October 1 2011 marked one year since the Kraakverbod made squatting illegal in the Netherlands. However, hundreds of people still squat and will continue to squat.
With squatting in the UK coming under threat, join us to hear 3 squatters from Amsterdam talk next week in several cities across the UK about squatting before the ban, resistance to the criminalisation and what’s been happening since the Kraakverbod became law.
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For the defence of liberated spaces
We are people who live in or use the Factory Social Centre, the building on the corner of Cave Street and Portland Square. A company called the PG Group wants to develop the building we are occupying. They plan to turn it into luxury flats, offices, a cafe, an art gallery and a small health centre. Aside from the possible health centre, we don’t see their development plans as good for this area. Also, when all other information suggests that the NHS is cutting back on public outpatient nursing, we have doubts about what kind of heath centre it would be and if it will really happen.
We don’t want to be moved on and we don’t want this building to be developed. We are asking for your support.
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Why did the Bristol Stokes Croft Riot Happen? A Community-Based View of Events (April Bank Holiday, 2011)
We attempt to tell the story of what happened through the eyes of local people building up a picture of the chain of events which led to a riot close to the centre of Bristol. As well as testament filmed over the subsequent days we also include footage from the unrest. We also hope this will help in the understanding of why it happened.
https://vimeo.com/22968797
Questions are being asked as to why a peaceful protest descended into violence on Thursday night in Stokes Croft.
From around 9pm onwards crowds had gathered for a previously-cancelled protest against alleged police brutality during the riots a week earlier before violence broke out at around 1am.
Protesters stood outside the Telepathic Heights squat – the scene of a police raid which sparked last week’s violence – playing music while several police vans waited cautiously nearby.
Stokes Croft Riot after massive police raid against Telepathic Heights squat
April 21, 2011. 10pm. A riot starts after a 160 strong multi-regional police force coordinated assault shuts down a district and breaks down the door of a squat named ‘Telepathic Heights’ in Bristol.
The cops then violently harass local people and get attacked in return. Telepathic Heights is in the busy cultural area of Stokes Croft, Bristol, where there are many bars, cafes, squats, community projects, etc. 300 people fight the police for hours and hours in response to the police occupation of the neighbourhood. A corporate supermarket is looted and destroyed, whilst none of the other (independently-owned) shops on the streets are touched in the disturbance.
We’re still going!
Possession has been granted to Jerwood Trading Ltd from the 5th of May 2011. This means that bailiffs can arrive with the lawyers of Jerwood at any time from that date. They plan to auction off the buildings through the auctioneers Maggs and Allen.
Meanwhile we are in negotiations with the lawyers of Jerwood with a view to buying the property off them. We have formed a legal co-op that will administrate it all. The last valuation of the buildings was negative£100,000, which puts us in quite a good position. People seem to want the freeshop and emporium to keep going so this is an avenue we are hoping will succeed. [Read More]
February 14th 2011
http://indymedia.org.uk/en/2011/02/474100.html
Homeless people in Bristol have occupied a former homeless advice centre recently closed down by the council. They are now facing eviction by notorious bailiffs Constant & Co.
After weeks of legal battles, it looks like the occupied former homeless centre “The Hub” in Cumberland Street, St Pauls, is finally facing eviction. A court date is set for Friday the 18th, 12:00 noon and the occupants are expecting immediate action on behalf of notorious bailiffs Constant & Co if their case is lost.
Update on legal threat to 35/37 Stokes Croft
People that know and use the spaces have been asking for an update on the legal situation with 35/37 Stokes Croft so we’d thought we’d get a little summary out.
We are still going! There are exhibitions and events coming up at the emporium and the free shop continues its regular opening times of Thursday to Saturady 2pm-5pm.
Our next court appearance will be Thursday 7th of April.
We haven’t actually spoken to any ‘owner’, even their lawyers laugh at the fact that he/she might not exist. The claim in court is that the owners are Hong Kong businessmen, and company records have been produced to attempt to confirm this. We have attempted to speak to them but there has been no reply. Only through an estate agents (Maggs and Allen) and a law firm (Awdry, Douglas and Bailey) have we ascertained more information, which is not wholely reliable as they are trying to make money out of an abandoned building and have been trying every trick in the book to make a quick buck. Here’s updates on what’s happened so far. [Read More]
For the past two weeks The Hub in St Paul’s, the former drop-in centre for homeless people, has been occupied by squatters in protest against the cuts to homeless services.
The recently-closed drop-in centre provided emergency housing information for homeless people without the need for an appointment. Thanks to its closure, those seeking housing advice from the council must first get a referral to see an advisor at the main offices.
Council spokespeople cited violent outbursts, such as windows being broken, as the reason for its closure. But with Bristol City Council being forced to slash its budget for homeless services by £190,000, charity workers and many from the homeless community are convinced that The Hub’s closure has more to do with vicious spending cuts. [Read More]
Autonomous society in Bristol is under serious threat as eviction faces the Stokes Croft Free Shop and Emporium, Frowning Motorcycle events space, Smiling Chair anarchist library, and three other squat houses. In a move that will effectively mean making 60-70 people homeless, the bailiffs have been getting busy all around Stokes Croft.
The anarchist library was hit by ‘heavies’ on Monday 8th,who started putting metal sheeting over doors and windows whilst people were still inside. The illegal bailiffs were quickly dispatched by the coppers, having been called in by the occupants, for attempting to imprison the squatters inside. Later the same night the Frowning Motorcycle events space, which is also home to 5 people, was targeted by more illegal bailiffs trying to crowbar their way in. Luckily, the space was secure and they left without gaining access. [Read More]
If you haven’t heard through the grapevine already Co-Mutineers have taken an old cathedral (of the holy apostles) near the Triangle in the Clifton/Hotwells area. The address is: Bristol Pro Cathedral, Park Place, BS8 1JW
MAP OF CONVERGENCE SPACE for a map.
The phone number in the building for anyone is: 07805756159 (this is also the number for the media to call).
This is a huge building where people who are/want to be involved in Co-Mutiny can come and sleep and eat, meet and discuss, plan and skill-share! Any ideas that you have had for this coming week, bring them and make them happen!
As the global economy grinds to a halt so too do the big capital development projects, luxury apartment blocks and shopping complexes that have threatened us with displacement for so long.
Meanwhile, this new round of crisis capitalism leaves thousands out of work, buried in debt and facing immanent home repossession. Instead of housing the homeless in these empties or canceling the debts of millions governments pump billions into the banks to save this rotten system and violently repress those that resist. [Read More]
