Events | 2009.08.26
Climate Camp hits in Blackheath
Climate Camp descends on London today with the police promising to take a low-key approach to the climate change protests to avoid the trouble that flared during the G20 summit. Follow live updates from our reporting team as they follow developments across the city.
10.13pm:
After coming in for criticism earlier for their condemnation of Climate Camp local Lib Dem councillors have adopted a more conciliatory approach .
There has been a bit of a misunderstanding about the camp and the Liberal Democrat attitude to it.
There are real concerns about the damage that may be caused to Blackheath which we feel sure all would agree is a precious open space. However we remain confident that the Climate Change camp organisers will protect the local environment, and we are sure the police will have learnt from the G20 demonstrations back in May.
Lets make sure that over a Bank holiday weekend everyone can enjoy Blackheath and can use the opportunity to share ideas and learn more about how we deal with the pressures of climate change.
8.53pm:
Daryl1974 has a picture which appears to show police using a cherrypicker to watch Climate Camp .
That doesn\'t seem much like community policing , one twitterer points out.
8.20pm:
Following Supt Pendry\'s hostile reception from a small group at the camp, Paul Lewis spoke to her. He said she was "calm" and "positive" .
7.36pm:
More from Peter Walker:
Around half a dozen police still standing at entrance to camp. Faced by shouts of abuse, "just go!\' and brief chant of "all coppers are bastards. They [the officers] look a bit uncomfortable but still stand their ground.
7.31pm:
Unfortunately, there appears to be some tension emerging as a result of police being allowed onto the site for a meeting in a tent, according to Guardian reporters on the ground. Julia Pendry, silver commander, has been having "tea" with the camp legal team, Paul Lewis tweets. He says about 20 anarchists have been causing trouble outside the tent.
Peter Walker tells me one person is gloomily predicting "it could kick off". Police are now leaving the site, he says, followed by anarchists shouting "scum" and "you killed Ian Tomlinson".
7.24pm:
Hi, this is Haroon Siddique. I\'ll be updating this blog from time to time, depending on how much is happening.
Blogger Darryl853, evidently a south-east London resident, has written a nice account of the first day of Climate Camp . He also criticised Labour mayor Steve Bullock for branding the campers as "irresponsible".
Er… right, Steve. Have you thought about going up to the camp and saying hello to the protesters? You might even find they\'re normal people, just like yourself! Or maybe it\'s easier to sit on your backside and judge them straight away? Perhaps he should be disassociating Lewisham Council from Millwall Football Club on the same principle. In a recent speech, he said young people were the future and must not be failed – but only when they do as his generation says, I suppose. Considering his own Labour party was founded off the back of popular protest, it\'s a staggeringly idiotic thing for a politician to to say.
5.56pm: Bibi van der Zee has been talking to activists about how they organised today\'s convoluted swoop and location :
One after another we have all stumbled up to Blackheath to find a few hectares of heath already surrounded by several hundred metres of wire fencing. It turns out that this is all thanks to the Secret Swoop group, a group of somewhere between 80-150 people who who already knew the location in advance and had lengths of fencing hidden in various secret locations around London, and who, simultaneously set off after receiving a text message saying "Go!" according to one of the campers.
5.47pm: Flickr and YouTube are starting to fill up with photos and videos of the day\'s action. Today\'s "cop and mouse" game has also attracted a reasonable amount of mainstream news coverage: C4, ITV and the BBC have all covered for TV news, while news sites including the BBC , the Telegraph , the Times , Bloomberg and - of course - the Guardian, have covered the story.
5.44pm: The video above shows Amelia Gregory of Climate Camp explaining why Blackheath was chosen as a site - and teasing out some of the historical parallels with previous protests.
5.27pm: Anyone travelling to the camp on Blackheath is being reminded to make sure they have a valid ticket because ticket inspectors are "out in force" on public transport, say Ben Polwin and Paul Parkinson . Climate Camp\'s official site notes that the entrance to the camp is off Hare and Billet Road.
