own didn’t stop climate change – but it’s part of a growing social movement that can! Come and take the next steps forward at the upcoming UK-wide meeting on Jan 26-27 in Leeds. Everyone is welcome, whether you came to the camp, or were simply inspired by it.

The Camp’s at Drax and Heathrow had 4 key aims: popular education, direct action, sustainable living, and building a social movement to collectively tackle climate change. Regional meetings have been happening up and down the country, and the last national meeting was in Oxford .We will meet in Leeds to collectively share all our ideas for taking our aims into 2008.

The meeting will start at 11am on Saturday morning and end at 4pm on the Sunday- although if you can’t stay for the whole weekend you are still welcome!

If you are planning to arrive on the Saturday morning please head straight down to the venue which is The Common Place, 23-25 Warf Street, LS2 7EQ
www.thecommonplace.org.uk – you can find a map at
http://www.multimap.com/maps/?hloc=GB|LS2%207EQ and you will notice that it is walking distance from the train and bus stations.

If you are planning on arriving the Friday night – before the gathering- please email process@climatecamp.org.uk so we know! There will be accommodation available for the Friday night – but at a community centre called Oblong ( http://oblongleeds.org.uk) rather than at the Common Place.
Food will be served at the Common Place over the weekend- so please bring about £10 to contribute towards the food and accommodation costs if you stay the whole weekend. Of course if you really can not afford it then you are none the less very welcome!

There will also be a travel pool (whereby people who live nearby and who have minimal travel costs will be asked to make donations to off set the expense for those who had to make much longer journeys to attend). Accommodation is simply floor space- so please bring a camping mat and sleeping bag. If you have particular access needs, and/or if sleeping on the floor is not suitable for you please email us as soon as possible so we can make appropriate arrangements.

If you are planning to bring children who will need child care facilities please let us at process@climatecamp.org.uk know as soon as possible. The agenda for this meeting has not yet been set – if you have any ideas about topics you think it is important for us to discuss, please email
process@climatecamp.org.uk- by Friday the 19th January
Hope to see you there!

camp for climate action networking group
networking@climatecamp.org.uk
http://www.climatecamp.org.uk

Oxford Tree Protest Tomorrow (plus more photos & personal account)

11.01.2008

Oxford tree protest 3 11.01.2008

Protest at midday tomorrow (Saturday) in Bonn Square. The proposed expansion of Oxford’s Westgate Centre doesn’t just threaten a group of beautiful trees, it also threatens to turn yet more of our city centre into a nightmarish consumer wasteland. Thanks to the people who’ve been up the trees, the Council are now on the back foot and there’s a chance we could force them to scrap the whole stupid scheme – but we need people there!

There’s currently a battle going on in town between some peaceful but determined tree-defenders, the Council, the Westgate Centre and the police (see http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/01/389089.html). Essentially, the Council decided to clear away some trees in preparation for the proposed Westgate expansion without telling anyone, but a group of locals found out and rushed to the trees’ defence.

Obviously, just losing the trees would be bad in itself, but this is also the tip of a much bigger iceberg. The proposed Westgate expansion has been criticised and challenged all the way through the planning process (it would require the demolition of a whole street of sheltered housing and fails to meet the Council’s own climate change building standards, quite apart from being a horrible and unnecessary extension to what is already an ugly temple to rampant consumerism sucking the lifeblood from independent shops and the character out of Oxford city centre). The Council has seemed determined to push it through at any cost, despite all the protests and complaint.

However, one of the major retailers with a place booked in the proposed extension – John Lewis – have reportedly started to get nervous about being associated with such a controversial development. Enough bad publicity from the battle over the trees might just be the last straw that could convince them to pull out – and without John Lewis, the whole execrable expansion plan could collapse!

This is where your help could make a real difference. Tomorrow is the anti-SOCPA protest in London, and people are feeling we should have our own demo (about freedom to protest as well as stopping the Westgate development) in Oxford rather than all our activists going off to London at what could well be the crucial moment. So if you’re up for it please come to Bonn Square at 12 midday tomorrow. Bring banners, noise and everyone you know.

In the meantime, please do go down to show your support (there weren’t many people around this afternoon) and see what needs doing.

Hope to see you tomorrow!

oarc@riseup.net

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I spent 2 days up a tree outside the Westgate Centre in Oxford. This is a short an account of the how and why

