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From: "SchNEWS" (schnews@gn.apc.org)
To: "SchNEWS Subscribers" (schnews@gn.apc.org)
Date: Sun, 29 Nov 1998 18:02:12 +0000
Subject: SchNEWS 193, 27 November 1998

AROOGA - M.A.S.H UP (BNRR)

Evictions of squats at the Birmingham North Relief Road began officially last Tuesday, as police, paramedics, the full team of Welsh bailliffs and Manchester security surrounded Moneymore Cottages and began assembling a compound and press tower, giving a press conference and verbal warning to the activists. A Highways Agency spokesman said to expect a 'low-key 'eviction in their campaign to build a 6 lane toll motorway through the West Midlands Green Belt As SchNEWS went to press there was access to the site and Greenwood camp, but media access has been blocked with BBC Midlands and Birmingham Live having their press passes confiscated and being banned from site!

Construction of the 27 mile road is due to start in January 1999 and will cost £700 million to destroy miles of Green belt, 2 sites of special scientific interest, archeological sites, sites of ecological interest, homes and farmland.

Codename 'Operation Encompass' is taking the issue of safety into a new realm with dialogue between police and protesters resulting in the threat of manslaughter and aggravated criminal damage charges with potential life sentences for activists should anything go wrong in the tunnels! Whilst campaigners have dubbed this as scaremongering, police state that the only way to absolve their criminal liability in the event of an accidental injury is to avoid the risk entirely.

Midlands Against Super Highway (M.A.S.H) have assembled specialist treehouses, tunnels, bunkers and towers, and believe that although the possible charges would be very difficult to prove, if they do pull this one it will have considerable consequences on the non violent direct action tunnel tactics implemented by us in this country.

NOW IS THE TIME to step up the campaign large stylee to Britain's first private toll motorway the scale of Newbury or Fairmile. Get down there for a bit of the old eviction fever.....NOW.......

Camp Mobiles - 07970 301978  /  07971 354045


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