5.12pm: A lot of people have been asking why Blackheath was chosen as the camp\'s location. As Paul Lewis pointed out earlier, it was the site of the 1381 peasants\' revolt. But it\'s also been the site for many other rallies and rebellions, as the Press Association has explained in a handy history of the heath:
Blackheath has been at the centre of rallies and revolts for hundreds of years. The sight of Climate Camp protesters converging on the wide expanse of open grassland in south east London evoked the spirit of the first popular rebellion in English history. Wat Tyler\'s so-called Peasants\' Revolt against unpopular taxes took place on the heath more than 700 years ago and tens of thousands of protesters are believed to have flocked to London. The revolt is remembered by Wat Tyler Road on the heath and was followed in 1450 by Jack Cade\'s Kentish rebellion against the weak leadership of King Henry VI, unfair taxes, corruption and the damaging effect of the loss of France. Blackheath has since been the meeting point for a series of battles, revolts and demonstrations. Cornish rebels pitched camp there before being defeated in the Battle of Deptford Bridge, sometimes called the Battle of Blackheath, on June 17 1497. During the 17th century, the heath was also a notorious haunt of highwaymen who targeted stagecoaches travelling along Watling Street across the heath to north Kent and the Channel ports. It also has associations with the suffragette movement, with Emily Wilding, who died by throwing herself under the hooves of King George V\'s horse at the Epsom Derby in 1913, being born there.
4.53pm: Adam Vaughan here from the environment team. Just getting word via Bibi van der Zee about how the organisers managed to get so much fencing up so quickly. Apparently there was a secret swoop group of over 80 people who knew the camp location and were waiting with bits of fence all across London. More on that shortly.
4.46pm: This is David Batty signing off for the day. Thanks for your comments. Our environment team is now taking over the live blog coverage, so don\'t go away!
4.40pm: Three local Liberal Democrat councillors have issued a statement about the Climate Camp.
We are appalled at the disturbance caused to local residence and amenities.
We hope that both the Protesters and Police alike act with respect for the local community.
Aren\'t the LibDems meant to be green?
4.30pm: Climate Camp organisers are giving speeches on the site - invoking the spirit of Wat Tyler , according to Twitter users at the site.
There are more videos of the site on YouTube .
The Press Association has interviewed local residents for their views of the camp.
One 40-year-old mother of one, whose home overlooks the site, said: "I just hope it\'s going to be peaceful.
"We all saw what happened at G20. I wonder how long they are going to be here.
"They could not have picked anywhere more middle class than Blackheath.
"It is so \'villagey\' here.
"We have got a view right across the camp and I guess we will be looking at hundreds of students for the rest of the week."Drinkers at The Hare and Billet, which is a short distance from the camp, were unfazed by the sudden appearance of green protesters.
John Hillam, 38, said the unexpected arrivals may well prove to be good for trade in the village, particularly the pubs.
He said: "I cannot see them being any bother.
"It is quite posh around here, so others might feel differently.
"Either way, they are probably going to have to stock up with more cider here."
Nice to see those student stereotypes never change...
3.51pm: Protesters at the site are tweeting that the fencing around the camp is now complete, with tripods erected at any gaps.
An anti-capitalist banner has been slung between a couple of the tripods.
Peter Walkers says some rather anxious-looking officials from Lewisham council have turned up at the camp "hoping to talk \'health and safety\' with organisers". Perhaps they are concerned about the tripods, plastic piping, kitchen sinks and baths being set up on the site.
3.19pm: CiF blogger Sunny Hundal reckons there are now 1,000 people on site "putting up tents & banners, playing music, drinking beer, chatting." He says there are no police to be seen.
Peter Walker adds that a marquee has gone up. "Site currently looks like cross between music festival and very big wedding," he says.
