We had a snug meeting at the Beacon this week as it was much warmer than our last meeting. Here are this weeks announcements and events.
Incinerator action at Bristol court
Community R4C is back in court in Bristol from Monday 2nd – Wednesday 4th March. They are challenging the legality of the award, in 2016, of a new, revised £650 million contract for the incinerator, without any competitive tender, despite the 30% increase in cost to Gloucestershire ratepayers. Our High Court case contends that this secret decision, made without full Council scrutiny partly because of the personal, secret intervention of the GCC Chief Executive, was in breach of procurement law.
Get there in time for a 9.30am start:
Monday 2nd March
Bristol Civil and Family Court
2 Redcliff Street
Bristol
BS1 6GR
Keep supporting actions against HS2!
In the last week, HS2 Ltd have been stepping up their work in the ancient woodlands around Kenilworth, with action being taken to prevent birds from nesting, which we see as a clear indication that they intend to start felling ancient woodland soon.
On Monday 24th February, HS2 Ltd will be closing Cryfield Grange Road where Camp Crackley is located at one end from 9.30 am to 3.30pm for a week, to extend road access to their compound. We do not see how they can do this without cutting down trees in a designated ancient woodland. It is also the case that they are fencing off another ancient woodland nearby, Broadwells Wood.
While there has been a camp in Crackley Woods since October, it lacks resilience to withstand an eviction, and there is currently no protection for Broadwells Wood at all.
Please come and help in whatever way you can.
Announcements
South West Outreach and Actions – Support and Training Event – Opportunity for someone from XR Stroud to attend! This is being held at the Bristol Malcolm X Centre 29th Feb 10am to 6pm. Also same event will be repeated in Llandrindod Wells Sunday 1st 10am to 6pm. Venue for this second event to to be confirmed. Lift available from Stroud available. Please contact us for more information.
Stroud Red Rebels training workshop is scheduled for Wednesday March 11th in Stroud. If people are interested they can find out more by joining the Stroud Red Rebel Brigade Facebook group or contact Rebecca. The training will be 6:30pm to 9pm and booking is essential as placed are limited.
We are preparing for a Saturday street stall in Stroud Farmers market. Flyers being printed for this and there’s a briefing at the beacon at 9 am on Saturday for those who are interested in taking part. More volunteers are needed, please contact us if you are able to help.
Nailsworth Earth Day on 28th March is fast approaching. Volunteers are needed to help talk to the public and with handing out leaflets. Please contact us if you can help.
Samantha is offering a free Workshop for XR members on Sunday 1st March 10am to 2.30pm in Nailsworth. Using a mix of MBTI, NLP and applied neuroscience, she will be looking at how to appreciate our individual differences, understand our own communication styles and develop rapport. The aim is to foster greater connection and mutual understanding both within XR groups and with the wider public with whom we are hoping to engage. If you are interested and would like to apply for a free place please contact us for more information.
Greta Thunberg is coming to Bristol on Friday (as you’ve no doubt heard by now). Please meet at College Green in Bristol for 11am. If you are playing in XR Stroud Samba we’ve been asked to arrive for 9:30 for a rehearsal with Bristol Samba.
From Monday 2nd March at the beacon they will be exploring action on plastics, recycling rubbish and the incinerator. This kicks off with an exhibition of photos by John Playfoot called Hungry for truth. This is a photographic exhibition about one man’s protest against the Javelin Park incinerator using a hunger strike. The exhibition opens on 2 March 7 to 9 pm, and will continue to be open until the 27th March.
Save the date – Sunday 15th March is the NVDA (Non Violent Direct Action Training) train the trainers event if anyone is interested in learning how to train others on this topic please contact us.
Working groups
We completed the meeting by breaking out into our working groups to discuss actions. Due to the nature of talking about actions you will need to attend meetings to know more about the latest on:
- Fossil fuel divestment
- Outreach and membership
- Nailsworth earth day