[Squat!net]

On Saturday, February 19, in Bure, in the north-east of France, a demo took place in the forest to support the occupation there and then on to the research lab of the planned nuclear waste disposal facility CIGEO. In the process, the ANDRA (French nuclear waste disposal agency) was pushed back more or less symbolically to a section of its illegally constructed wall in the forest. A small action report.

More than 700 people took part in Bure’s February 2017 events, which in the late afternoon resulted in violent protests and massive attacks against the site of the nuclear waste disposal agency ANDRA. [Read More]

Squatting collective the Autonomous Nation of Anarchist Libertarians (ANAL) continue to underline exactly how much high-end housing is lying empty while homeless people sleep on the rain-soaked concrete, having spent last night moving into another mansion.
The group wrote: “Facing a police enforced eviction at 4 Grovesnor Gardens, ANAL have decided to relocate AS CLOSE TO THE QUEENS BEDROOM as possible…. Overlooking Wellington barracks, introducing our new squat, 19 Buckingham Gate.”
19 Buckingham Gate, which is just yards away from Buckingham Palace’s gardens, is the third property in a row to have been taken on by the collective, which took over 108 Easton Square in January (where they fended off fascist attackers) and 4 Grosvenor Gardens in February.
The overall site, 18-19 Buckingham Gate, is currently being given a slightly gaudy-looking makeover by developer Simpson Haugh and Partners, with a view to turning it into 14 luxury apartments for the sort of people who can afford to pay (if it’s anything like the neighbours’ place) £2.5 million a pop for the chance to get a good view of the royal behind.
The developer lists the owner as “private,” however if it’s not “18-19 Buckingham Gate Investment Ltd” then coincidences abound.
If ANAL keep up their current rate of mansion occupations they could have collectively squatted in properties worth well over £100m by the end of the year. [Read More]

Today (20/2/17) we liberated an old Swimming Pool! The pool has been squatted before for 10 years after being empty for 7 years, in 2012 it got evicted to build a “Paramedical centre”. This never got build because the owner [J. H. Bakker] went partly bankrupt in 2014, its been empty since then. More pictures below. Source
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TAKING UP SPACE – Zine Callout
DEADLINE – Wednesday 15th March 2017

This is a callout for submissions relating to the theme of ‘space’ or ‘taking up space’. The subject is flexible and could relate to autonomous spaces, gentrification, gender, bodies, identity, performance, squats, incarceration or mental health.
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Heads-up for the long-awaited Issue 5 of your friendly, local squatters’ paper.

SLAP! is a squatter’s freesheet first printed in early 2016. After a quick half-year of squat-hopping, sitting around and organising elsewhere, some of us involved in the previous four issues teamed up with others and knocked-together a fifth. SLAP! is back to support the flow of counter-info between London squats and act as a semi-regular message-board for squat happenings, updates and unapologetic ideas.
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The Creative Platform Inde Collective is issuing a public call to DUTB (the so called: bad bank) to start a dialogue with regard to making arrangements to remove asbestos from the former factory Inde. We reiterate that the spaces which are in use by UPI have already been cleaned long ago and are in fact asbetos-free. We expect a response from DUTB so that in agreement with the cleaning contractors a temporary access to our premises during the clean-up will be arranged. There are several entrances to the UPI premises and we are sure it is possible to provide safe access to at least one of them. Also, the building which UPI uses is not covered with asbestos roofing.
We are willing to show the premises to licensed contractors to convince them that the cleaning of the area that we occupy is not necessary. We have also prepared proposals on how to facilitate access without hindering the clean-up. [Read More]

Belgravia squatters the Autonomous Nation of Anarchist Libertarians (ANAL) report that they fought off an attack on the 28th from heavies wearing fascist-linked masks, who seem to have been trying to get them out of the mansion belonging to Russian billionaire Andrey Goncharenko that they squatted on Wednesday.
At the time of writing they are asking for more support to head down to 102 Eaton Square to provide solidarity and support for the occupiers. In a series of notes from their Twitter account, they said:
[The] fascists [have been] fought/scared off. Police liaised and content. We would still appreciate numbers here to display that we will resist … They smashed windows while children were in a peaceful occupation wearing fascist face-scarfs. [The] mansion [is] being secured from the inside after attack by fascists. Children [have been] moved upstairs. No reports of injuries.
ANAL are working to turn the Belgravia squat, in the heart of one of London’s poshest areas, into a homeless shelter for the cold weather. 25 people have been housed so far and there are plans to hold movie nights and other events at the venue. Goncharenko’s representatives, MCA Shipping Ltd, are seeking a possession order and a hearing is scheduled for January 31st. [Read More]