3.02pm: Peter Walker says the first police have arrived at the camp. There are now 500 protesters on site, including six on tripods. At least one of the tripods is now 25ft high. He has also spoken to a Blackheath local for her view of the camp. She says: "I believe in the action they\'re taking against global warming but I\'m not sure about this anti-capitalism."
2.38pm: Peter Walker says the site at Blackheath is now being fenced off. There are around 100 protesters there now but still no police.
2.29pm: Peter Walker at Blackheath says there are around 40 protesters at the site of the main camp. Some protesters are now on top of 15ft tripods - see photo here - erected with scaffolding on the heath.
These are put up by protesters to prevent them being moved on by the police - as they can\'t be dismantled without the risk of injury to the occupants. Peter can also see a load of trucks and a coach, but no police.
2.24pm: The official Met Police Twitter account - CO11MetPolice - has attracted a copycat - C011MetPolice . Please note the update at 1.49pm mistakenly references the fake account.
2.15pm: David Batty taking over again. Peter Walker says the main camp will be at Blackheath in south east London. Many protesters are there already, he\'s told. Climate Camp had sent out a press release - which our latest news report cited - stating the camp would be at Greenwich Park, over the road.
Here\'s a map of the main Climate Camp\'s location.
Paul Lewis says the location was chosen as it was a rallying point in the Peasants Revolt of 1381 , Cade\'s Rebellion in 1450, and the Cornish Rebellion in 1497.
2.08pm: Peter Walker and Bibi van der Zee report that their groups are both headed south, towards Lewisham. A text message to the white/brown groups reads "site on right at Hare & Billet Road, Blackheath." Is the camp going to be held at Greenwich park, rather than the airport?
2.03pm: Groups are on the move again.
Paul Lewis says the Bank group are taking the DLR to Greenwich, while Peter Walker reports his Waterloo group just crossed Tower Bridge northwards and is now heading east. Other tweeters suggest the Stockwell group is headed towards Greenwich too, which is pretty close to City Airport. The Evening Standard\'s Twitter journalist says the Rio Tinto group is now making its way to London Bridge on the tube.
1.49pm: The Metropolitan police have just confirmed - via their new Twitter account - that their climate camp command base is at City Airport (as seen in this photo ). But the police say they still have "no intelligence on location of the Camp". But judging from whispers of the camp being held near the airport or on Hackney Marshes, a bet on an east London location is looking like an increasingly good wager.
1.30pm: Rumours are circulating online that the location of the camp is... London City Airport. Twitter user and journalist @monstris has posted a link to a waypoint near the airport , while Flickr user wnjr earlier today posted a photo of an alleged police camp near the airport. We\'re still waiting on official confirmation.
1.04pm: Peter Walker says the cycling protesters are now heading west from St Paul\'s cathedral. Meanwhile, the Stockwell Tube group are off to the nearby Larkhall Park for fun and games before heading to the main camp, though there\'s still no word of where that is. Those gathered at Trafalgar Square are apparently playing with a giant inflatable globe . Adam Vaughan is taking over while I\'m at lunch.
12.58pm: A Climate Camp activist has posted an audio clip explaining why South Bank near the Shell Centre was chosen as meeting point for today\'s demonstrations.
12.53pm: Photojournalist Marc Vallée has posted a photo of the badge-size CCTV cameras the Met\'s FIT surveillance officers are wearing on their jackets.
You can read more about his project to document political dissent on the streets of Britain, and how it is affected by recent anti-terrorism legislation, here .
12.37pm: Looks like the protesters plan to play a cat and mouse game with the police. No specific meeting point has been announced yet. Instead campers are being told to move out from the swoop points around central London. Peter Walker says about 200 cycling protesters, who have been massing at Waterloo, have been told to ride around the city - heading north over London Bridge. While around another 200 campers are marching from St James\'s Park to Trafalgar Square. Paul Lewis describes it as a "dance around the city".
12.31pm: More on the police presence from Paul Lewis at the Bank swoop. He says the Met\'s Forward Intelligence Teams\' surveillance officers are not wearing their usual riot gear but do have badge-size CCTV cameras attached to their jackets. Paul says: "An officer told me he was in "normal patrolling uniform."