Out of My Tree

I thought it might be interesting to any readers who have been following the Oxford Bonn Square and Westgate Centre tree saga last week to put down what happened from my point of view, seeing as it was me that spent 24 hours up the tree outside the Westgate and even good journalists, let alone readers, are bound to draw conclusions that are wide of the true mark
On Wednesday 9th Jan, I received invitations down to see what was happening around the Westgate Centre, where I was told that a number of trees were about to be chopped down. I was a bit dubious about going, as I was about to head off job hunting, my last job having finished just before Christmas but I went down intending to give my support for a short while. All seemed pretty peaceful down at the Westgate and I felt that there wasn’t much I could do as work appeared to have been stopped on the tree-chopping front. I was about to leave when there was a flurry of activity round the corner from where we were, between the Westgate Centre and the multi-storey car park. They had fenced off the area.
Workmen had begun chopping off the branches of one of the magnificent Plane trees next to the car park. Deborah Glass Woodin was visibly upset by this and was trying to prevent the workmen going any further. As a County Councillor she felt that she had been insufficiently informed that this was to happen. It was heart-wrenching to see a concerned five-foot female councillor being dragged off in tears by two carthorse policemen who seemed totally unconcerned that she was doing her duty. This was probably due to ‘Operation Rumble’ whereby the police are instructed to automatically arrest anybody interfering with council workers going about their job. However, as a councillor, Mrs Glass Woodin was going about her job by questioning the work that was going on as she had not been properly informed about it. Despite this she was dragged, tearful and wretched into a police car and prevented from doing the job she was democratically elected to do while the police shoved the rest of us trying to help her out of the way.
Once this bit of excitement was over, a friend and I watched sadly as the first of three trees designated for the chop was sawn up noisily with chainsaws and then fed into a pulping machine. I looked at the next tree in the line. It is a magnificent London Plane, probably around a hundred years old. Its branches soar up over the top of the four storey car park and brush against the top of the Westgate centre. Each branch forks repeatedly into lesser branches and at their very ends are twin seeds that dangle down like spiky chestnut baubles. There are thousands of them decorating the extremities and the tree’s elegant, stretching branches clawing up into the sky are more natural and beautiful than any spire and a welcome relief to the grey surroundings of the concrete blocks it separates. A number of people who live and work in the area have told me that they find them very comforting and I can fully appreciate why now that I have spent a couple of days in one. For anyone content with replacing them with saplings, I would say that they are decades out of date.
The first tree was removed in under half an hour and it was awful to think that this hundred-year-old example was about to follow it efficiently into the pulping machine. There were policeman patrolling around the eight-foot fence in front of it and we watched as a ladder was rested up next to the tree, ready for the workmen to begin the job of sawing off the limbs. A little sunshine lit up the soft khaki colours of the patchwork bark in fawns, greens and browns. The policemen in front of the fence moved away and with the flash of a grin telling us we were doing the right thing, my friend and I sprinted spontaneously at the fence. Suddenly I was over it and running for the ladder before anyone could stop me. Next thing I was scrambling onto the lowest branch looking down at the workmen who frustratedly removed the ladder. I looked back in vain at my friend, who had sadly been pulled back by policemen. Unfortunately for me, he still had the backpack with a thermos of hot coffee in it on his back. Nothing, however, could deflate the triumphant sense of satisfaction I felt that for a while at least this exemplary Plane tree was free from the violent severing that had just been visited on its neighbour.
Why have these trees been designated for hacking? The powers that be at Oxford City Council have seen fit to bless us with a brand new shopping centre to massively extend the one we already. The land itself is owned by the Council and is on a 150 year lease to Coal Pension Properties Ltd that started on March 3rd 1986. The original lease says that there should be “no more parking spaces” on the land than at present and somehow the planning department have interpreted this as to say that “it is incumbent upon the city council to provide at least the same number of parking spaces” there. Given that it is a residential area considered an ‘Air Quality Management Action’ (AQMA) zone due to the illegally high level of pollutants in the air, then surely less parking should be provided there and perhaps more stories added to the Park and Ride car parks that are so often full on the outskirts of the city. This solution would endanger the local residents’ health a lot less and benefit us all by letting fresher air sweep throughout the city.
There is some doubt as to whether the development will happen at all. Capital Shopping have said that if they are to go ahead than they also require the land at Abbey Place across the road from the car park, which at present is home to 18 vulnerable people in 14 houses. This more drastic part of the plan is still under review and could scupper the whole project if it is deemed a bad idea. So why are these amazing Plane trees, whose variegated bark actually absorbs air pollutants, being chopped down before it is sure that the development will go ahead? According to shopkeepers in the Westgate, some of whom have contracts for their businesses on the site until July 2010, Capital Shopping have given the Council half a million pounds to get on with the job and clear the way for the development. Could they have done this so that if the development comes up against any objections, then the developers will be able to say “..well the trees have all gone now so we have to get on with it anyway”? The very rushing of the job makes one suspicious.
Living in a tree is not a way of life I would recommend. Wedging oneself between two trunks so that one doesn’t fall out at night is an exceedingly uncomfortable way of trying to sleep, particularly in winter. Our system of democracy is not perfect in that we only get to vote once every four years and are then obliged to hand over the decision making to a handful of people whose decisions we may often disagree with. What is known as ‘protesting’ is simply exercising our endangered right to disagree with these decisions and ask if there may not be a better answer to the question in hand. England has a proud history of protest that has brought about a number of great benefits to our society, including the emancipation of women.
The amount of support I received while up the tree from both friends and passers-by has been absolutely extraordinary. I have had more thumbs-up than Jenson Button in a race and it is heart-warming and magical to tap into the invisible solidarity of the usually silent public in this way. The most extraordinary event was on Wednesday evening when a group of 9 fairies skipped past in pink dresses and fairy wings. They looked no more than ten years old. They shouted up asking what I was doing and I answered simply that some people wanted to chop the tree down and I didn’t want them to. They waved their magic wands and skipped away chanting “Save the Tree! Save the Tree!” It was the sweetest moment. I only hope their magic holds and our wish is granted.
If the development is planned on ‘council land’ means that this is Oxford City land. That means that this is our land as residents and taxpayers and so decisions on cutting down trees should be decided by all of us. There are a number of aspects about the future Westgate development that have been unsatisfactorily concluded. To begin with, it does not meet a number of reasonable environmental standards…
Personally I don’t think we need any more shops in Oxford. This is a small city with only 140,000 inhabitants. With all the wonderful architecture we have here it seems foolish to try and turn it into a shopping centre when that would risk spoiling the beauty of the city we already have. If we detract from the city’s attractive aesthetic then less people will want to visit here and less money will be spent on local businesses. It seems detrimental, in more ways than one to spend so much money replacing one shopping centre with another one so that we can have more shops that will drain money out of the local economy. Surely we have enough shops already and do we really want to cut down 42 decorative trees in order to make way for more? My foolhardy gesture of spending 24 hours in a tree was a personal challenge made in order to ask a question that on further investigation appears to have an answer in the negative: Is it absolutely necessary to chop these 42 magnificent Plane trees down? Well is it?
While I am in awe of Gabs Chamberlain who has spent over a week defending the beautiful Plane tree in Bonn square by living up it, I don’t intend to follow suit. I feel that I have made my statement and asked my question and if anyone would like to take over the defence of the Westgate Planes then I would enthusiastically encourage them to do so. While I have great affection for them, they are not mine to defend, they are everybody’s. I hope somebody else will. Meanwhile I will take the advice so kindly offered to me by one unsympathetic passer-by and go and get a job. After all, if I didn’t I wouldn’t be able to afford any of the doubtless fabulous products that the Westgate II will have to offer off the stumps of our beloved London Planes.

