BBC News - The man who turned his home into a public library
Thursday, 20 September 2012
Squatters successfully resist eviction from Hackney Squat | Demotix.com
Squatters successfully resist eviction from Hackney Squat | Demotix.com
Great pictures of a succesfull squat eviction resistance.There have been many evictions of residential squats in the last few weeks as well as a number of illegal evictions of non residential and commercial squats by police who are breaking the law.Squatting in non residential buildings is still legal.The resistance to this unjust and undemocratic law is building.Repeal the Laspo act.More info www.evictionresistance.blogspot.co.uk
Wednesday, 19 September 2012
Friern Barnet Community Library - Events
+++++++Friern Barnet Community Library+++++++
Friern Barnet Library has been reopened by activists and local volunteers and is open Monday-Saturday from 11am to 7pm. Your library is not just a place to borrow books - it is a community space which also offers a range of free activities for all.
Daily 11.00am – 1.00pm Coffee and chat mornings
Tuesday 6.30pm - 7.30pm Pilates
Wednesday 11.00am-1.00pm Make Friends With A Book
7.00pm - 8.15pm Yoga
Thursday 11.30am - 12.15pm Teddy Bears’ Picnic – stories and activities
7.00pm - 9.00pm Music night – open mic
Friday 4.00pm - 5.00pm French – beginners and advanced
Saturday 10.00am-12noon Chemistry Lesson – GCSE/A Level
7.00pm - 9pm Cabaret, poetry, music
Photo competition and exhibition
Theme: We love Friern Barnet Library!
Send your favourite photographs on the above theme. They could be photos from activities at the library over the last couple of weeks, the campaign and events over the last 18 months, or even fond photos from childhood! If we can get together a great selection and display the best in time for the next meeting with the council it would be fantastic to show off our beloved library and our people power! If you could get them to me digitally by email: emilymc2@wildmail.com or in person (just take in to the library) by 12noon Saturday 22nd, we can collect, judge the best and present the winners at the Monday action meeting.
Prize: Legendary status in Friern Barnet and maybe a bottle of something!
Get involved!
We need your help to save the library:
Bring more books: We need more books, especially for older children. We are also collecting toys, DVDs and CDs.
Sign up to the rota: the library will only be able to stay open if we have enough people to staff it. We need people to volunteer for two hour slots to check books in and out, accept donations, etc. If you can spare the time, please stop in at the library and sign up to the rota.
Make yourself heard: phone, email, text, tweet and visit Barnet Council and the media explaining why the library is important.
Spread the word: tell friends and neighbours about us.
Come and meet us: we have organising meetings each Monday at 6.00pm - 7.00pm and Saturday 1.00pm -2.00pm.
Friern Barnet Library has been reopened by activists and local volunteers and is open Monday-Saturday from 11am to 7pm. Your library is not just a place to borrow books - it is a community space which also offers a range of free activities for all.
Daily 11.00am – 1.00pm Coffee and chat mornings
Tuesday 6.30pm - 7.30pm Pilates
Wednesday 11.00am-1.00pm Make Friends With A Book
7.00pm - 8.15pm Yoga
Thursday 11.30am - 12.15pm Teddy Bears’ Picnic – stories and activities
7.00pm - 9.00pm Music night – open mic
Friday 4.00pm - 5.00pm French – beginners and advanced
Saturday 10.00am-12noon Chemistry Lesson – GCSE/A Level
7.00pm - 9pm Cabaret, poetry, music
Photo competition and exhibition
Theme: We love Friern Barnet Library!
Send your favourite photographs on the above theme. They could be photos from activities at the library over the last couple of weeks, the campaign and events over the last 18 months, or even fond photos from childhood! If we can get together a great selection and display the best in time for the next meeting with the council it would be fantastic to show off our beloved library and our people power! If you could get them to me digitally by email: emilymc2@wildmail.com or in person (just take in to the library) by 12noon Saturday 22nd, we can collect, judge the best and present the winners at the Monday action meeting.
Prize: Legendary status in Friern Barnet and maybe a bottle of something!
Get involved!
We need your help to save the library:
Bring more books: We need more books, especially for older children. We are also collecting toys, DVDs and CDs.
Sign up to the rota: the library will only be able to stay open if we have enough people to staff it. We need people to volunteer for two hour slots to check books in and out, accept donations, etc. If you can spare the time, please stop in at the library and sign up to the rota.
Make yourself heard: phone, email, text, tweet and visit Barnet Council and the media explaining why the library is important.
Spread the word: tell friends and neighbours about us.
Come and meet us: we have organising meetings each Monday at 6.00pm - 7.00pm and Saturday 1.00pm -2.00pm.
Squattastic Sun 23rd sept organising resistance to the new squat lawnetwork it
Squatastic sun 23sept at colorama, 52 lancaster st, SE1 0RY. 2pm-6pm, discussing off grid power sources and law change updates.http://squattastic.blogspot.co.uk/ more info near time network it viva the resistance
Squat wars eviction resistance
Resistance tomorrow 10 am at 63 dove row, hackney e2. County court bailiffs commercial building. Come tonite or early to help barricade, sleep over welcome. Bring all u friends and pass this on. Viva la resistance!
Squatters can occupy a part of society's architecture too | Pete Phoenix | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk
My article for Guardian Comment is free article which was heavily edited and part re-written by the guardian team,some of my original article explained some of the points in the comments section.There is already a law the Displaced Residential Occupier Law 1977 that can remove squatters immediately from an occupied residential home.You can only squat an empty building,abandoned and derelict are best as you generally get more time.
The " squatters took my home while i was on holiday/shopping story is a major media fabrication,that could be dealt with by the police immediately with the above law."