The FITwatch blog has put up downloadable and printable images of FIT officers and suggests protesters "play a bit of FITwatch bingo" and see how many they can tick off.
Meanwhile, Twitter user cctwitz says: "CO11MetPolice [the Met\'s Twitter account] just tweeted guardian article about police photographing climate camp swoop and then deleted it - lol."
12.10pm: Peter Walker at Waterloo says there are now 100 protesters gathered with a "party atmosphere" now building. Protesters are tying flags to their bikes and there\'s a tandem pulling a sound system. You can see photos of the gathering protesters - and the so far low-key police presence - at Climate Camp\'s twitpic page . We\'re still waiting for the text of the main camp\'s location.
12.06pm: A protester has posted a photo of the T-shirts worn by Climate Camp\'s legal advisers who will be on hand to help in the event of clashes with the police. The slogan says: "You do not have to give personal details under any search power".
11.51am: Guardian reporter Peter Walker, who is with the \'Brown Team\' of cycling campers, says there are now around 40 protesters gathered at Waterloo. There are only two police present who told him they were the only ones planning to monitor that swoop point.
One of the campers, Nick, a 23-year-old web designer from north London, told him: "I really hope this will be an inspiring event, a chance for me to meet lots of other people and for people to see that this can be a positive event."
Asked whether he was worried about the policing of the demonstration, Nick replied: "I am a bit nervous, I can\'t lie. But I\'m hoping that after G20 - and the death of Ian Tomlinson - the police have learnt something, and maybe we\'ve learnt something too. Maybe this can be the start of a happy new relationship between us and the police."
Organisers of today\'s demonstrations seem rather less convinced that the police can change their ways, as this YouTube letter to the Met shows .
11.35am: Rowenna Davis and Sunny Hundal are also live Tweeting today\'s protests for Comment is Free ; you can follow their updates here . The official Climate Camp website has a wealth of background info on the movement and multimedia reports. In contrast, there\'s no sign of activity on the Met Police\'s Twitter account - CO11MetPolice - set up specifically for today\'s protests.
11.12am:
Here\'s a map of the swoop locations.
Follow Twitter updates from Climate Camp here . You can watch live video feed of protesters gathering at a park here , and films from Climate Camp TV here .
11.01am: Climate Camp hits London today for the start of a week of protests against the industries and government departments they believe are damaging the environment.
The location of the new camp will not be announced by demonstrators until noon when a text message will be sent to campers revealing where the direct action will be staged. Protesters will make their way there from 7 assembly points or "swoops" – under Waterloo Bridge; outside BP headquarters in St James\'s Square; Bank of England, Threadneedle Street; Stratford Tube; Rio Tinto offices, Aldermanbury Square; and Stockwell Tube.
Our reporting team, Paul Lewis, Peter Walker and Bibi van der Zee, will be joining the protesters as they march to the main camp. You can follow updates from them here and on this live Twitter feed . If you\'re taking part and have updates or photos you want to share you can also contact me on david.batty@guardian.co.uk or on Twitter . The Guardian also has a Climate Camp Flickr gallery where you can post photos online.
The London Climate Camp follows earlier protests at the Drax power station in West Yorkshire , Heathrow airport - against the proposed third runway , the Kingsnorth power station in Kent , and the G20 summit .
Previous protests were marred by heavy-handed policing , with campers beaten and forcibly detained - \'kettled\' - by officers. One of the assembly points for today\'s action - Threadneedle Street - was chosen in honour of Ian Tomlinson , who died after being struck by a police officer in the G20 protests in April. Senior Metropolitan Police officers have promised "neighbourhood-style" policing, with fewer stop and searches and "no ring of steel". But the Met has said all protesters attending the demonstrations today will be photographed .
For more information, please visit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/bl[...]26/climate-camp-climate-change