CLIMATE ACTION NEWS SHEET 75, JANUARY 2008

CONTENTS:

———————————————-
UPCOMING ACTIONS AND EVENTS:
———————————————-
1) FOSSIL FOOLS DAY – NATIONAL, 1.4.08
2) LONDON RISING TIDE BENEFIT – LONDON, 11.1.08

CONTENTS:

———————————————-
UPCOMING ACTIONS AND EVENTS:
———————————————-
1) FOSSIL FOOLS DAY – NATIONAL, 1.4.08
2) LONDON RISING TIDE BENEFIT – LONDON, 11.1.08
3) NEWQUAY AIRPORT EXPANSION, PUBLIC DEBATE – CORNWALL, 12.1.08
4) RADICAL ACTION VS. CLIMATE CHAOS, NATIONAL MEET – NOTTINGHAM, 12.1.08
5) CLIMATE CAMP NATIONAL GATHERING – LEEDS, 26-27.1.08
6) BIOFUELWATCH WEEK OF ACTION – NATIONAL, 26.1.08 – 1.2.08
7) MANCHESTER CLIMATE FORUM – 1.3.08
8) DAY OF ACTION VS. GLOBAL AGRIBUSINESS – INTERNATIONAL, 26.1.08
9) LOW-IMPACT SMALLHOLDING – BUCKS, 11-13.1.08
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RECENT HAPPENINGS:
———————————————-
1) NEWQUAY AIRPORT ROOFTOP OCCUPATION – 15.12.07
2) SANTAS AGAINST EXCESSIVE CONSUMPTION – NORWICH & LONDON, 15.12.07
3) BRISTOL RISING TIDE TAKES ACTION VS. SHELL GREENWASH – DECEMBER 2007
4) SHELL TO SEA SCALE GOVERNMENT OFFICE – IRELAND, 19.12.07
5) NATIONAL CLIMATE CHANGE MARCH AND ACTIONS – 8.12.07
6) DUTCH COAL ACTION – 8.12.07
7) FLIGHT CENTRES SHUT FOR BUSINESS – MANCHESTER, 7.12.07
8) CHEADLE-HIGH-STREET AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE – DECEMBER 2007
9) SUBVERTISEMENTS IN LONDON AND MANCHESTER – DECEMBER 2007
10) WOMEN’S BLOCKADE OF DEPARTMENT FOR TRANSPORT – 7.12.07
11) THE TIDE IS RISING! – 7.12.07
12) CLIMATE ACTIVISTS STOP WORK AT COAL MINE – SOUTH WALES, 5.12.07
13) INTERNATIONAL RT HOAX TARGETS BIG CARBON – 3.12.07
14) HOMELESS POLAR BEARS IN COURT – BRISTOL, 14.11.07
15) KEEP OIL UNDERGROUND – DECEMBER 2007
16) SIZEWELL NUCLEAR CLIMATE ACTION – 1.12.07
17) MANIAC MOTORIST MARS MASS – GLASGOW, NOVEMBER 2007
18) VIVA’S ‘HOT!’ CAMPAIGN – DECEMBER 2007
19) WHAT BETTER TIME? – DECEMBER 2007
20) BATH BOMB, ISSUE 5 – DECEMBER 2007
21) PACIFIC CURRENTS – DECEMBER 2007
22) A HOUSE OF CARDS – DECEMBER 2007
23) SOUTH WEST AIR ACTION – DECEMBER 2007
24) RISING TIDE LEAMINGTON SPA – DECEMBER 2007
25) RISING TIDE ON YOU TUBE

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UPCOMING ACTIONS AND EVENTS:
———————————————-
1) FOSSIL FOOLS DAY – NATIONAL, 1.4.08
Just three months to go – are you out practising your routines? rehearsing your songs? building your props yet? I should get out more over Christmas…
However, it will soon be time to hatch your mischievous scheme, so get your friends round and start plotting!
http://www.fossilfoolsday.org/

2) LONDON RISING TIDE BENEFIT – LONDON, 11.1.08
In support of London Rising Tide, AMP is organising a night of live music at The Others, Manor Road, Stoke Newington. Entrance £5.
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=38074566