Bristol Council’s decision to dive into the property guardianship game seems to be coming a cropper as several “guardians” have launched legal and direct action challenges demanding something be done about rat-infested and dangerous tenancies in its buildings.
Having closed public services across the city, the council has found itself flush with empty commercial and office properties, which it decided to make a few pennies on by jumping into bed with Camelot property management in 2013. The firm, along with another company Ad Hoc, now rents out much of its portfolio.

Camelot specialises in the gray-area rentals market of property guardianship, getting hard-up people needing a home to fork out anything up to £500 a month, plus deposit of £500-600, to stay in empty non-residential properties with few rights and eviction at a month’s notice. The firm has repeatedly been condemned as trying on dodgy practices, including initially only offering three weeks’ notice (breaching minimum guidelines) and using “pseudo-legal gibberish” to intimidate people they want out. [Read More]

Call for solidarity actions for INDE squat in Koper, Slovenia

In the last few years we have seen new autonomous spaces emerging in Slovenia, joining the struggles of older squats all over the country. Along the Slovenian coast, two enormous buildings were occupied until recently. The occupations brought radical politics and different social relations to their environment. Both squats were always open to a variety of projects and initiatives, but had strong anarchist presence and activities as well. The spaces used to be factories, which were destroyed by the brutal privatization.

Right after New Years, ARGO squat in Izola was forcefully evicted. Eviction was preceded by a series of harassments from police and security company, that in some cases resulted in serious bodily injuries and fines for comrades there. The second coastal squat, called INDE, got an eviction notice just a few days ago. We are supposed to leave the premises on January 30. [Read More]

The Barricade Inn was a squatted social centre in the centre of Dublin. During the peak of its activity over the summer of 2015 hundreds of people were involved in putting on events in the space that thousands of people attended. In this audio we talk to three WSM members who were involved in opening up and running The Barricade about what happened there and what lessons they drew from the experience.

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The Creative Platform Inde (hereinafter UPI) welcomes the planned remediation of hazardous waste (asbestos, used needles) in the former factory INDE. However, we are announcing that we are not consenting to emptying the already restored spaces which from October, 5th 2014 have been in the use of UPI. We believe that the cleaning of hazardous waste is perfectly feasible without interrupting the activities of the collective.

Since October 2014 we have proved through active involvement and massive response of visitors that this space is one of tremendous importance to the region. At the premises of UPI we are carrying out social programs (food for the socially disadvantaged, gathering supplies for the refugees, etc.), cultural programs (more than 300 concerts, roundtables, art exhibitions, film evenings, etc.), educational programs (lectures, workshops, practical training, etc. .), environmental campaigns, remedial actions, sports programs (skate park, dance workshops, self-defense, sporting competitions and sports days) and so on. [Read More]

This morning Oxford residents and local homeless people dropped an enormous banner from the front of the old VW garage on Iffley Road declaring “People need homes, empty spaces need people” as a new petition gains momentum and puts pressure on the owners, Wadham College, to support the plight of homeless people this winter.

The building, which has laid empty for two years, was opened on New Year’s eve providing shelter for rough sleepers in response to the growing homelessness crisis.

A group, which included Oxford University students and alumni entered the building after finding, to their amazement, the front door had been left open. A member of the group, Sandra Philips said,

“We have made a temporary home for some of the homeless and rough sleepers of Oxford because council cuts have forced the closure of night shelters and homeless people are dying on our streets. This building lies empty whilst hundreds are without a home or even a roof over their head. We all have an obligation to do what we can to help this situation, everyone is affected by the housing crisis in some way.” [Read More]