Friends of Canbury Gardens
Canbury Gardens is owned by the people of Kingston and managed by the council. Planing permission was granted to Fairclough homes to fell the 56 poplars. The person in planning who advised the council had bought a flat with a view for £25,000 less than the normal sale price. The council were unable to backtrack on their decision as they, as individual councillors would be surcharged. So despite massive local opposition which arose when people found out their park was being mutilated for posh peoples views, the council refused to change their mind.
A protest camp was set up with tree houses, tunnels, lock-ons and a tower. Protesters had moved in to try and save the trees.
It took Babylon four days to carry out its dodgy deed evicting the protesters, mobalising many dark forces.
Wednesday 25/3/1998
Two people got into the poplars
Eight people tried, seven got up trees at dawn
Eviction team returned
Climbers on ground 8.30am
Two cherry pickers come onto site
Tower being dismantled
Tunnelers digging a shaft along side original shaft
Tree platform boarded eight people taken down
Lunch
All trees evicted
Massive crane brought onto Chestnut end
Trees being felled at the Chestnut end of the park (nr the bandstand)
Suzy removed from bottom of shaft
Main eviction teams left for day
Five people arrested at the fence
Thursday 26/3/1998
Tunnel Shaft shored
First door to tunnel being worked on
Police offer a deal for people to come out of tunnel
Police concerned about the water table
Remaining trees at the Chestnut end removed
Cranes exit from site blocked by protesters
Main eviction teams left for day
Many eyes watching the river water level
Friday 27/3/1998
One person got up a tree
Eviction team returned
Eight wheeler crane bought onto park at the bridge end
Crane dangerously close to tunnel
Tunnelers coming out
Everyone off site
Eviction over
Trees felled
Tunnels filled with concrete
Site cleared
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Kingston upon Thames |
Maria de Vroomen "My first eviction"
Jerrys story
They came early as usual there are eight of us on the platform from the treehouse we can see three small speed boats and a police launch tearing along the river.
The usual shouts and screams from the ground the first five minutes of awakeness deciding everyone's fate for the ensuing eviction. As usual some did not make it. I check in with pp3, bailiffs and police surrounding the site Aarron and I try and give everyone something to eat and drink before the madness starts.
They start on the tower first, we can hear the panic as doors are slammed shut and everyone gets to their places. The siren is being wound again. Climbers are trying to gain access to the long walkway from the planes to the popular Bee is guarding it but its a long walkway and she is getting tired, they send up another climber Bee comes off the walkway I rush across trying to intimidate him, it works he has someone coaching him from the ground.
"Stay there Andrew ,don't move down Andrew",
obviously Andrew hasn't worked for the bailiffs before.
They have scaffolding for the tower they've taken the first two floors. We CB the tower trying to coach Charlie and martin to bail out with the siren they are reluctant to leave.
We try again later.
Its no mean task, the tower is surrounded and they have bailiffs TEARING UP THE INSIDE. The scaffolding has nearly reached the top, Charlie has started the nightmarish task of getting onto the remaining walkway with the heavy siren clipped to him. A bailiff has seen him and is climbing up the outside of the tower he's heading for the walkway cutters in hand, there's some crazy German on the tree walkway he should be on the last tower walkway I shout over to him.
"Get on the fucking walkway, no not that one the one from the tower",
he does not understand the bailiff climber is six foot away from Charlie and the walkway.
I rush across pushing the bemused German onto a smaller tree as I go. Charlie begins to come across the walkway it's too baggy and it becomes all up hill, there's a big cardboard tube hung on the walkway and Charlie can't unclip to go around it, he's getting very tired, the weight of the siren tugging on his clips.
I go to try and help him and start dragging the tube up the slopping walkway to tired I have to let go and go back to the tree Charlie is knackered and so am I leave the tree again and somehow between us we manage to push and pull and eventually both Charlie the siren and me are all back in one tree.
Charlie can't move he's exhausted I ask him to pass up the siren Aarron appears and we clip the siren onto the walk way and together with a very tired but happy Charlie proceed back to the big platform.
In the afternoon they attack the kitchen end, we send other climbers and food down to them. End of the day there are about fifteen of us left. I get down on a, 'move the bus' mission and whiskey.
Out of site I meet OJ and at about midnight we re enter the site, OJ is fucking great and after about two hours we get back in having visited pp3 on the way and got ourselves a bottle of whiskey. About ten others get back in too.
Day two
After a sleepless night we awake. Again our platform is packed me martin Charlie Aaron Chris Mikee and five others big Mick arrives no harness as usual smiling and hanging of the side of the platform.
We start positioning all the long poles we have ready to defend the platform. On the ground they start looking up and pointing planning their attack. We have a cunning plan Charlie suggests swing the tree so that they can't land the climbers from the cherry picker, we decide to practice having got the tree moving five to six foot each way its going good martin reminds us that if we are going to die can we make it when the climbers are actually coming rater than dying in
"a fucking rehearsal"
we all hurriedly agree.