3) NEWQUAY AIRPORT EXPANSION, PUBLIC DEBATE – CORNWALL, 12.1.08
Organised by Rising Tide with speakers from Groundswell and Plane Stupid.
7pm St. Mawgan Community Hall, Nr. Newquay, Cornwall. For more info. email; kernow@risingtide.org.uk

4) RADICAL ACTION VS. CLIMATE CHAOS, NATIONAL MEET – NOTTINGHAM, 12.1.08
11am – 6pm at The Sumac Centre, 245 Gladstone Street, Forest Fields, Nottingham.
This meeting came out of the last Climate Camp gathering in November. It is focussed on growing our movement – how can we encourage more groups to form and more actions/campaigns to happen? What things do we want to do to help build a vibrant network of regional action groups doing actions locally and nationally?
For instruction on how to get there: http://www.veggies.org.uk/sumac/map.html
Also, 11 people are going to trial in Nottingham on Monday 14th for ‘shutting down’ the local coal power station, If anyone wants to stay to support them that would be great!

5) CLIMATE CAMP NATIONAL GATHERING – LEEDS, 26-27.1.08
The Climate Camp on its own didn’t stop climate change – but it’s part of a growing social movement that can! Come and take the next steps forward at the upcoming UK-wide meeting on Jan 26-27 in Leeds. Everyone is welcome, whether you came to the camp, or were simply inspired by it.
http://www.climatecamp.org.uk/nextmeeting.php

6) BIOFUELWATCH WEEK OF ACTION – NATIONAL, 26.1.08 – 1.2.08
Biofuelwatch are calling for a national week of local action on agrofuels between 26th January and 1st February 2008. We will shortly update our website to provide more background information about the UK agrofuel industry and policies, as well as a draft leaflet and other resources. If you would like to get involved or find out more, please email us at info[at]biofuelwatch.org.uk.
http://biofuelwatch.org.uk/

7) MANCHESTER CLIMATE FORUM – 1.3.08
Manchester Climate Forum “Climate Change: it’s time to prepare”
9.15am at the Methodist Hall, Oldham St, Central Manchester
http://www.manchesterclimateforum.org.uk/index.html

8) DAY OF ACTION VS. GLOBAL AGRIBUSINESS – INTERNATIONAL, 26.1.08
On January 26 self-organized groups from all around the world will take creative action in their community. This will manifest in many ways, from nonviolent direct action, civil disobedience, street theatre, convergences, teach-ins and other activities and events. Grassroots movements around the world are making their voices heard and saying “Another World is Possible”. In coordination with the World Social Forum.
http://www.risingtidenorthamerica.org/wordpress/category/front-page/

9) LOW-IMPACT SMALLHOLDING – BUCKS, 11-13.1.08
Next course by the Low-Impact Living Initiative;
http://www.lowimpact.org/courseoutlinelowimpactsmallholding.htm

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RECENT HAPPENINGS:
———————————————-
1) NEWQUAY AIRPORT ROOFTOP OCCUPATION – 15.12.07
For the recently formed Kernow and Plymouth Rising Tide groups, this action marked an escalation in their fight against climate change and for environmental justice. However the planned rooftop protest at Newquay airport was given an unlikely boost when builders at the airport left a ladder propped up!
http://risingtide.org.uk/node/248
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/7146159.stm

2) SANTAS AGAINST EXCESSIVE CONSUMPTION – NORWICH AND LONDON, 15.12.07
Subversive Singing Santas Spread Seasonal Sanity in London and Norwich On one of the busiest shopping days of the year. Rising Tide activists in both London and Norwich dressed up as Santas Against Excessive Consumption and hit the high streets to sing a different tune to the usual buy, buy,
buy madness of the holiday season.
http://risingtide.org.uk/node/247

3) BRISTOL RISING TIDE TAKES ACTION VS. SHELL GREENWASH – DECEMBER 2007
A series of actions is being taken against the organisers of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Award and Bristol Museum, in protest at the sponsorship of the event by Shell. A grumpy polar bear visited the offices of BBC Wildlife magazine, then activists disrupted Bristol Museum’s posh reception to kick off the exhibition with a Yes Men-style intervention. And on the opening morning, dozens of humans, polar bears, a snow leopard and a tiger gathered (complete with the Shell’s Wild Lie counter-exhibition) in front of the museum. They handed out leaflets and created quite a spectacle. Protests are expected to continue through Jan. 13th.
http://risingtide.org.uk/bristol

4) SHELL TO SEA SCALE GOVERNMENT OFFICE – IRELAND, 19.12.07
A special prayer and carol service was held on 16th December at Bellanaboy, County Mayo, marking the end of another year of community struggle against Shell’s proposed raw gas pipeline and inland refinery.
On the 19th, a small group of Shell to Sea activists scaled the heights of the Department of Natural Resources to place a banner reading PROTECT IRISH NATURAL RESOURCES on the balcony outside Eamon Ryan’s office.
http://earthfirst.org.uk/actionreports/node/17942
http://www.corribsos.com/

5) NATIONAL CLIMATE CHANGE MARCH AND ACTIONS – 8.12.07
Over 10,000 climate campaigners took to the streets to take part in marches in London and Glasgow over the weekend, despite pouring rain. Protesters braved the weather in one the biggest demonstrations calling for climate justice the UK has ever seen.
http://www.campaigncc.org/
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/12/387497.html
Environmental activists from direct action group Plane Stupid shut down travel agents and airline offices along the route of the Climate March in London.
http://www.planestupid.com/
Meanwhile, in Manchester airline billboards advertising cheap flights to European cities were subverted.

