News from the StopHS2 Jones Hill Woods protection camp eviction today. This morning at 5:30 am circa 40 National Eviction Team officers, working for HS2 & the government, supported by police, entered the woods. Their intention was to clear the camp to enable mass tree felling. Whilst 2 protestors were removed quickly by excessive force, many more protestors occupy multiple treehouses across the site. This ancient woodland has been a protest camp site for over half a year 6 months & is one of 20 ancient woodlands #HS2 is targeting this month. This woodland represents just one of 108 woodlands that are due to be impacted during Phase 1 construction of HS2. Jones Hill Wood also represents the cultural loss that will be caused by this large scale industrial development.
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Wendover (UK): Jones Hill Woods under attack
UK: Calvert Reserve Protection Camp getting evicted
Rudely awoken this morning by NET 😞 Calvert is currently being evicted, support needed – Calvert Jubilee Nature Reserve, Buckingham, MK182HE
UPDATE – With a heavy heart I have to say that today we lost Calvert Jubilee Nature Reserve.
8 weeks ago we heard that HS2 were going to compulsory purchase the reserve and start destroying it to build an access road for the high speed rail line. We occupied the reserve, building homes and a community amongst locals and activists. We held the ground, held up HS2 and have helped inspire other people to stand up for their own beliefs.
We may have lost the reserve but there are positive ripple effects beyond our perceptions.
Today the fascists won but we aren’t done yet. We will be back at it at soon as tomorrow!
Thank you to everyone who has supported us this far. We could not have got this far without you and we will continue because of you.
Berkshire Buckinghamshire Oxfordshire Wildlife Trusts statement: “BBOWT is devastated that High Speed 2 Ltd have now taken legal possession of a large section of our Calvert Jubilee Nature Reserve.”
UK: Stop HS2 and Extinction Rebellion
Extinction Rebellion have finally decided to refrain from trying to take over control of the STOP HS2 protection camps between London and Birmingham, and instead they are offering to HELP the front line activists who actually live there, and to LEARN direct action from them, according to unconfirmed reports from the camps.
Some of the eco-warriors at the Harvil road and Denham camps in Colne Valley near Uxbridge invited Extinction Rebellion to join them at the protest sites last year, and HS2 Rebellion was the name that was eventually chosen to be used by the new recruits. Unfortunately a power struggle developed fairly soon, with HS2 Rebellion apparently insisting that they controlled some kind of hierarchy and were in fact the “leaders” of the climate movement, and all the protesters were obliged to take orders from them.
Extinction Rebellion released a statement about how HS2 Rebellion was becoming the umbrella organisation for all the protection camps and they listed their “criteria and values” which they claimed all the activists had to agree to and abide by. This was regardless of the fact that the eco-warriors had originally started the camps with the Green Party four years before XR came along to attempt to take them over and control them.
HS2 Rebellion started their own fundraiser with £32,000 being donated for the Colne Valley protest by more than 1000 people. The fundraiser stated that the money would be distributed to all the protection camps, but HS2 Rebellion refused to share anything with camps that did not agree to join Extinction Rebellion and obey their rules.
Two camps which agreed to join Extinction Rebellion and obey them were given £16,000 between them, but the Harvil road and Denham camps at Colne Valley near Uxbridge which remained autonomous and independent got absolutely nothing.
The STOP HS2 organisation which started the local residents protest campaign in their own local communities against the high speed rail link 13 years ago asked for financial support but HS2 Rebellion did not want to help them so they also received nothing.
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UK: Poors Piece camp eviction alert
On Monday the 21st of Monday 28th September, Poors Piece Conservation area will be facing eviction… they have amazing structures & homely straw houses. This ancient woodlands was a life saving project years ago to give wood and timber to the locals who at the time were financially deprived. The land now is conserved by a local called Clive, who is very supportive of the group who are their to protect all life within from HS2.
If you can join those there to protect this land, please do!
This Stop HS2 camp is at Steeple Claydon, Buckinghamshire, MK18 2HH, UK
UPDATE Monday 28th!!
An update from the No TAV campaign and thoughts on its relevance for Stop HS2
The No TAV campaign in northern Italy has been fighting an expensive, unneeded and corrupt high speed railway link for over three decades. The proposed mafia-linked freight train service from Turin to Lyon has been repeatedly exposed for its fantastical predictions and is slated by local people who see no reason to leave their homes for a white elephant. If you are already thinking about the similarities to HS2 here in England then you are in the right place. I will start by giving a very brief history of No TAV, then an update on recent events. In the second half, I will concentrate on what the Stop HS2 movement can learn from No TAV.
For those who have never heard of the No TAV movement, it is a campaign born thirty odd years ago to resist the construction of a 270 kilometre long high speed railway (Treno di Alta Velocita) between Turin (in Italy) and Lyon (in France). There is widespread opposition on both French and Italian soil, since the railway is a corrupt scheme proposing to transport freight based on fantasy figures and the people who live along the route see no benefit (the train won’t be stopping there). They argue that the already existing railway infrastructure should be improved instead. The resistance is greatest in the breathtakingly beautiful Val di Susa (Susa Valley), which stretches from Turin to the Alps for fifty kilometres. In summer, the valley is bright with colours, the blue sky and green grass bisected by the snow on the mountains. It has a unique environment, since one side sees the sun and the other does not. The train line would rip straight through it before entering a tunnel of 57.5 kilometres to France. This tunnel would be longer than the Chunnel and in fact would just squeeze in as the longest rail tunnel in the world, if it ever gets built. Local people are concerned that drilling into the mountains will disturb uranium and asbestos deposts, that mafia construction will lead to health hazards and that the overall economic case for TAV no longer stands up.