Squatters can occupy a part of society's architecture too | Pete Phoenix | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk
Legal update on National Trust Runnymede court case. by True Levellers
Today a handful of villagers from Runnymede eco-village achieved a small victory for the freedom to assemble in Slough County Court. The case related tothe National Trust site at Runnymede: the historic location where the Magna Carta was sealed by King John in 1215. Runnymede is a place associated with ideas such as: freedom through law, limitations on authority and democracy. The judge decided to remove ‘Persons Unknown’ (meaning it could apply to anyone) from an application for an injunction which would cover over 200 football pitches around the Magna Carta monument and apply to anyone the National Trust deemed to be: ‘trespassing’.
More info www.diggers2012.wordpress.com
Tuesday, 18 September 2012
Save the library Rob the Rub acoustic maestro tonight
Rob the rub come back gig tonight at 7-9 pm tonight at the occupied Barnet library friern Barnet rd n11 3ds Arnos grove tube network it , check out Fb group friern Barnet library occupied and liberated
Victory in court for Barnet community library
Victory for the people of Barnet and library lovers everywhere as judge in a packed courtroom adjourns the case for 3 weeks or more.the crowd erupted in jubilant celebration as Barnet council lawyers were left speechless, as the judge gave more time for a defence to be prepared, thus giving more time for negotiations for a community library to come to a successfull conclusion , more info soon.
Saturday, 15 September 2012
Forest party 29 th September
HaKuNa MaTaTa
"Full Moon Forest Adventure"
Sat 29th September
In a ENCHANTED FOREST!
PsyTrance/ Prog / Chill out
HUTTI HEITA / LOKE / EVP & Lots more.
+ Chill out
+ Forest Camping
+ 5 Decor crews
+ Full Lighting & Lasers show
+Chai/Coffee Hut
07583146401
07583146850
Send it to your friends! :-)
"Full Moon Forest Adventure"
Sat 29th September
In a ENCHANTED FOREST!
PsyTrance/ Prog / Chill out
HUTTI HEITA / LOKE / EVP & Lots more.
+ Chill out
+ Forest Camping
+ 5 Decor crews
+ Full Lighting & Lasers show
+Chai/Coffee Hut
07583146401
07583146850
Send it to your friends! :-)
Friday, 14 September 2012
#S17 Solidarity From the Global South: Stop Financial Speculation on Food and Climate
The fight of Occupy Wall Street is the struggle of all movements in the world. Finance capital, that created the crisis in 2008, has increased its power instead of being disciplined. At present, world GDP is 64 trillion US dollars while the derivatives market reached the incredible figure of 1,500 trillion US dollars in 2011. The speculative economy is 250 times larger than the real economy of the world. Now banks and Transnational corporations (TNCs) are moving to speculate on the impacts of the climate and environmental crises that the capitalist system has created. Prices of food are beginning to climb again because of climate change and speculation in a world where 1 billion people already suffer from hunger. The banks and TNCs like Cargill, Wal-Mart, Monsanto are seeing this situation as a new opportunity to make profits through food derivatives, natural resource grabbing, GMOs, agro-fuels, free trade agreements, structural adjustments, austerity plans and other mechanisms to increase the privileges of the 1% at the expenses of the 99% of the world and at tremendous cost to our Mother Earth.
From 15 to 17th of September, in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street, we will raise our voices and promote actions to ban derivatives in food, dismantle the power of the banks and TNCs, stop the privatization of water and public services, cancel the illegitimate debts that are strangling our sisters and brothers in Europe, achieve deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions and restore a life in harmony with nature.
Bangkok, August 31, 2012
SIGNED:
All Nepal's Peasants' Federation
Alliance of Progressive Labor, Philippines
Aniban ng Manggagawa sa Agrikultura (AMA-Pilipinas)
Assembly of the Poor, Thailand
ATTAC France
ATTAC Japan
Bangladesh Kishani Sabha
Bangladesh Krishok Federation
Bhartiya Kisan Union, BKU, India
Focus on the Global South
FTA Watch, Thailand
Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives
Global Forest Coalition
Indonesian Civil Society Forum for Climate Justice
Indonesian Political Economy Association
Jubilee South-Asia Pacific Movement on Debt and Development
Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha, India
KIARA (The People's Coalition for Fisheries Justice), Indonesia
Kilusang Mangingisda (Fisherfolk Movement), Philippines
Koalisi Anti Utang (Anti Debt Coalition) Indonesia
KRuHA (People's coalition for the right to water), Indonesia
La Via Campesina
Mindanao Peoples' Peace Movement
Migrant Forum in Asia
MONLAR, Sri Lanka
NOUMINREN, Japan
Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement
Polaris Institute, Canada
SBI (Indonesia Labor Union)
Serikat Petani Indonesia (Indonesian Peasant Union)
SMI (Suluh Muda Indonesia) Sumut
SNI (Indonesia Fisherfolk Union)
Solidarity Workshop, Bangladesh
South Indian Coordination Committee of Farmers Movements
Thai Working Group for Climate Justice (TCJ)
To send your own messages of solidarity, news or pictures of your actions, please email: owsrevtalks@gmail.com
Thursday, 13 September 2012
Wednesday, 12 September 2012
Squatters 'to reopen London library closed in council cuts' - London - News - Evening Standard
Squatters 'to reopen London library closed in council cuts' - London - News - Evening Standard
Wow unbelievable a semi positive squatter story from the Evil Standard that spent the last year calling squatters home wreckers,invaders,home stealers,drug induced crazed,eastern european gypsy gangs.Who take your home when your on holiday.(in fact a BIG LIE as the Displaced Residential Occupier law 1977 already protects homeowners .You can only squat an empty building.
NB Squatting in non residential/commercial buildings is still LEGAL.
This may be the first article on squatting, since the law they helped to create came in.
Laws created by corporations and the media are not democratic.Its called corporatocracy....which has another name fascism.
Repeal the Laspo act dont criminalise the homeless.Save our Libraries.
Diggers 2012 camp Runymede in court Thurs 13th Sept
This Earth divided we will make whole, so it can be a common treasury for all.