6) DUTCH COAL ACTION – 8.12.07
A collective of twenty Dutch EarthFirst! activists blocked the coal conveyor- belt to a plant owned by the German energy giant E.on on the Maasvlakte near Rotterdam.
http://earthfirst.org.uk/actionreports/node/17893

7) FLIGHT CENTRES SHUT FOR BUSINESS – MANCHESTER, 7.12.07
All Flight Centre branches in Manchester city centre were super-glued shut in time for Saturday trading and to coincide with the climate march in London. They were pasted with notices saying: “Closed – we want your kids to have a planet” The UK’s only Hummer dealership, Bauer Millett, was also D-locked shut.
http://earthfirst.org.uk/actionreports/node/17887

8) CHEADLE-HIGH-STREET AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE – DECEMBER 2007
Activists from Cheadle-High-Street Against Climate Change held a “A planet is not just for Xmas” campaign for a sustainable Xmas.
http://earthfirst.org.uk/actionreports/node/17917

9) SUBVERTISEMENTS IN LONDON AND MANCHESTER – DECEMBER 2007
Two adverts promoting DVD’s by Top Gear’s Jeremy Clarkson now have large stickers stuck on declaring “This causes climate change”. Also, FlyBe appears to have spotted the errors of their ways and cancelled their short-haul summer routes. Bravo FlyBe!
http://earthfirst.org.uk/actionreports/node/17937

10) WOMEN’S BLOCKADE OF DEPARTMENT FOR TRANSPORT – 7.12.07
Women climate activists blockaded the Department for Transport preventing staff from getting to work and carrying out their policies which are catapulting us towards dangerous run-away climate change. This action comes in response to the Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly confirming the government’s intentions to build a third runway and a sixth terminal at Heathrow and coincides with the opening of their first “consultation”.
http://earthfirst.org.uk/actionreports/node/17883

11) THE TIDE IS RISING! – 7.12.07
A banner with this warning/statement was dropped to welcome all those entering the city of Manchester on the Princess parkway.
http://earthfirst.org.uk/actionreports/node/17886

12) CLIMATE ACTIVISTS STOP WORK AT COAL MINE – SOUTH WALES, 5.12.07
More than thirty climate activists, including members of the Rising Tide network, joined with local residents from Merthyr Tydfil in stopping excavation work for a full day on Britain’s biggest ever open-cast coal mine at Ffos-y-fran in South Wales. Activists evaded police and security before taking over the 1,000 acre site on a hilltop near Cardiff. Dressed as clowns and polar bears, they chained themselves to bulldozers and other heavy machinery to prevent work on the mine.
http://risingtide.org.uk/node/242

13) INTERNATIONAL RT HOAX TARGETS BIG CARBON – 3.12.07
Climate activists with the international Rising Tide network embarrassed the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), a lobby group composed of 33 prominent businesses and organizations, by distributing a spoof press release declaring that the consortium’s members had committed to a 90
percent reduction in their greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. In addition, the spoof release called for an immediate moratorium on the construction of all new coal-fired power plants.
http://risingtide.org.uk/node/240
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2007/dec/03/oil.bp

14) HOMELESS POLAR BEARS IN COURT – BRISTOL, 14.11.07
Four homeless polar bears appeared before Bristol Magistrates Court on 14th November. They were arrested after blockading the Royal Bank of Scotland corporate offices on Avon St. during the Rising Tide national day of action. After pleading guilty to charges of “wilfully obstructing the public highway with a non motor vehicle” (i.e. a suit case) they were given a conditional discharge and went on to picket the RBS branch on Baldwin Street!
http://risingtide.org.uk/node/243

15) KEEP OIL UNDERGROUND – DECEMBER 2007
The only way to fight climate change. A new report by OilWatch.
http://www.oilwatch.org/doc/documentos/Keep_oil_underground.pdf
http://www.oilwatch.org/

16) SIZEWELL NUCLEAR CLIMATE ACTION – 1.12.07
What else would you do at this time in the morning at a nuclear power station, other than lay on the road, lock yourselves together, unfurl your banner reading “nuclear power is not the answer to climate chaos” and wait 15 minutes for the security to notice you.
http://earthfirst.org.uk/actionreports/node/17868

17) MANIAC MOTORIST MARS MASS – GLASGOW, NOVEMBER 2007
Unburdened with festive spirit, a middle-aged woman leant out of her car and pulled a cyclist off his bike.
http://earthfirst.org.uk/actionreports/node/17889

18) VIVA’S ‘HOT!’ CAMPAIGN – DECEMBER 2007
“Livestock’s contribution to environmental problems is on a massive scale. The impact is so significant that it needs to be addressed with urgency.” United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation 2006
find out more at
http://www.viva.org.uk/campaigns/hot/index.php

19) WHAT BETTER TIME? – DECEMBER 2007
A free news sheet from the Scottish Climate Activist Network.
http://whatbettertime.livejournal.com/

20) BATH BOMB, ISSUE 5 – DECEMBER 2007
Christmas edition of the monthly Bathonian rabblerousiness.
http://earthfirst.org.uk/actionreports/node/17905

21) PACIFIC CURRENTS – DECEMBER 2007
For updates on the work of Pacific Environment, a non-profit organisation that protects the Pacific Rim’s wild places and wildlife, see;
http://www.pacificenvironment.org/article.php?id=2658

22) A HOUSE OF CARDS – DECEMBER 2007
From fantasy finance to global crash.
Your guide to understanding the crisis that is sweeping through the global financial system and what it means for ordinary people.
Endorsed by Kevin Smith of Carbon Trade Watch and filmmaker Ken Loach.
http://www.aworldtowin.net/about/HouseOfCards.html

23) SOUTH WEST AIR ACTION – DECEMBER 2007
A new website.
http://www.swairaction.org.uk/

24) RISING TIDE LEAMINGTON SPA is born – DECEMBER 2007
The group had its first meeting on 3rd January and is now swinging into action. If you live in the area and want to find out more or get involved contact becqke@riseup.net

25) RISING TIDE ON YOU TUBE
Rising Tide action footage has been springing up all over youtube – check out http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=RisingTideNetwork for some RT films, some of the latest actions and links to other’s videos of RT actions.

