Oxford Culture Feature Archive

"They left the land to rot, covered in trash and needles. They hope the buildings will fall down, so they can justify flogging to the highest bidder [...] Reading Borough Council call it development, regeneration. We call it gentrification, exclusion."

In Reading, a group of local activists and residents have reclaimed a plot of land left empty by the local council, transforming it into an attractive community garden. After months of hard work, they went public with banners and door-to-door flyering, advertising the opening day and encouraging the neighbours to see the garden as common land for all to enjoy. The councils response? Injunctions and threats of eviction. Undeterred, the group pushed ahead with the opening day, which was a great success.

A few legal hearings later, the council have their eviction orders, and are expected to try and evict the garden and adjacent squatted building on Wednesday 20th June. Help is needed to resist the eviction - meet 9:30am at the garden.

Meanwhile, in Oxford, locals have turned an area of derelict garages into a similar community space - in this case, with the permission and help of the local council (undoubtably because access issues make the site unsuitable for developers).

They held their official opening on Saturday 16th, also a varied and wonderful community event. In a sickening counterpart to events in Reading, council bureaucrats and the local Blairite MP used the project as cover to prop up their own crumbling reputations, to the discomfort of many of those present.

[ Reading: eviction callout | eviction hearing | detailed report | injunction hearing + demo | opening day report + pics | opening announcement | local mainstream coverage ]
[ Oxford: opening day pics | opening announcement ]

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On Saturday 25th November a host of anti-consumerist actions went off across Oxford shopping centre. The day started with an info-stall, big-brand-bowling and anti-capitalist christmas carols. A congregation of shop-worshippers did the rounds, while another group left subverted till receipts in interesting locations.

As evening fell Breach of the Peace samba band reclaimed Cornmarket to the cry of 'stop shopping, start living', merging beautifully with a local Faslane 365 anti-nuke group who were out and about doing a series of die-ins. Finally a 'merry band of Oxford pixies' reported having cheekily relabelled goods in several chainstores.

Meanwhile many other events took place across the UK.

[ reports: Samba and die-in | Shop worshippers | Relabellers ]
[ related: BoP samba | Faslane 365 | UK feature | radical carols ]

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Oxford activists Hamish Campbell and Richard Hering from Undercurrents have kick-started a radical TV station called OfflineTV. It uses the revolutionary new peer-to-peer open source project Democracy Player.

OfflineTV is innovative because it brings together a number of tried and tested technologies (P2P, RSS, broadband) to make a really user-friendly internet TV interface. It has the capacity to scale from hundreds to thousands and hundreds of thousands viewers in full-screen quality. The other crucial thing is the content: the best of politically radical underground video on direct action, social justice, and the environment. This version is now beta-testing.

Two channels are already up and running :

OfflineTV – a quality-controlled screening of the best of what’s out there in radical cyberspace.

News from the Balkans - the first regional network of what will hopefully be many similar networks around the world. NfB gives a radical voice to this region which is so mis-reported by the corporate media. This project is being launched out of the video workshops in the EYFA Art and Activism caravan, but we hope to create a permanent network of radical film makers posting regular reports.

To watch these channels, download Democracy Player

Then search for Undercurrents inside Democracy Player and subscribe to each channel.

And calling all video activists: if you’ve got a funky report about anything anywhere, post it to the Scratch Channel

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Update (31/05/06): The eviction took place today. A large number of cops and bailiffs swamped the site at around 6am. They later brought a crane in to move boats back into the water, and started work on a fence along the waterfront. Some people managed to hold things up by climbing on rooftops, or getting in the way of the craning of the boats, and at least 2 people were arrested. [ photos ]

Update (15/05/06): A small group of bailiffs came and photographed the perimeter of the site around lunchtime today.

Boaters occupying Castle Mill boatyard in Jericho are facing an eviction sometime in the next three weeks, with a first visit from the bailiffs expected this Monday (15th May).

The yard, an indispensable facility for Oxford's narrowboat community, has been occupied since July last year to block British Waterways' attempt to sell the site on to property developers. The emphasis has been on keeping the site going as a working boatyard, and 8 boats have now been craned onto the yard for essential repairs and maintainence, something that no other yard in the area can do.

Despite boaters raising huge public support, defeating the original plan by Bellway Homes to build housing on the site, getting the city council to pass a motion of support and pointing out British Waterways' obligation in law to provide vital services for Oxford's residential boaters, the eviction and development plans are still ploughing on with a mindless momentum of their own, probably fuelled by Oxford's high property prices.

If you would be able to help out in the event of an eviction, join the phone tree by texting your number to the site mobile (07788 915545), emailing boatyardeviction@yahoo.co.uk or ringing the site office (01865 559481). Or get down to the boatyard in person!