Featured
Freedom under law at Runnymede?
by True Levellers
Diggers2012 and ‘Persons Unknown’ (meaning anyone in the known universe) have been served with court papers. Despite the fact that there are no tents, structures or other items on their land, The National Trust is seeking an order for possession and an injunction prohibiting trespassing from a large area of land (over 200 acres) including parts of the ‘Runnymede’ and ‘Ankerwycke’ Estates (which is managed by the National Trust). The case will be heard in Slough County Court this Thursday, 13th September at 12 Noon.
The powers that be want to discourage any peoples commemoration of the Magna Carta,especially as the rights of Habeus Corpus are being dismantled in the USA and here.
More info http://diggers2012.wordpress.com/
Reply to some of the comments in the Guardian article below.
Hi fully appreciate many of the comments above especially Rosie Canning and Ginger girl.
We have been occupying disused buildings for over 20 years to create community projects,all we can do is buy some time with direct action,so that local people can force the council to carry out its responsibilities.We are all paying for the bankers crisis and illegal foreign wars,with our public services.
Squatters are human beings who could be any of you,your chidren or cousin fallen on hard times,made redundant then out on the street.The govt last week pushed some final stages of the enclosure acts.They are now prepared they state in a recent report to round up an imprison 4,200 people per year,for the new crime of sheltering in an empty/abandoned residential building.This is Tyrrany.
There has been 1 year of propaganda and media fabricated lies to bring in this law.To bring in extreme laws the groundwork of creating scape goats and hated groups must be laid.
You can only squat an empty building.The 1977 Displaced residential Occupier law meant the police could arrest people immediately for squatting someones home.Yet MPs (Mike Freer MP for Barnet) and Govt ministers Grant Schapps lied continually to bring in this law. A law that is already causing much suffering as people wait for their doors to be kicked in in dawn raids,on abandoned properties that some have used for months or years.
The government is trying to force many onto the housing benefit system,raising rents and property prices,for their property developer friends.Who donated 3million to Tory party funds in the last 3 yeras.
Public libraries are a public resource a community centre,there is no way a voluntary system can replace the wealth of facilities provided by a properly funded library.Which the councils have a statutory obligation to run.The community librarian is the angle the journalist wanted to write it was not my words.
We need to reclaim our community spaces from this government of millionaires.Repeal the Laspo act that criminalises the homeless in a housing crisis.Take the money back from the banks and corporations and put it into our public services.Note well the people of iceland removed their government,put bankers and the government ministers in prison and wrote of their illegally created debt.Then created a new much more democratic constitution.
All are welcome at the Barnet Library to plan how we can save this vital community resource and work towards a better future.next monday 10 am we have a meeting with the council in the library and 6pm the same day we have a community organising meeting,to work on how we run the library in the interim period.Together we can win a small victory in a long campaign.
We have been occupying disused buildings for over 20 years to create community projects,all we can do is buy some time with direct action,so that local people can force the council to carry out its responsibilities.We are all paying for the bankers crisis and illegal foreign wars,with our public services.
Squatters are human beings who could be any of you,your chidren or cousin fallen on hard times,made redundant then out on the street.The govt last week pushed some final stages of the enclosure acts.They are now prepared they state in a recent report to round up an imprison 4,200 people per year,for the new crime of sheltering in an empty/abandoned residential building.This is Tyrrany.
There has been 1 year of propaganda and media fabricated lies to bring in this law.To bring in extreme laws the groundwork of creating scape goats and hated groups must be laid.
You can only squat an empty building.The 1977 Displaced residential Occupier law meant the police could arrest people immediately for squatting someones home.Yet MPs (Mike Freer MP for Barnet) and Govt ministers Grant Schapps lied continually to bring in this law. A law that is already causing much suffering as people wait for their doors to be kicked in in dawn raids,on abandoned properties that some have used for months or years.
The government is trying to force many onto the housing benefit system,raising rents and property prices,for their property developer friends.Who donated 3million to Tory party funds in the last 3 yeras.
Public libraries are a public resource a community centre,there is no way a voluntary system can replace the wealth of facilities provided by a properly funded library.Which the councils have a statutory obligation to run.The community librarian is the angle the journalist wanted to write it was not my words.
We need to reclaim our community spaces from this government of millionaires.Repeal the Laspo act that criminalises the homeless in a housing crisis.Take the money back from the banks and corporations and put it into our public services.Note well the people of iceland removed their government,put bankers and the government ministers in prison and wrote of their illegally created debt.Then created a new much more democratic constitution.
All are welcome at the Barnet Library to plan how we can save this vital community resource and work towards a better future.next monday 10 am we have a meeting with the council in the library and 6pm the same day we have a community organising meeting,to work on how we run the library in the interim period.Together we can win a small victory in a long campaign.
Tuesday, 11 September 2012
Squatters reopen Friern Barnet library after council closes service | Books | The Guardian
Squatters reopen Friern Barnet library after council closes service | Books | The Guardian
Article at http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/video/2012/sep/11/squatters-barnet-library-council-video
Article at http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/video/2012/sep/11/squatters-barnet-library-council-video
Monday, 10 September 2012
When Injustice becomes Law Resistance Becomes Duty
When Injustice becomes Law Resistance Becomes Duty.
Repeal The Laspo Act. Criminalising the Homeless in a housing crisis.
Removing our legal Aid system.Legal representation only for the Rich.
When Injustice becomes Law Resistance Becomes Duty.
Diggers 2012 camp Runnymede in court National Trust try to injuct everyone away from Magna Carta
http://diggers2012.wordpress.com/
This Earth divided we will make whole, so it can be a common treasury for all.
Freedom under law at Runnymede?
by True Levellers
Diggers2012 and ‘Persons Unknown’ (meaning anyone in the known universe) have been served with court papers. Despite the fact that there are no tents, structures or other items on their land, The National Trust is seeking an order for possession and an injunction prohibiting trespassing from a large area of land (over 200 acres) including parts of the ‘Runnymede’ and ‘Ankerwycke’ Estates (which is managed by the National Trust). The case will be heard in Slough County Court this Thursday, 13th September at 12 Noon.