———-

Please send anything you’d like included in this news sheet to:
newssheet@risingtide.org.uk

To view previous editions of the Rising Tide News Sheet, visit the News Sheet Archive at http://risingtide.org.uk/newssheet

This News Sheet was brought to you by Rising Tide, a grassroots network of groups and individuals committed to taking action and building a movement against climate change.

For more information…
email: info@risingtide.org.uk
Phone: +44 (0)845 458 8923 / +44 (0)7708 794665
Address: 62 Fieldgate St, London, E1 1ES
Web site: http://risingtide.org.uk

PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO A FRIEND AND INVITE THEM TO JOIN THE LIST

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END

last tree in Bonn square Oxford occupied, eviction expected at dawn, friday – update

4.01.2008

The last tree left in Bonn square is being occupied in attempt to save it – please get support down there

4.01.2008

The last tree left in Bonn square is being occupied in attempt to save it – please get support down there

apparently the tree is over 100 years old, and there is a preservation order on the memorial to the tirah campaign in afghanistan, but not on the trees which are old and significant also.

If anyone can get media or support down there urgently please

The youtube version for online viewing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5kGNDlOyN0

Full rez for screening
http://blip.tv/file/get/Undercurrents-OxfordTree616.mp4

You can get more videos like this from http://visionontv.net
—

eviction now expected Mon am

Text messages from the Bonn Square tree protest say that eviction is expected tomorrow morning, around 8 or 9am.

If you are free, please go along and support 🙂

—

10.01.2008

Today ten protesters turned up to resist the removal of beautiful, mature London Plains trees behind the Westgate Shopping Centre in Oxford city centre.

These trees, along with sheltered housing, and – I was told by a group of young people – the Oxford and Cherwell Valley College students’ pub are being cleared to make way for a gargantuan cathedral to capitalism plus multi-storey car park. As one student sarcastically put it, “Yeah, ‘coz what we really need are more shops”.

Most people spent all day observing the goings-on of council employees and tree ‘surgeons’ and managed – albeit temporarily – to remove one guy rope from one of the trees along the west side of the Westgate car park.

However, this did not deter the Leisure and Parks people from beginning to remove the trees on the north side.

Once they started on the trees, emotions – which were already high – reached fever pitch. Councillor Deborah Glass Woodin was arrested for aggravated trespass (even though she didn’t quite manage to get into the fenced off area) and then held for 5 hours at St Aldates Cop Shop.

One other protester is spending tonight in the trees, braving the gale force winds; I feel slightly guilty for being inside on my laptop writing this report. If you can get down to the site to join him and others please do.

Bruce and friends (not the cops, mind) are on the corner of Norfolk Street, near Castle Street; around the back of the Westgate Centre near the multi-storey carpark. Map here:
http://openstreetmap.com/?mlat=51.75055&mlon=-1.2615&zoom=16

Video on YouTube ( http://youtube.com/watch?v=uXdLcAffXnE).

I counted the rings of the one of the first-felled trees, which you can see in the picture. It was nearly thirty years old; as old as I am.

—

10th: just heard that Bruce, who has been up one of the trees behind the Westgate shopping centre in Oxford, has finally come down. He spent over 24 hours up the tree – braving the freezing gales and lashing rain from last night and today.

He was joined this morning by a fellow protestor; pics from today’s protest to follow soon.

And worryingly, one of the photographers from the BNP protest in November was on site too. This time he said he was from ITN rather than local news.

Westgate protest continues; court on Monday
9.01.2008

Tree-sitters in Bonn Square (Oxford) opposing the massive expansion of the nearby Westgate shopping centre were served with a court summons today for an eviction hearing on Monday. More action is sorely needed.

Since last Thursday one of the large trees in Bonn Square has been occupied in an attempt to save it from the chainsaws. It is one of around 40 trees, including many large mature ones, in the Westgate area marked for destruction as part of the grotesque expansion of Oxford’s plastic consumerland.

More background on the Westgate scheme is here, amongst other places:
http://matthewsellwood.blogspot.com/2006/10/westgate.html

There have been several eviction rumours in the meantime, but the clearest clue came today when the protesters were served with court papers. Since the hearing is on Monday, any eviction before then would be illegal, and seems unlikely, particularly since the council can easily continue cutting down the other -unoccupied- trees in the meantime. In fact, work has already started on felling the other trees in the area.

If you want to help, or find out more, pop down to Bonn Square. They have a petition which they are asking people to sign and are collecting donations to cover basic costs. If you’re feeling particularly inspired, you could even organise a bunch of people you know to go and disrupt the tree cutting which is taking place right now. Or target the sterile shopping centres, corporate scumbags and corrupt local politicians that are pushing the scheme!