[ latest report | Campaign Website | Other ways to help ]
[ old reports: Bellway plan defeated | Boatyard occupied ]

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Hooray! No cars! All the fun of a reclaim the streets action but no hassle from police! Despite the day's greyness Oxford's cultural diversity was celebrated in all its multi colour fabness. The freedom of the streets came to East Oxford in an organised fashion this year celebrating the theme of the 'Earth'.. with everyone dressed up as hippies with lots of green and flowers everywhere.. I even spotted some people dressed up as vegetables.. All with the exception of the cheeky 'G8 leaders' who made a re-appearance to celebrate capitalism and poverty only as they know how, with a brief stop to bow down and worship at Tesco's on their way..

There was some great music to be heard from all walks of life, with artists and performers from the local community and from overseas too... with some specially sponsored graffiti above some local shops to jazz it all up and remind us of a great day had by all.

Check out the main carnival website for more info and photos.

[ main web page ] [ photos: 1 | 2 (lo-res / hi-res) | 3 | G8 leaders ]

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Update (11/03/05): The planning enquiry is ongoing and will continue on 16th-17th May. Meanwhile British Waterways have served a notice for repossession of the site. More details here.

This historic boatyard in the heart of Jericho is about to be closed if the planning enquiry (8th March ongoing) finds in favour of British Waterways and Bellway Homes, (yes you guessed it - more luxury apartments are being planned).

This site has been a boatyard for over 150 years, and continues to provide an essential service for residential and pleasure craft. If this closes, it will force boatowners to travel a day each way to get their MOT equivalent (can you imagine the furore if car drivers were made to do a similar thing?). It is even more essential for emergency repairs as it is the only boatyard in the region which has a crane lift to clean and repair hulls.

[ Reports: 1 | 2 ] [ Video | Boatyard pics ]
[ Campaign Website | Proposed Development | Online Petition ]

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Beautiful street art is popping up all over Oxford. Here's a roundup of the latest pieces. Graffiti is easy (check out the sites below for ideas). Anyone can pick up a piece of chalk - express yourself!

[photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | latest]
[ stencils tutorial | OSI | Wooster collective | war graffiti ]

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The first cafe night at the OCSET (new oxford social centre, 220 Cowley Road) took place last night, April 13. Organised as the first of what will be many such evenings, yesterday's cooking affinity group produced mountains of tasty vegan and vegetarian food for the 30-40 people who showed up to complete the friendly and cheerful atmosphere.

We sat at candlelit tables and drank from crystal wine glasses to enjoy the two-course meal [pictures]. One such happy table sat on the pavement outside, giving passers-by an opportunity to see the positive purpose of the OCSET space. Children and pets felt very welcome. Diners contributed a small donation and/or helped to cook, serve and clean.

OCSET is intended as an open space for organising events, of which the cafe is just one, and welcomes everyone's planning and ideas. More cafe evenings are set as groups come together to run them; the next one will be on Tuesday, 20th April, 7:00pm. Skip TESCO, eat at OCSET!

Open Office Invitation!

Also, an office and meeting room for free community use is to be opened at OCSET. We hope to be able to connect ADSL (broadband fast internet connection) soon. To get the office kitted up, what we need now is donations of gear (CPUs, accessories, etc, etc); just drop it in at OCSET.

Oxford indymedia will be running the office space for now, so if any community group would like to use it for a meeting, just contact us by e-mail at imc-oxford [at] lists.indymedia.org, or contact OCSET directly at oxsocial [at] linuxmail.org .

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OCSET, the new Oxford Social Centre is now at 220 Cowley Road. Come along!

The office space that has been created in the new oxford social centre is still mainly empty at the moment. It would be perfect for grassroots activist groups looking for a place to meet, etc., and as a space to organise workshops, training, etc. We hope loads of groups will feel able to use OCSET.

The main meeting area would be excellent for workshops, social events, screenings, cultural and artistic activities, etc. Workshops for kids after school or dancing lessons and meetings can be held there too. Other ideas include an alternative library, an infopoint for activism, and many more - it's open to anyone who wants to get involved! Just drop in and arrange a time; there's a calendar on the wall. Bring your own ideas!

Events planned this week:
See the above calendar or the one on the wall in OCSET.

People there need loads of things but mainly more people! Also computers and tools to fix things, sofas to sit on, sofabeds, big cooking pots, plates, cups, food and carpets and bookshelves and the books to go on them. People at OCSET can be reached by email on oxsocial [at] linuxmail.org .

Use the space or lose the space!

Reports: [1] [2] | Pictures: [1] | OCSET (Oxford Social Centre) website: http://free.hostdepartment.com/o/oxsocial/ | General info about squats: Advisory Service for Squatters

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Cowley Road Carnival 2003 took place in Oxford on Sunday 15 June.

A perfect day! Colour, music, dancing, food, fun in the sun; a diverse day in a diverse place!

The rainbow procession started at 1pm, this was followed by music in the 2 stages and skate zone, healing area, circus area, childrens activities, storytelling, community stalls, food from all over the world.

see reports with pictures 1 | 2 | 3
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