We currently have no tents or structures on any National Trust land. Our Eco-village is situated on the disused land on the ex-Brunel university Runnymede campus owned by a private housing developer. As such the possession order requiring vacant possession of the land where the NT claim seems pointless. We have no tents on the piece of land that the NT are referring to. What carries greater ramifications is the fact that the NT are also requesting a ‘perpetual final injunction’ (meaning forever) to prevent Diggers2012 and ‘Persons Unknown’ from ‘trespassing further on the Runnymede Estate and the National Trust’s land at Ankerwycke’. The Runnymede Estate is home to the Magna Carta monument, marking the sealing of the Magna Carta in 1215. Consequently Runnymede is regarded as the birthplace of modern democracy. If granted this injunction would allow the National Trust to use ‘reasonable force’ to remove anyone deemed to be trespassing on or around the historic site of the Magna Carta. This is ironic when considering the association of this location with ideals of democracy, limitation of power, equality and freedom under law.
One reason the witness on behalf of the NT gives for requesting an injunction concerns an extract from our website from minutes of a ‘Diggers discussion’ that took place at the Magna Carta Memorial on Saturday 30th June 2012 (page viewable here). The witness statement states: ”On their website, the Defendants have set out plans for a three year occupation campaign to mark the 800th anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta.” What the minutes actually said was: ”strategic planning to build over the next three years towards 2015 and creating a massive event for the 800th anniversary of the Magna Carta (which has inspired ‘democracy’ and civil rights across the world).” This was an idea to create a grass roots gathering at the Runnymede site in 2015 to celebrate the idea of freedom and civil liberties. It contained no specific reference to use of tents or occupation.
One only has to glimpse at the website setup by the Magna Carta Trustto see that the authorities wish to shape the commemoration of the sealing of the Magna Carta in their image. The website states: ”The 800th anniversary of the sealing af Magna Carta will be a commemoration of national and international significance… a large number of high-profile events are being planned.” Last year it was announced the Queen has agreed to become patron of the Magna Carta Trust for the commemoration of the 800th anniversary of the sealing of the Magna Carta at Runnymede on 15th June 2015. Perhaps the prospect of a rabble of common people turning up at the same time as dignitaries to commemorate the same event has irked the authorities and lead to this legal action. Whatever the reason, the effect of such an injunction if authorized will be to grant the National Trust the power to forcibly remove anyone who they do not want on the land at Runnymede forever.
In the Magna Carta Lecture which took place this year at Royal Holloway University, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, defined law as ”as all those protocols that stop society being run exclusively in the interests of whatever group happens to be dominant at any
moment, and that thus guarantee fairness and redress independently of status or power.” Here in Runnymede, where the notion of modern law, justice and equality are said to have sprung from, you could be forgiven for thinking that the law may reflect Rowan William’s definition. And yet the reverse appears to be true. Instead we find a minority of land owning elites hold almost total power of over access to the thing whose life we all depend on: the land.
Those of us here at Runnymede Eco-Village have become quite used to breaking the laws as a by-product of simply trying to live on disused land in a low impact and harmless way. We will carry on doing what we think is just as the primary guide over and above these laws. Stay tuned 8)
Friern Barnet Library reopens as negotiations between Barnet Council and squatters continue
http://www.times-series.co.uk/news/topstories/9920275.Library_reopens_as_negotiations_with_squatters_continue/
Friern Barnet Library was reopened to an “ecstatic” public on Saturday by a group of squatters looking to reclaim the facility for the community.
Barnet Council closed the Friern Barnet Road library in April but last week a team of activists broke in and began demanding the building be reopened.
On Saturday, more than 400 books were placed back on the library shelves as up to 50 people visited between 11am and 3pm.
The buildings inhabitants say they plan to open for at least three days a week.
Newsflash Council offer Squatters buildings Friern Barnet Library Occupation
Press release
News Flash Squatters have occupied Friern Barnet library and have been offered another building by Barnet council.
Why can't we see more reasonable solutions such as this for some of the million empty buildings in the UK to be used to create homes,employment and community projects,rather than the recently brought in criminalisation of homeless people.
This library occupation was a direct result of the new anti squatting Laspo act which criminalises homeless people who shelter in empty residential homes. NB Squatting in non residential buildings is still legal.
This Ground breaking arrangements with a council where common-sense prevails and buildings are offered to community squatting groups and the local community are the way forward rather than criminalisation of the homeless in a housing crisis.
Today a meeting was held between Barnet council ,community squatters who have occupied Friern Barnet Library and about 30 local residents including local bloggers and save the library groups. There is a massive amount of local support to save the library and re-open it. In fact it is being put forward to a vote by the Labour councillors to the Tory council with a vote on Tues evening.
Last Wednesday 5th Sept. morning a group of squatters occupied the hotly contested Friern Barnet library. The council proceeded to come the very next day and offer them use of Friary Park house as a community library. Following negotiations with the council and an exchange of emails a meeting was arranged for Monday 10th Sept. 10 AM.
This meeting was well facilitated and created much needed dialogue across council and local people, a further meeting was agreed with council representatives and the concerned citizens next Monday 17th Sept at 10 AM
The community squatters continue to call for books and people to fill out the rota and have begun to get the library open again.
Much to the great joy of many members of the local community who are regularly visiting offering support and donations
The recent BBC news items on community run libraries in Surrey and also the laureate who has written to the culture minister about urgent need for libraries,
make this along with the new Squatting law a hot story especially as a cooperative model is being developed between council squatters and concerned local groups.
Rather than criminalisation this Draconian new law is undemocratic un just ,unfair and unworkable.