The Westgate Partnership are currently chainsawing trees to make way for the Westgate expansion (this is slightly different from the Bonn Square project, which is linked to the West End ‘regeneration’ but not part of the Westgate expansion per se). This is despite the fact that a public enquiry is still going on over the demolition of Abbey Place housing – a clear indication of what the developers think of the legal process….

—
9.01.2008

10am – trees being cut down in Paradise Square.

We’ve had a message that trees are being cut down now to make way for the new bloated Westgate shopping centre/temple to Mamon. If you can, get down there as soon as possible.

At the moment tree surgeons are at Paradise square, but probably won’t be for long. Maybe follow the sound of the chainsaws if they’re not there anymore.

—

Surrey Union Foxhunt – Caught Bloody Red Handed

Not 30 miles from the politicians in Westminster; the Surrey Union hunt chased a terrified fox along the A29 and around Ockley village green before ripping it apart on the cricket pitch. This was the reality in England on Saturday January 5th 2008 (3 years after hunting was banned)

What does it say about the law when the most piss-poor hunt in the country can hunt with impunity under the noses of the police and manage to kill a fox in full view of horrified villagers and motorists. Using the same hounds, continuing to hunt where they know they’ll find foxes, chasing them or putting them to ground, continuing to dig with terriers, they then expect you to believe this was an accident.

Anyone with any sense knows what is going on; it just needs you to do something about it. It’s not trendy or easy, but you can make a real difference – Join us and stop the killing NOW! http://hsa.enviroweb.org/features/joinleaf.html

HSA News Release 14th January 2008

Remember that hunting ban?

The Surrey Union foxhunt managed to kill yet again in public last Saturday 5th January. For the second year running they allowed their hounds to pursue and kill a fox in open view.

Last year it was after trespassing on a golf course at Newdigate.. This time it was in Ockley, Surrey. The hounds chased a fox into the middle of the village and caught and disembowelled it in the centre of the cricket pitch. The police eventually turned up after a 999 call and took a statement from a bystander who witnessed the horrific scenes as the animal was ripped apart by a full pack of hounds.

This happens almost every day the length and breadth of the country, but usually safely away from public scrutiny.

Hunt Saboteurs have to witness such scenes week in and week out, nearly three years after the Hunting Act came into force. Not surprisingly, foxhunts in England feel they are above the law. The Surrey police present in three vehicles on Saturday were miles away from the hounds when the fox was killed. The hunt packed up straight away, leaving the carcass in the village.

Based on the previous treatment of numerous submissions of video evidence, the police investigation will lack the gravitas and scrutiny it deserves.

Lee Moon, spokesman for the Hunt Saboteurs Association said: “Foxes are hunted and killed as if the ban never came into effect. By laying a trail through fox habitat, or having an owl in a box, the hunts can kill with impunity.

We have tried to let the law work, but with the police not interested, and a paltry number of cases brought to court, it has to be the time for a return to direct intervention; to no longer put up with the cosy relationship the hunts seem to have with the local constabularies; to make sure the wildlife of this country is safe from the barbarous practices of the past.

Animals are protected from hunts by law, but if the law won’t help them then hunt sabs will have to.”

All press enquiries 07779 580 544

http://hsa.enviroweb.org/hsa.shtml

Aldermaston bike ride March 2008

Bikes against the bomb!
Bike ride March 22nd-26th 2008

Bikes not bombs are planning a bike ride from London to Aldermaston Atomic Weapons Establishment and back again, as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations of the first Aldermaston march

Bikes against the bomb!
Bike ride March 22nd-26th 2008

Bikes not bombs are planning a bike ride from London to Aldermaston Atomic Weapons Establishment and back again, as part of the 50th anniversary celebrations of the first Aldermaston march

The bike ride is expected to take 4 days (22nd March – 26th March 2008). If you would be interested in attending, or even better, in helping to organise it, then please email info@bikesnotbombs.org.uk .

Fifty years on from the first Aldermaston march, anti-nuclear campaigners need to work quickly to halt the trident replacement. Aldermaston atomic weapons establishment is now building research facilities to build the next generation of nukes, despite this being illegal under the international non-proliferation treaty. Grab your bikes and come and help us stop them.

More than 5000 people are expected to attend the surround the base event at Aldermaston on the 24th March and we will form part of the bike block.

The bike ride will take an active role in anti-arms trade activities

The first organising meeting will be at the London Action Resource Centre (LARC) on January 26th, at 2 p.m.

For more info please contact info@bikesnotbombs.org.uk

For directions to LARC

62 Fieldgate Street, Whitechapel, London E1 1ES. http://www.remotegoat.co.uk/venue_view.php?uid=20591 for directions

http://www.bikesnotbombs.org.uk

National Squatters Meeting 9-10 February 2008 Leeds

So we are inviting people involved in all squatted autonomous spaces around the UK to meet and discuss the squatting situation and some preparation for the days of action in April.

So we are inviting people involved in all squatted autonomous spaces around the UK to meet and discuss the squatting situation and some preparation for the days of action in April. The idea for this meeting is inspired by the recent international meeting in Dijon.

Some of the ideas of what could be discussed at this meeting are…
• Building a stronger network between the squats/Autonomous spaces throughout the UK.
• Initial planning for the days of action.
• The repression and resistance facing Autonomous spaces in the UK.
• How we can make better use of Autonomous spaces in terms of connecting them to issues such as increased surveillance, housing problems, gentrification and the fundamental issue of who owns and controls our land, space and lives.
• The impact of non squatted Autonomous spaces on the squatting movement.
• Breaking out of the “squatting scene”.
• The impact of drugs on the movement.

