No 46, July 2002
350 march on Titnore!
A SUPERB show of defiance from
hundreds of people has really thrown the gauntlet down in the bid to save
Durrington’s Titnore Woods from the bulldozers. Some 350 people ignored
efforts by police to declare the Protect Our Woodland
(POW!) protest "illegal" and scare them off taking part. The
protesters, young and old, gathered at the southern end of Titnore Lane
outside Northbrook College from about 1.40pm on Sunday May 26. Then at around
2.20pm, as police with loud hailers looked likely to try and order their
dispersal, they moved off en masse up the lane, whistles blowing, banners
flying and chants ringing out of "No more houses - Save our woods!" The
unstoppable mass forced police to divert traffic as the procession travelled
the whole length of Titnore Lane and back, closing the A-road for a couple of
hours. This was a strong-willed but good-natured crowd, as early police
statements in the press admitted. The next day’s Evening
Argus quoted the police as saying: "They were a friendly group who
have made their protest lawfully and peacefully." But while local coppers
may well understand and even sympathise with the residents’ anger at the
plans for a 900-house estate and road widening on green fields and ancient
woodland, there are clearly elements in the police who are openly hostile.
Many people on the demonstration were outraged to find they were being filmed
by police "evidence gatherers" using aggressive "in-your-face" tactics. Why
the need for this if nobody was doing anything wrong? At the end of the
protest, on the A259 roundabout, police decided to arrest one man, a youth and
a woman. Charges against the woman are still pending so we cannot comment
further on this until the case has been heard - or the charges dropped before
it ever comes to court. There were further instances of harassment both before
and after the event. Reports have reached us of people leafletting to
publicise the protest in a supermarket car park being followed and videoed by
a phalanx of police the day before the march and of local residents being
intimidated by constant visits from police demanding to know who was
"organising" the protest. A public manifestation of this hostile attitude has
come in the Worthing Guardian, which seems to be the
police’s chosen mouthpiece - perhaps because, being a free sheet, it has
wide circulation. Friday May 24’s edition, delivered over the weekend of
the protest, carried the huge front page headline "Don’t Walk Into
Trees Trouble", warning that "militant eco-activists will take over the
demonstration". PC Mark Stevens was quoted as saying: "If an undesirable
element takes over, the local people are tarred with the militants’
brush." Faced with the actual reality of hundreds of local people turning out
on the day, PC Stevens still tried to pretend that he had been right all along
and in the following week’s Worthing Guardian rebutted the
statement from POW! that all three arrested people had been local. In the face
of a complaint to the editor by POW!, PC Stevens still refused to admit he had
got it wrong, claiming that by "not local" he meant from Worthing rather than
Durrington!! So how come the police are getting involved in what is really
a battle between local people and property developers? What’s it got to
do with them? It strikes us that this is a classic example of where
upholding "the law" has got nothing to do with upholding justice or telling
the difference between right or wrong. If greedy millionaire developers like
convicted criminal Gerald Ronson go ahead and chop down hundreds of ancient
trees at Titnore Woods they will be, in the eyes of most people, committing a
terrible crime. But, if they have permission from the council, they will be
acting within the law and so, as far as the police are concerned, have to be
protected from the people opposing their scheme - who, although they are in
the moral right, are thus regarded as criminals. The intimidation and
harassment of protesters - ordinary men, women and children out to express an
honestly held view - is nothing new, Sadly it happens all the time. When the
police are behind it, it’s often referred to as the "criminalisation of
dissent". When the Government does it, it’s called a smear campaign -
such as in the case of the rail crash survivor on whom Tony Blair’s spin
doctors wanted to "dig some dirt". The aim of both approaches is identical
and chilling. Anyone who challenges the powers-that-be has to be stamped down
on in any way possible. It’s up to us all to make sure they don’t
get away with it. * Anyone who witnessed the arrests at the Titnore
Lane demo and is willing to give evidence in court is asked to get in touch
with POW! at pow@worthinga27.freeserve.co.uk
Police border on the absurd
POLICE are this week erecting
extra check points around Durringtonia to keep unwanted foreigners at bay.