Estimated to cost up to £790 million over the next five years when the government aims to save £350 million with the Laspo bill,which removes most peoples entitlement to legal aid and criminalising what has always been a civil matter.
Mike Freer MP who was one of the main architects of this new law criminalising the homeless is the representative for Barnet.
It seems ironic that as a direct result of him pushing to criminalise sheltering in abandoned derelict buildings that this library has been occupied and now will become a flagship cooperation model between squatters and councils. We hope this leads to more solutions rather than unnecessary criminalisation.
We call for the repeal of the Laspo act.
Article links
http://www.times-series.co.uk/news/topstories/9920275.Library_reopens_as_negotiations_with_squatters_continue/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-surrey-18976002 Surrey Volunteer Library plan
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-19515702#.UEyIYQjNoCM.
https://sites.google.com/site/savefriernbarnetlibrary/
www.Squashcampaign.org
Advisory service for squatters :Squatter.org.uk
EvictionResistance.blogspot.co.uk
For more info contact squash campaign press 0715516105 or phoenix on 07769 791387
News Flash Squatters have occupied Friern Barnet library and have been offered another building by Barnet council.
Why can't we see more reasonable solutions such as this for some of the million empty buildings in the UK to be used to create homes,employment and community projects,rather than the recently brought in criminalisation of homeless people.
This library occupation was a direct result of the new anti squatting Laspo act which criminalises homeless people who shelter in empty residential homes. NB Squatting in non residential buildings is still legal.
This Ground breaking arrangements with a council where common-sense prevails and buildings are offered to community squatting groups and the local community are the way forward rather than criminalisation of the homeless in a housing crisis.
Today a meeting was held between Barnet council ,community squatters who have occupied Friern Barnet Library and about 30 local residents including local bloggers and save the library groups. There is a massive amount of local support to save the library and re-open it. In fact it is being put forward to a vote by the Labour councillors to the Tory council with a vote on Tues evening.
Last Wednesday 5th Sept. morning a group of squatters occupied the hotly contested Friern Barnet library. The council proceeded to come the very next day and offer them use of Friary Park house as a community library. Following negotiations with the council and an exchange of emails a meeting was arranged for Monday 10th Sept. 10 AM.
This meeting was well facilitated and created much needed dialogue across council and local people, a further meeting was agreed with council representatives and the concerned citizens next Monday 17th Sept at 10 AM
The community squatters continue to call for books and people to fill out the rota and have begun to get the library open again.
Much to the great joy of many members of the local community who are regularly visiting offering support and donations
The recent BBC news items on community run libraries in Surrey and also the laureate who has written to the culture minister about urgent need for libraries,
make this along with the new Squatting law a hot story especially as a cooperative model is being developed between council squatters and concerned local groups.
Rather than criminalisation this Draconian new law is undemocratic un just ,unfair and unworkable.
Estimated to cost up to £790 million over the next five years when the government aims to save £350 million with the Laspo bill,which removes most peoples entitlement to legal aid and criminalising what has always been a civil matter.
Mike Freer MP who was one of the main architects of this new law criminalising the homeless is the representative for Barnet.
It seems ironic that as a direct result of him pushing to criminalise sheltering in abandoned derelict buildings that this library has been occupied and now will become a flagship cooperation model between squatters and councils. We hope this leads to more solutions rather than unnecessary criminalisation.
We call for the repeal of the Laspo act.
Article links
http://www.times-series.co.uk/news/topstories/9920275.Library_reopens_as_negotiations_with_squatters_continue/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-surrey-18976002 Surrey Volunteer Library plan
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-19515702#.UEyIYQjNoCM.
https://sites.google.com/site/savefriernbarnetlibrary/
www.Squashcampaign.org
Advisory service for squatters :Squatter.org.uk
EvictionResistance.blogspot.co.uk
For more info contact squash campaign press 0715516105 or phoenix on 07769 791387
Occupied Justice: Mock trial mocks judiciary - YouTube
Occupied Justice: Mock trial mocks judiciary - YouTube
Awesome show by Invisible Circus at the Occupied Court House Hackney
Sunday, 9 September 2012
Saturday, 8 September 2012
Spiritual sunday
Spiritual Sunday! Kick boxing, thai massage, laughter yoga, yummy lunch, some sort of meditation/tai chi tbc, gong ceremony! With gongs! Noon till eight this Sunday at no. 1 Rochester Square, NW19SD
Friday, 7 September 2012
Friern Barnet Library Occupied! Re opens Sat 8th 11am-3pm bring books
http://www.schnews.org.uk/stories/Brought-to-Book/
A North London library closed by council cuts has been re-opened... by squatters. Closed by Barnet council back in April after an eighteen month wrangle Friern Barnet library will open its doors again on Saturday (8th) between 11 and 3. Since the library closed local campaigners have been staging 'pop up' libraries on the village green outside.
SchNEWS spoke to long term local campaigner Rosie Canning - “I don't see them as squatters I see them as library occupants. We're willing to work with Barnet Council to re-open the library. Unfortunately we think that the reason they want to close this and another library in North Finchley is so that both buildings can be sold to developers. The alternative they are offering us is temporary library in the Arts Depot building a mile and a half away.
“The important thing to realise is that this is a purpose built library and an important building for the community. There is huge community support we had thousands who signed the petition to keep it open. The library is a hub and is integrated with local schools that are within walking distance.”
Council officials have offered the squatters alternative accomodation in the nearby Friary Park House, prompting one to remark “It's a shame more squatting disputes can't be resolved like this, instead of trying to bang us all up”
Thursday, 6 September 2012
Eviction alert friday
Chicken Stoppers to be evicted tomorrow, friday, with new law, come show solidarity, 10am, 164 -166 sandringham road e8 next to cost cutters
Squat culture open studio
Hauntedmansion 29avenue road nw8 6bs. Open studios. Art exibition and live music. Saturday 8th of september from 14:00 till eviction
Hear the call,ya basta
Hear the call,ya basta uprising times,how can you stand by and watch them arrest and imprison the homless and squatters,if not now when if not you who,stand up and be counted.