They start coming up with two giant cherry pickers and land climbers in the two trees either side of us we cut the walkway to both trees their climbers start going higher up to rig up their own "swings" The cherry pickers return to the ground one picks up two climbers the other at least four bailiffs
The picker with the bailiffs arrives slightly to the left of the platform and hovers there ominously There is chaos on the platform there are more people arriving to help us out we are totally overloaded.
The second cherry picker is going on up past the platform they are trying to land a climber in the twigs above us at the same time the two climbers on their swings are trying to jump the gap across to us as well. I scramble up the tree past the treehouse into the twigs to try and stop the climber landing from the cherry picker but its too late he already has the height he is right at the top of the tree getting out of the basket I start madly shaking the tree trying to stop him getting out of the basket he starts to get pissed off and calls the picker to go lower as it does he begins breaking of the branches above me I keep wobbling the branches so he can't get out , he starts to lose it
"I've got spikes on and i'll fucking use them so get out of the fucking way"
he shouts.
Down below the treehouse has got boarders from the second picker I half climb half fall down to the treehouse.
Martin is screaming for the handcuffs someone passes them up
"tie them off" he shouts
I take some turns around the tree and for one lovely moment I can see martins smiling face, we've got the fucking picker, a split second later shit the handcuffs break suddenly martins feet start disappearing up the tree there two or three of them above him and they are dragging him out We tie polyprop around his leg and harness and drag him back in
There are three of them in the treehouse and four around the edge of the platform someone shouts
"we're prepared to die are you"
They bang the picker into the side of the platform
Dean asks to get down, he's a local only sixteen and its his first eviction, but the bailiffs can't decide which way they want him to get in the picker eventually they decide that he has to go off the platform and into the treehouse and from there into the picker.
Aaron is trying hand to hand with the leary spiked climber and the bailiff climber seems to be losing it.
We retreat to the netted part of the platform they are all around us three of them in the tree house two climbers either side of the platform and another four on the platform plus a cherry picker banging up against the sides of the platform a bailiff has got Aaron around the neck twisting it and trying to force him forward onto the netting Charlie Martin and others are hand to hand with the bailiffs climbers .
The leary spiky one is on point they are using him to dish out the violence. He has totally lost it they start cutting the supporting ropes of the platform we can feel it dropping underneath us they are all clipped on we are not.
The really leary one makes a grab for me I avoid him but only just. I retreat to the centre of the platform suddenly the whole platform moves as the picker bangs in again someone grabs me from behind I manage to poke my boot into the ladder that the platform is suspended by and grab a handful of netting to stop me being dragged into the picker. The spiky climber is screaming
" break his fucking leg , jump on it, here let me fucking do it "
he has to be restrained verbally by the other bailiffs in the basket my leg is stopping them dragging me out and my hand still has hold of the net.
The leary one is shouting again
"cut his fucking harness off"
I begin to explain to him that my harness is not holding me on and that it is my foot and handful of net that they have to deal with.
One of the bailiffs starts trying to bend my fingers back but adrenalin is compensating. My foot is still in the ladder
"cut his boot off"
the leary one shouts again.
They decide to get a knife and cut my hand out of the net they start to go for my boots.
Enough is enough bail out.
Coffee breaks are an essential part of any eviction. They take it in turns to huddle round the back of a van. In PP3 we went a whole day without coffee until we mannaged to get a flask of hot water sent from the squat. On thing we forgot to install in the 101 was a gas stove.
Synchronise coffee breaks with them and you can have peace till they finish.
Pete's story
Friday morning they came at dawn. The tree fellers started work very early 6am ish. They started by bringing a Matador truck and an articulated lorry on the grass just in front of where the tower was.
I went and spoke to the tunnellers night watch voicing my concerns for the tunnel.
A large crane was bought onto site in order to lift the trees out, they started to measure up the metal track used to spread the weight of the crane.
They were planning on placing it half way between where the tower was and the tunnel entrance. This location was just to the left of Elf's chamber. This chamber had one piece of minuscule shoring.
I went and spoke to the tunnellers night watch again asking if they could stop the crane. The best they were able to do was to get them to start at the furthest end.
At this point I spoke to Justin and Elf and filled them in on the situation above ground. I spoke to the Police and asked if yesterday's offer was still on if the people came out of the tunnel. They said it was but wouldn't allow protesters from the squat to come on site and welcome Justin and Elf out.
A press conference was arranged for 9pm at 9.20pm the tunnellers came out, TV, radio, newspapers and assorted journalists hovered around the top. Justin and Elf gave interviews then processed and released.
In my opinion the sheriff had little regard for life, he did not listen to some advice from the evicting tunnellers and was not in as much control of his own personnel as he should have
been.
To this day we have no idea what happened to the air pumps at the top of the tunnel, these were clearly marked. The evicting tunnellers had no idea where they went, when they connected their air pipes to the air pipes going into the tunnel there were no pumps on the end.
The removal of air pipes leading into a tunnel could be seen as attempted murder or gross negligence.