This is just some ideas of what could come out of this meeting, obviously there is no set agenda as this is decentralized so we want to make a collective decision about what will be discussed at the start of the meeting.
We feel this could be a really positive weekend; we’d like to see loads of you there. We’ve chosen Leeds as a location even though not all of us live there, because although it might not feel like it to you down south but it’s a central location on this island!
Please get in touch if you’re gonna come along, our e-mail is below. It is important for us to know how many people to expect. Please also get in touch if you want help set up or get involved in any other way… Hope to see you all in February….

Squat Network
squatmeetup@googlemail.com

Fossil Fools Day, April 1st 2008

Rising Tide International is calling for a day of action against the fossil fuel industry on April 1st 2008…

Rising Tide International is calling for a day of action against the fossil fuel industry on April 1st 2008…
FOSSIL FOOLS DAY!

Roll up, roll up! The climate circus is in town. Climate change threatens our very survival, but the fools at the head of the fossil fuel empire continue to plunder the earth, with governments the willing court jesters at their side.

They would have us believe that we can escape climate change with techno-fixes, market mechanisms and offset schemes – all technocratic acrobatics that distract us from the truth: the only real solution to climate change is to keep fossil fuels in the ground.

For over a century the fossil fuel industry has been fooling with our lives. From extraction to combustion they have poisoned our air, polluted our water and ruined our climate. On April 1st, 2008, we’re going to turn the tables and show them who the real fools are.

Find a local fossil fool – the coal-mining clown, the offset contortionist, the aviator tripping on the high wire, the supermarket food mile freak show, the oily strong man, or any other fool that deserves your attention – and join with thousands around the world in taking one step closer to dismantling the fossil fuel industry.

On Fossil Fools Day, bring the spirit of carnival and mischief to the fight for climate justice.

www.fossilfoolsday.org
www.risingtide.org.uk

(More info and resources coming soon… for now, put the date in your diary, spread the call-out above far and wide, and start scheming!)

Totally Immoral – A Day of Action against Total Oil

The Total out of Burma Day of Action took place on Saturday 24 November. Protests were held at 36 Total petrol stations across the UK. Some stations were blockaded and all the protests received great support from the motoring and pedestrian public.

On Saturday 24 November, protests were held at 36 Total petrol stations across the UK. The protests called upon Total Oil to pull out of Burma and stop financing the Burmese military regime. Protest locations included Bradford, Brighton, Chatham (Kent), Cardiff, Guernsey, London, Manchester, Oxford and Virgina Water (Surrey).

Blockades occurred at some stations, with several lasting for an hour or more. In Camden, London 10 protestors blocked the York Way Total station for an hour, while 15 students in Surrey blockaded the Virginia Water petrol station for more than 2 hours. Throughout the UK the protests received support from motorists and pedestrians alike. Many drivers turned away from the petrol stations upon seeing the protests, some informing protestors that they would not to buy from Total again. At all the targetted petrol stations business was noticeably slow, and in some cases virtually non-existent, during the protests.

Paul Golding, one of the protestors, said, “Total’s investment in Burma is the largest in Europe. By paying millions of dollars to the Burmese dictatorship every year they are helping keep it in power. If the West wants to help end the oppression and ongoing human rights abuses in Burma, then quite simply, we must stop our companies from funding the oppressors.”

In London, protests took place at 14 Total petrol stations during the course of the day. The final protest in London attracted over 30 supporters and took place at the Baker Street petrol station on Marylebone Rd, NW1, from 4pm to 6pm. In Guernsey, campaigners protested at all 14 Total stations on the island, and picketed the main station on the island for 3 hours. [2]

The day of action was part of a growing global campaign calling on French oil company Total to stop funding the Burmese junta:

– Boycott: Last week, the global internet advocacy website Avaaz.org launched a global boycott of Total, as well as US oil company Chevron, for their presence in Burma – with nearly 50,000 signing up in ten days [3].
– Divestment: European pension funds withdrew almost £110m in investments from Total in a matter of days in protest at the company’s involvement in Burma. [4]
– Popular protests: Since October weekly protests have taken place in London outside Total Oil’s offices. Other spontaneous protests have occurred outside Total garages around the UK. [5]

Photos are available from http://www.flickr.com/photos/toastyoneuk

For more information & photos contact:
– Jonathan Stevenson on 07818 651124, jjjstevenson@fastmail.fm
– Paul Golding on 07984 799 958 or paul@pellarin.demon.co.uk

NOTES FOR EDITORS:

[1] Total Oil has had a joint business venture with the Burmese government since 1992. Its major project is the Yadana gas project in southern Burma, which earns the military regime hundreds of millions of dollars every year. Aung San Suu Kyi, Burma’s democracy leader, has said that “Total is the biggest supporter of the military regime in Burma.” For more information about Total Oil’s investment in Burma see the Burma Campaign UK website: http://www.burmacampaign.org.uk/total.php.

[2] A full list of protests on 24 November, plus further information about the campaign, can be found at: http://totaloutofburma.blogspot.com.

[3] See http://www.avaaz.org/en/burma_corporate/. Total’s products in the UK include its network of petrol stations, as well as such brands as Bostik (makers of Blu-tack) and Spontex cleaning products.

[4] See http://observer.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,,2204744,00.html

[5] For reports, see http://totaloutofburma.blogspot.com