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UK: S144 arrest figures
Another 25 people were prosecuted under S144 last year.
Prosecuted for being homeless and housing themselves.
It would be good to hear from more of the people involved so we can advise, and learn more.
Other Trespass figures also interesting.
Via A.S.S.
UK: Stop HS2 new camp at Euston station in London
A brand new structure here at Euston Square Garden has been occupied by Martin, 19, who’s gone from 2 years homeless to protection camp, church steps to tree top. (See picture)
Who’s joining us? You are invited to bring & pitch a tent/hammock at Euston Square Gardens or at one of the other camps in Denham, Buckinghamshire or Warwickshire (previously on S!N)
Enjoy connecting with nature, swim in the Colne Valley river next to Denham camp whilst helping us hold the sites to StopHS2 or head to the newest camp in front of Euston station …
UK: How to Challenge a Section 21 Notice
Despite the government’s temporary pause on eviction proceedings the system is going to be back soon enough — here’s what you need to know if you’re facing it.
We are likely to see a wave of evictions sweep the country come the end of next month, following the end of a suspension of nearly all court possession cases until (currently) September 20th. Whether or not this will be temporarily extended again, unless substantial legislative changes are instituted, Shelter anticipates that over 230,000 renters are at risk of eviction, in large part due to falling into rent arrears linked to job losses, reductions in income, and shielding during the Covid-19 outbreak. What this means is that it is still vital that renters understand their legal rights and the ways in which they can challenge an eviction notice.
Of greatest notoriety are Section 21 notices, commonly referred to as “no fault” evictions. These only apply to assured shorthold tenancies, which are the most common kind of private rented tenancy. They are the most common kind of eviction in the private rented sector, used for more than 80% of evictions against private tenants. And such notices are a delight to landlords as they do not have to offer a reason for evicting their tenant — no matter if you paid the bills on time, fixed up the plug sockets, bought the landlord a bouquet of flowers for Christmas (gross, don’t do this) — despite all the good behaviour in the world, a Section 21 eviction notice can still arrive at your door. [Read More]
UK: Notes for New Squatters
The government’s U-turn on evictions is merely a temporary reprieve — and today Freedom is publishing this newly updated Advisory Service for Squatters guide, which will only get more relevant as the year wears on.
Squatting means occupying empty buildings, or land, without permission. Normally, it means homeless people finding somewhere to live, for a while at least, but what people do with the space they occupy is up to them. The following is a very basic guide. For more information or if you have any problems contact the Advisory Service for Squatters (ASS).
Non-residential squatting is still legal
Squatting in non-residential buildings, or where there has been an agreement, is still a civil matter. To resolve it the owner has to take you to court. The owners have legal ways and procedures to have squatters evicted and cannot legally use force or threats. Section 6 of the Criminal Law Act 1977 makes it an offence to force entry to a building which is occupied, and this includes squats. This will no longer help against the police if they are enforcing the new law against squatters in residential properties, but is otherwise still valid. This is explained in the Legal Warnings, which squatters have either on display or ready to show people. [Read More]
UK: Tales from the Trees & Tracks
Hello, I am @mushrooni and I travelled down from West Yorkshire on the train to Crackley Protection Camp. Ironically I took the planned HS2 route from the north to Birmingham…
So I brought a tent and initially planned to stay for a couple days but it has nearly been a month now!
I joined this campaign to engage with others and take action against HS2. Obviously I’m here to protect and stand up for the trees, birds, bats and wildlife that are being ripped apart and killed, though it’s much bigger than this – it’s about the whole capitalistic project and the system that HS2 is part of and represents. Protectors have been mistreated, harmed and put in really serious situations – the National Eviction Team, HS2 security and police departments are getting away with their dirty work.
I have never felt so much kindness, generosity and openness from strangers as I have done being involved in these communities. I’ve realised how important it is to be around like minded people, working towards the same goal and how necessary it is to be able to stand up to what is wrong.
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UK: HS2 High Speed High Tension
Over the last fortnight I have gone down a High Speed 2 research wormhole, sparked by the thought that I hadn’t heard much about what was going on lately with this bloated project. I started to google around and to read the media outside my usual reference points, which led to a fair few discoveries, some good some bad. This is a time of high tension, a time when the white elephant should be retired before it’s too late. With my head full of statistics and controversies, I chatted to friends and families in the park and at barbecues and received a fascinating range of opinions. There are protest camps going on and I visited some of them. There are reports from various groups, for and against, which I have read. I came to realise that Stop HS2is a huge socio-political issue which the mainstream media (and to be fair also the alternative media I tend to read) are simply not covering in all its complexity.
In this article, I’d like to draw attention to a few issues. The judicial review launched by Chris Packham has just failed on appeal and that’s a real shame, but the struggle is far from over. Various court cases are in progress and these people need our support, as well as the camps which are springing up to protect threatened areas of natural beauty. Nobody is against a railway in itself, but the story is far more nuanced than that.
Birmingham: Report back from Jellytot StopHS2 courtcase
There are currently several courtcases going on prosecuting Stop HS2 activists, whilst HS2 Limited recently announced that their chief executive earned £659,000 last year, making him the highest paid UK government official. The board of directors got £1.6m remuneration in total … and this was all paid for by our taxes!? Instead of this greed and corruption being investigated, at the end of July young tree protector Jellytot faced charges at Birmingham High Court for allegedly breaking an injunction seventeen times. Defending ancient woodland in Warwickshire is the alleged crime!
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