Origin UK.net - Serving London & the world with Drum and Bass, Old Skool, Acid, Hardcore & Jungle//
// Origin UK.net - Serving London & the world with Drum and Bass, Old Skool, Acid, Hardcore & Jungle//
Wednesday, 5 September 2012
Eviction alert calling all squat supporter
24 grays inn road near chancery lane is resisting eviction tomorrow at 8:30am. It's home to 40 people with nowhere else to go. we will fight hard but more people are needed. Large crowd on the main road could provide a much needed big victory for squatters. There is sleeping space for people who want to stay the night and help with barricades.network it
Catalonia rising #11s2012 #barcelona #freedom
@GlobalRevLive #spain Catalonia massive demonstration claiming for independence set on #11s2012 in #Barcelona @OccupyWallStNYC #freedom
NATIONAL DEMO - London, Weds 21 Nov - #Demo2012 - UK Indymedia big protests on September 17th #S17, #OWS ,October 20th a Future that works and November 21st
So thats big protests on September 17th #S17, #OWS ,October 20th a Future that works and November 21st National Union of Everyone Demo .Network it.
Occupy Justice 2012. Old Street Courthouse on Vimeo
Occupy Justice 2012. Old Street Courthouse from Tomas Bertulis on Vimeo.
Occupy Justice 2012. Old Street Courthouse on Vimeo
Glad some of this story coming out (more to come) cos that was one of the hardest squat taking operations ever,in 20 years. But together we stood firm and as the Occupy Veterans pulled in with an armoured car in the morning we knew we had taken the site.
Which gave me great joy to be able to drop the following line to some of the security who had been threatening to go and get baseball bats....."I think our armoured car out Trumps your baseball bat mate" LOL
More soon from the Occupy Justice tapes.
Occupy Justice 2012. Old Street Courthouse on Vimeo
Glad some of this story coming out (more to come) cos that was one of the hardest squat taking operations ever,in 20 years. But together we stood firm and as the Occupy Veterans pulled in with an armoured car in the morning we knew we had taken the site.
Which gave me great joy to be able to drop the following line to some of the security who had been threatening to go and get baseball bats....."I think our armoured car out Trumps your baseball bat mate" LOL
More soon from the Occupy Justice tapes.
Tuesday, 4 September 2012
Funniest video i watched in years.LOL First Brighton squat eviction by police 03.09.12
If all the squats can put up this much resistance then this law will be unworkable.Hilarious frontline humour as Police Storm Troopers fail to break door with all there tools.While being ripped by the surrounding crowd it took well over 5 hours for them to get to the roof.To find 2 people superglued to eachother.Thus further frustrating their bungled operation.This action kept a squad of probably over 10 of them busy all day.
Homes not Jails resist the new enclosure act that criminalises the homeless.Use the million empties for homes and jobs.We want housing solutions not overcrowded prisons.With a law that is against all common sense.
SQUATTING IS STILL LEGAL :Squatting in residential is made illegal NB Squatting is still LEGAL in commercial non residential ,shops,factories,warehouses,pubs,schools colleges etc
DONT PANIC SQUATTING IS STILL LEGAL IN EMPTY COMMERCIAL / NON RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS
NB Squatting is still LEGAL in empty commercial non residential ,shops,factories,warehouses,pubs,schools,mills, colleges etc etc
fOR LATEST UPDATE AND NEW Section 6 notice for non residential spaces go to
ADVISORY SERVICE FOR SQUATTERS http://www.squatter.org.uk/
Pubs have also been mentioned as exempt under Ministry of Justice guidelines but read notes from ASS for exact info. and a specific new section 6 for pubs.
Most important dont panic stand firm as the Brighton squatters have done and link up with local support networks.
Viva the uprising build networks of resistance get a group together in your area and occupy a large commercial / non residential building and call a general assembly organise in your area form working groups and link up with other parts of the resistance
Keep networking take action
Repeal the very unpopular LASPO act.Ya basta our time has come.
Reclaim the community spaces,we hope to see many more large organised,project spaces,social and community centres come together in the nearly 270,000 empty commercial buildings out there.
As the 1970s squatters said 1 eviction 2 new squats.See u down the squatted pub,warehouse or community centre soon.Up from the ashes...into action.
Monday, 3 September 2012
Sunday, 2 September 2012
Demotix article on Squatters evict the government action
http://www.demotix.com/news/1420872/squatters-evict-government#slide-1
The new law criminalising squatting in residential buildings came in effect on September 1st 2012. A group of squatters and housing activists took action by serving an eviction order on Number 10 Downing Street and the Gates Of Parliament.
The UK government has introduced a law to criminalise the homeless, by making it illegal to squat in residential buildings from saturday 1st september 2012.
After a public consultation asking should squatting be criminalised in which 96% of the replies said NO, do not criminalise, Including the police federation, judges, lawyers association, housing and homeless charities.
The government undemocratically ignored this consultation and attached a clause onto the massively unpopular LASPO bill (legal aid sentencing and punishment of offenders bill) to criminalise squatting in residential buildings.
The LASPO act will remove legal aid from the vast majority of UK cases. Including domestic violence and children's cases. Sections of the bill were defeated a record number of times as they passed through both houses of parliament.
On saturday 1st september a large group of very concerned citizens and squatters met up at Trafalgar Square and proceeded to the gates of number 10 Downing Street. Where they served an eviction notice on the government from the peoples court. Named as defendants were David Cameron, Nick Clegg and the housing ministers Grant Shapps and Crispin Blunt.
They protested against this new law delivering long speeches on the undemocratic , unfair , unworkable and tyrannical nature of this new law, that seem to have been created by certain sections of the media and property developer supporters of the conservative party who have donated over 3 million pounds to the conservative party over the last three years.
