Still Occupying, Still Fighting

Morning all!

Apologies for the lack of updates on here, and hopefully you’ve not tried to call the site phone any time recently (or hopefully you have), as somehow we have managed to misplace it a week or so ago. We still haven’t found it unfortunately..

But we are still here!

And still open for anyone to come down and visit, or to hold their meetings or activities at. We have a couple of groups who hold regular meetings here, but there’s plenty of space for other groups. As we no longer have a site phone please email us at guinnessoccupation@gmail.com if you would like to come down.

We’re winning the fight – Guinness have rehoused almost all of the ASTs – but there are plenty of reasons to continue occupying this space. We protest the needless destruction of these solid flats to make way for papier mache and glass. We protest the abuse of the term “affordable” and the cleansing of those who can’t afford. We protest the use of guardian companies who allow their guardians less housing rights than tenants. We are a raised fist made from steel and bricks!

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Lastly, as you’ll note the previous post was about our court hearing, we have since received our court order to leave the site. We won’t yet of course, and are waiting for our notice from the court as to when our eviction date will be. Please do feel free to come down and help with occupying to ensure we are ready when the time comes.

Court Tomorrow – 22 June

We are being taken to court by The Guinness Partnership Limited (Guinness Trust) tomorrow (22 June) for a Possession Order for 82 and 84 Elveden House. We will be in the County Court at Lambeth (Cleaver St, Kennington Road, SE11 4DZ) at 2pm. If you’d like to come, then we’d love the support, but more important than any court judgement is the fight in the streets. A Possession Order is not undertaken by the police, but rather by bailiffs and thus can be can be legally resisted. Resistance can take many forms, from barricading inside the flats, to blockading entrances, to supporting from outside the building. We can all play a role in resisting our oppression, the violence of evictions, and the gentrification of Brixton.

We may not know when the eviction will happen, so watch our twitter.

See you soon, friends!

Picket the Council – More Social Housing for Loughborough Park

http://housingactivists.co.uk/guinness-trust-2/picket-the-council-more-social-housing-for-loughborough-park/

Lambeth Housing Activists have called a picket demo for the evening of Tuesday the 16th, when the Lambeth Council meets to discuss the planning of the Loughborough Park Estate, site of the Guinness Occupation.

We will be there to express our opposition to the demolition of perfectly good social housing to make way for (un)affordable new tenancies.

Join us outside the Lambeth Town Hall, SW2 1RW at 6:30pm!

Let’s see a good crowd down there and have our voices heard!

Free Bike Workshop Courtesy of 56a Infoshop

This Tuesday afternoon the lovely folk from 56a Infoshop in Elephant & Castle are holding a free bike workshop at the occupation! Come on down, get checked up, fixed up, and learn some new skills while you’re here.

We can do anything and everything together – whether it’s fixing bikes or fighting corrupt housing institutions!

The bike workshop will take place on the road just outside the estate from 3pm-7pm and if you can see this banner you should be able to see the workshop!

Community volunteers to be evicted by Brixton Green

The volunteers at community centre at Number 6 Somerleyton Road, just next to our occupation, have been told they have to leave to make way for a money making development.

They have been fighting the corruption of Brixton Green for a while…http://www.brixtonbuzz.com/2015/05/brixton-green-condemned-as-local-volunteers-locked-out-of-community-project-in-brixton/
We won’t go! Drop by there to find out about their struggle and offer support!

Guinness Employ Security Violence And Destroy Their Own Flats

It’s been a little while since we posted an update on here. Things have been ticking along nicely, many different groups in the local area have been using the occupied space to hold their own meetings, and this has allowed us to forge greater bonds with groups in the same situation as us. Our campaign against the Guinness Trust continues, as well as our efforts to highlight the abuse of Camelot toward their own licensees.

Due to the interest in this campaign, another group occupied another set of flats in the Loughborough Park Estate. Last night security broke into the flats and destroyed the toilet to deter further occupation. SitexOrbis then came to seal up the flat, and occupiers were only given a chance to remove their possessions after pleading for the opportunity.

Until now the security on the estate have been very passive – despite having massive attack dogs on leads – but obviously the Guinness Trust has put pressure on them to start being less so. In addition to last night’s break-in, there have been multiple accounts now of the security attempting to force the doors of the occupation house at 82 Elveden House, as well as using the dogs in confined spaces to threaten the occupiers. Yesterday security tied cable around the front door in an attempt to trap the occupiers inside 82 Elveden – this is false imprisonment and a huge fire hazard. Thankfully an occupier was outside to undo the cable shortly afterwards.

This use of violence will not deter us. We will keep occupying here, working with ASTs to keep pressure on Guinness Trust, and working with Camelot residents to fight Camelot and their horribly parasitic business model.

Kids’ Mask-Making

Wednesday afternoon we have Picona from B.A.G.A.G.E. taking her usual after-school workshop at the Guinness Occupation.

This week will be mask-making. The materials will be provided (although feel free to bring extras), so come on down and join us at 82 Elveden House, SW9 8NN. Children and adults welcome!

BLOCKADE This Tuesday Morning!

In recent times we have found the blockades to have been very successful, so we’re back at it again!

Shorthold Tenants, Camelot Renters, Secure Tenants, and Supporters! Let’s show Guinness that we’re still not happy with their conduct – not with their treatment of shorthold tenants , not with their usage of guardian companies and their exploitation of the guardians, not with their use of dog units for security, and not with their regeneration schemes that will price-out even some of the secure tenants!

Join at the entrance to the estate, SW9 8NN, at 8:30am, and bring your voices, your banners, and your stories. Let’s work together and keep the pressure up.

Please share widely, and hope to see you down there!

P.S. There may or may not be a march and an action happening after the blockade, let’s keep them guessing!

Stall and Open House

This Sunday afternoon Occupation House will be open to all residents and their supporters and there will be a stall outside.

The aim to collect information about the situation of different people on the estate, most urgently the ASTs at risk of eviction. Although many ASTs have been offered alternative accommodation elsewhere, these places are mostly too small, too expensive and too far away. ASTs are demanding to be rehoused on Loughborough Park Estate and will accept nothing less.

Please come and talk with others about your situation, your needs and your demands. Let’s plan a strategy so that everyone can stay!

Carefree Vacant Property

Film showing: Dutch film investigating the growing number of people living not as tenants but as ‘property guardians’. Come and discuss the experience of living as a  Camelot guardian or having Camelot guardians on Loughborough Park Estate.

Sunday 7pm. Occupation House, Flat 82 Elveden, SW9 8NN.