Title: Occupy Nottingham: the end of the beginning?
Author: Nottingham Indymedia
Image: ???
Neighbourhood: nottingham market_square
Tags: cuts occupy occupy_nottingham occupynotts eviction
On Sunday 22nd April, Occupy Nottingham packed up its camp in the Market Square after 190 days. This brings to an end a six month occupation in which they have faced down threats from the far-right, extreme weather, the council and random drunken hordes on the weekends. Despite their decision to leave, the campers are keen to “make it quite clear that although we are leaving the Market Place, we are not packing it up or giving in, we realise there is a lot more work to be done and many more people to be reached.”
On the newswire: Occupy Notingham Withdrawal Announcement 21.04.12
Previous feature: Possession Hearing in Court for Nottingham Occupy | Nottingham Occupy Camp get court hearing papers | Occupy Nottingham: Council serve notice | Occupy Nottingham: 100 days and counting | Occupy Nottingham: Xmas and New Year in Market Sq | Occupy Nottingham: Two months in | Student photographer hassled by Notts Police | Occupy Nottingham: No plans for eviction. Yet. | NSAFC Report on @OccupyNotts 36 Days In | Occupy Nottingham: Still there | Occupy Nottingham: Moved but still in occupation | Nottingham Occupation Continues | Nottingham is occupied
One of the key factors in the decision to withdraw was the potential cost of the pending court case. There was a real danger that they might lose the case and named people would then have had to pay legal costs. Additionally, the campers “make no attempt to hide the fact that the past six months of the protest have been hard work to maintain and we are not a little bit tired, many have had to take a break and that has reduced numbers and put more pressure on those remaining, along with the pressure of the court case sapping motivation. Therefore a break and some recuperation was not only needed but well deserved.”
Despite the decision to withdraw, this is not the end of Occupy Nottingham. The group have “decided to use a short break to regroup, plan our next actions and reorganise before we take the campaign mobile, there are many people who are still not aware fully of the issues we are facing, or even of Occupy Nottingham. There are many more places and towns that we could and will visit now, and aim to take our protest throughout the Shire and even to support groups in other City’s.”
Links
Occupy Nottingham website
occupy-nottingham.org.uk
Occupy Nottingham Twitter feed
twitter.com/OccupyNotts
Occupy Nottingham Facebook page
www.facebook.com/occupy.nottingham