Full Video of the action can be viewed at Occupy News Network
http://onnplayer.occupynewsnetwork.co.uk/squatters-rights-people-call-on-eviction-of-government/
The group then went onto The Gates Of Parliament in front of BIG Ben once again serving an eviction notice and speeches on the situation.
There were no arrests on the action during the day, however several reports came in of residential squats which had been occupied in the months before this new law came in, being evicted by squads of territorial support group police. It appears that the crack down on the homeless and dispossessed has just begun in Britain.
More information on this draconian new law and the unfolding story can be found at;
www.squatter.org.uk
www.squashcampaign.org
www.evictionresistance.blogspot.co.uk
www.phoenixrainbow23.blogspot.co.uk
Eviction Resistance blog -illegal evictions begin
Eviction Resistance
Check the eviction resistance blog for information on resisting the new squat law.
Evict the government action photos from Sept 1st
Some photos from todays action to evict the government can be viewed at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/86384498@N06/
Saturday, 1 September 2012
Friday, 31 August 2012
Thursday, 30 August 2012
Wednesday, 29 August 2012
SchNEWS - Building Resistance organising opposition to new anti-squat law
Building Resistance
organising opposition to new anti-squat law
The date the new anti-squatting law comes into force in English and
Welsh law has been set for September 1st. The Advisory Service for
Squatters (ASS) have issued a warning and a call to arms: “We
are going to need to be more organised and look after each other
better. We will need legal back-up available on the street, and people
will need help moving quickly and storing their possessions. We need
networks, linked up with others resisting evictions and attacks on
housing rights.”
The Eviction Resistance Network
(ER) have emerged to counter to the new law and new enforcement
techniques. They have already mobilised big numbers to resist several
evictions, and their phoneline is open 24/7.
As SQUASH and ASS are
attempting to demystify the new law in terms of who'll be affected, and
how best to protect yourself (see the links below), there have been
signs that the police might be trying to evict people already in situ in
long-term squats come the law change. ER have reported that sections of
the new law have been posted on the doors of residential squats in East
London by over-eager cops. Whether this is a pre-emptive eviction
notice, or just plain intimidation, is hard to tell. New laws are not
legally supposed to be applied retrospectively.
As SchNEWS has previously reported, illegal evictions have been
occurring in Brighton as property owners and authorities get ahead of
themselves. Similar events are reportedly happening in Bristol, where
residential squats are being thrown out before the law change, along
with non-residential property- such as the former building society
premises that was illegally attacked by Avon and Somerset police on
August 15th.
Gung-ho policing means that the legal stuff is worth getting to grips
with, as you'll need the info on why your place is legal to shout at
incoming police. The ambiguity of the law (e.g. residential squatting is
illegal, non-residential legal) suggests that application of the law
will be muddled, and cops are easily confused. Also worthwhile reading
is the Code of Practice of High Court Enforcement Officers, which, amongst other stipulations, states they must act in a “professional, calm and dignified manner... with discretion and fairness” and not allow debtors to threaten violence.
Squatters rights activists are gearing up in other ways. ASS are holding a meeting on Monday 27th of August. Squattastic are also getting together around the second week of September (date TBC) to discuss and organise. Brighton locals SNOB have called for an action to take place at 2pm, October 13th at Victoria Square Gardens, Brighton.
Solidarity is the name of the game.
There's also around 420,000 empty commercial properties in the country. Make of that what you will.
NEVER TOO LET
The squatting law is only the start of it. This summer we've also
witnessed exposes on dodgy landlords and 'beds in sheds', rapidly
increasing rents, government plans to lift rules on affordable housing
in new build developments - while 1.8 million families wallow on
affordable housing waiting lists, housing benefit caps forcing
low-income workers out their homes, Olympic gentrification of London
boroughs, a 25% per cent increase in homelessness ...
This year has seen the quagmire of the housing crisis cruelly
exacerbated by Tory 'screw the poor' thinking from all directions. Not
surprising from ministers more concerned with the profits of their
development and financier chums than kids in cramped and mouldy high
rises– property firms donated a total of over £3.3 million to the
Conservatives in the three years leading up to last autumn.
However the gravity of the situation has led to a boom in grassroots
organising against evictions and wider housing rights issues from those
within the rental sector. Active groups around the country are fighting
for better housing and tenancy rights with mutual aid, addressing
individual and community struggles against the backdrop of the need for
radical change in the housing market. Together, they could constitute
the embryo of a wider grassroots housing rights movement that the
country sorely needs.
New group Housingforthe99
have the stated aim of campaigning against rip-off rents and for secure
and affordable tenancies. After demonstrating against the Olympics'
bogus claims that affordable housing would be one of the Games'
legacies, the group also targeted the National Landlords Association-
who represent over a million landlords, lobbying against regulation and
advocating insecure tenancies. A Solfed action
at the end of July saw dodgy letting agents Victorstone forced to
reimburse three renters from Bethnal Green over £1200 that they'd tried
to steal even though the deal, and the house, fell through. Local groups
include Haringey Solidarity Group, Hackney Housing Group and Bristol Housing Action Movement.
Advice for squats vs. the new law:
ASS homepage: http://www.squatter.org.uk/
Eviction Resistance: http://evictionresistance.blogspot.co.uk/
For an in-depth overview of the housing crisis, see this offering by the anarcho-academics at Corporate Watch
SchNEWS - Direct Action Newsheet
northeastlondonsquattersnetwork@riseup.net meeting thurs 30th 6pm
northeastlondonsquattersnetwork@riseup.net
to nelsn
Hey, so as everyone must know by now the law change is coming into effect
on Saturday the 1st of September.
To discuss how best to support those potentitally affected by the law
change and to defend our homes and find new ones there will be a NELSN
meeting on Thursday the 30th at 6pm.
Text the phone for the venue.07974 978776
Invite your friends, bring your housemates, all squatters welcome.
