Stories in SQUASH NewsRound: Squatting Spring 2015
– Fight for the Aylesbury
– Sweets Way & Guinness Trust Occupation
– Liverpool Love Activists
– Reclaim Brixton
– Autonomous Nation of Anarchist Libertarians (aka ANAL)
– Elephant & Castle Social Centre
– Brighton Radical Bank
– Peterborough Squatters Autonomy
– Queer Punx @ The Black Cap
– Land Squats – Runnymede Eco-Village & Grow Heathrow
– Global – Ireland & Brazil
– “Homes, Not Jails” & Further Case Studies
Squatting in England and Wales has become increasingly more difficult, unstable and uncertain over the last two and a half years, due in so small part to section 144 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act (s144 LASPOA) which came into force in September 2012. The new law criminalised squatting in empty residential premises, and made what was a civil matter into a criminal offence, meaning that the police and magistrates were now involved. Two years on, SQUASH has released its latest report “Homes, Not Jails” (April 2015), a 28-month review of the effects of s144 LASPOA using freedom of information data and case studies.
Yorkley Court is a land-based occupation on the edge of the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire that has been running as a community farm for almost three years now. It is one of a network of land squats across the country, such as Grow Heathrow (London), Runnymede (Windsor) and Rising Up (Bristol) which are protecting land from unnecessary development and at the same time, engaging in sustainable farming and off-grid living. Yorkley Court, after two years of active campaigning, legal challenges and land defence, is now facing imminent eviction from 1pm, Thursday 12 March 2015 onwards; they will not be leaving quietly, but they also need serious support if they are going to stay put.
Stories in SQUASH NewsRound: June – November 2014