Autumn Equinox Rainbow Gathering | Rainbow Gathering United Kingdom
Autumn Equinox Rainbow Gathering
Date:
Sun, 16/09/2012 - 18:12 to Mon, 15/10/2012 - 12:00
At
the vision council of the Summer Solstice Rainbow Gathering of Tribes
in Anglesey, we reached consensus to gather at the Autumn Equinox on the
North Downs, using Otford at the conjunction of the River Darent and
the North Downs as a base for scouting. We will meet on the full moon,
the 31st of August, by the last remaining ruined tower of Bishop's
Palace, near the duckpond. We will circle in council the following day.
We will then follow the process to reach consensus where we will
gather. Otford has a direct train connection 25 minutes south from
central London. Seed camp will take a nomadic form to begin with. We
meet on the morning of Sunday the 9th of September, on the steps of st
Paul's Cathedral in the city of London. We will depart at midday and
follow the Thames to the mouth of the river Darent and then trace the
river towards its source. The walk may take some 5 days at a gentle
pace. Come with your cup bowl and spoon, shelter, warm clothes and
something for the community, be it a saw, a spade, a wheelbarrow, a pot,
a communal structure, a tarp, some rope, some food, something for the
magic hat, a musical instrument or an abundance of of love. Seed camp
will begin soon after, or even before the end of this walk, so bring
your ideas and inspiration. The location of and directions to the
gathering will be given here one or two days before the opening
ceremony. One love from the Rainbow Family to the Rainbow family
Autumn Equinox Rainbow Gathering | Rainbow Gathering United Kingdom
Tuesday, 28 August 2012
Reclaim Hinkley - 8 October 2012 | Stop New Nuclear
Reclaim Hinkley - 8 October 2012 | Stop New Nuclear
Avoid a Fukishima in the UK network this action.
Birmingham Tenants & Homeless Action Group - What we are doing - UK Indymedia
Birmingham Tenants & Homeless Action Group - What we are doing - UK Indymedia
Birmingham direct action housing hopefully this inspires many groups to take direct action and help house their communities.
Friday, 24 August 2012
Round up the homeless/squatters govt report says 350 to 4,200 could be imprisoned per year
If justice secretary Ken Clarke has his way, squatting in residential
property will soon be a criminal offence with those found guilty
facing a fine of up to £5,000 or a prison sentence of a year – perhaps
both.
Although the coalition government has made no secret of its desire to
criminalise squatting, the proposals are being quietly introduced by
way of an amendment to the legal aid, sentencing and punishment of
offenders bill.
We are in an economic climate where jobs are being lost and public
sector spending cuts are biting. There is a shortage of affordable
housing, whether rented or owned, and rising levels of child poverty.
Proposed restrictions on welfare benefits will only serve to
exacerbate the problem: research suggests that up to 133,000 workless
households in London will be unable to pay their rent under the
reforms.
Recently the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research at
Sheffield Hallam University undertook research on behalf of Crisis
about the nature and extent of squatting. The final report revealed
some interesting and worrying statistics:
• Around 78% of homeless people who squat have approached a local
authority for help, but although recognised as homeless they have not
been entitled to housing because they are not in priority need or are
considered intentionally homeless.
• Many squatters have significant welfare needs: 34% of homeless
people who squat had been in care; 42% had physical ill health or a
disability; 41% reported mental health problems.
• Homeless people who squat occupy empty buildings.
• Squats are often in poor condition, lacking running water, heating
and electricity, with damp, broken windows and unsafe stairwells.
Given the current levels of housing shortage, is it really wrong for
empty properties to be used in this way when the alternative is a life
on the streets? Should the state be paying for the consequences of
criminalising the actions of those in desperate housing need?
The government has produced an impact assessment specifically for the
proposed new offence of squatting, which suggests that there could be
between 350 and 4,200 defendants accused of the offence in any one
year. Given that the vast majority of squatters will have no financial
means with which to pay a fine, prison may well be the only viable
option left open to the courts. It is therefore quite conceivable that
the prison population (and attendant cost to the state) will continue
to grow. In times of austerity, is that responsible?
property will soon be a criminal offence with those found guilty
facing a fine of up to £5,000 or a prison sentence of a year – perhaps
both.
Although the coalition government has made no secret of its desire to
criminalise squatting, the proposals are being quietly introduced by
way of an amendment to the legal aid, sentencing and punishment of
offenders bill.
We are in an economic climate where jobs are being lost and public
sector spending cuts are biting. There is a shortage of affordable
housing, whether rented or owned, and rising levels of child poverty.
Proposed restrictions on welfare benefits will only serve to
exacerbate the problem: research suggests that up to 133,000 workless
households in London will be unable to pay their rent under the
reforms.
Recently the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research at
Sheffield Hallam University undertook research on behalf of Crisis
about the nature and extent of squatting. The final report revealed
some interesting and worrying statistics:
• Around 78% of homeless people who squat have approached a local
authority for help, but although recognised as homeless they have not
been entitled to housing because they are not in priority need or are
considered intentionally homeless.
• Many squatters have significant welfare needs: 34% of homeless
people who squat had been in care; 42% had physical ill health or a
disability; 41% reported mental health problems.
• Homeless people who squat occupy empty buildings.
• Squats are often in poor condition, lacking running water, heating
and electricity, with damp, broken windows and unsafe stairwells.
Given the current levels of housing shortage, is it really wrong for
empty properties to be used in this way when the alternative is a life
on the streets? Should the state be paying for the consequences of
criminalising the actions of those in desperate housing need?
The government has produced an impact assessment specifically for the
proposed new offence of squatting, which suggests that there could be
between 350 and 4,200 defendants accused of the offence in any one
year. Given that the vast majority of squatters will have no financial
means with which to pay a fine, prison may well be the only viable
option left open to the courts. It is therefore quite conceivable that
the prison population (and attendant cost to the state) will continue
to grow. In times of austerity, is that responsible?
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