Said a force spokesman: "We have reports that intruders have been spotted in
our territory who are certainly not local residents, but have been travelling
thousands of yards from as far away as the People’s Republic of East
Worthing. We are implementing a zero tolerance policy towards these alien
elements and will be fortifying Durringtonia’s borders." Among the
measures likely to be introduced are 24-hour door-to-door passport checks and
high-voltage electric fences along the relatively unthreatened western and
northern borders of Durringtonia to prevent incursions from the Ferring Empire
and the United States of Salvington. The Goring Gap is to be mined and the
main border protecting Durringtonia from the hostile hordes of the Worthing
Pact nations is to be boosted by more than 300 new machine gun nests. At the
same time Durringtonians are being advised not to venture into distant foreign
lands as their safety cannot be guaranteed in the wake of recent border
tensions. Said the police spokesman: "We have heard of residents foolishly
venturing into the Far East as far as a mysterious and dangerous place known
only as Lan-Sing. "This area is clearly beyond the limits of civilization as
we know it and residents should be advised that if they proceed any further
along the A27 in an easterly direction they will quite literally drop off the
end of the world."
Crisis looms in Byron Road
WORTHING’S only homeless
hostel is teetering on the brink of crisis, a staff member has told The
Porkbolter. Stressed-out workers are struggling to cope with understaffing,
while vulnerable people are not getting the support they so badly need, she
warned. She came to us in the hope of sparking a badly-needed shake-up, after
pleas for action from staff to the Worthing Churches Homeless
Project fell on deaf ears. The project insists it cannot afford to
improve the situation, but is still pouring resources into other projects in
the town. While the worker is obviously fully behind the project in principle
- that’s why she works there - she highlighted a number of areas that
urgently need attention. Fundamentally, these include what she regards as a
lack of understanding of homeless people by the well-meaning people running
the project. She explained that the front-line hostel in Byron Road, Worthing
is a "clean and dry" institution, which means homeless people face being
thrown out and banned if they fail alcohol or drugs tests. The set-up is
supposed to support "motivational interviewing", she said, but in fact is just
paying lip service to the idea. Instead they are "putting people on the
street rather than talking to them". Twice in the last three months heroin
users in recovery have tested positive for cannabis and been thrown out on to
the street, where they are obviously vulnerable and more likely to return to
their old lifestyle. Finances are another bone of contention, with
undermanning being put down to lack of resources. The project worker explained
that the organisation is paid £270 per resident per week in housing
benefit from the council per person, plus each resident has to pay another
£23 a week from their own benefits. With 14 beds, this adds up to more
than £4,000 a week income, not counting other funding. However
the organisation can apparently only afford to pay one project worker per
nine-hour shift at a rate of £5.38 an hour. The workers are
expected to stay awake all night on this flat rate, with female staff being
left alone in charge of the predominantly male residents - managers are only
present from 9 to 5pm Monday to Friday. The employee said the organisation
insists it cannot afford to pay for more staff. "If that’s the case they
should close down all external operations", she said, pointing to schemes such
as an outreach project, clinic, and the Stepping Stones project in Manor Road.
"If they cannot afford to have at least two staff on duty they should
concentrate resources." She explained that she has to answer the door and
the phone, prepare meals, deal with administration and provide on-demand
counselling. "I can’t do my job properly in these nine hours". As a
result of these stressed conditions, one worker has recently gone sick with
stress and another handed in their notice. People are even asked to work
double shifts, back-to-back, being on duty non-stop from, say, 2pm to 7am, she
revealed. If they question this they are told that the only alternative is to
immediately close the hostel down and turn residents our onto the streets -
"and they know we are not going to abandon it". We are sending this issue of
The Porkbolter to the project. We hope they will read the
comments carefully and that we will be able to report before long of some
useful change. There is no room for complacency. A recent borough council
report (Worthing Guardian, May 31) showed that Worthing is the
second most deprived local authority area in West Sussex. And a report on
research from charity Shelter (Worthing Advertiser, June 5)
warned: "People in West Sussex are at risk of losing their homes owing to
financial difficulties and the high cost of housing." In the light of worse
times ahead, it is clearly vital that the only shelter scheme for homeless
people in Worthing gets its act together - fast.
Missing Asda link?
STRANGE goings-on in the controversy over
Asda/Wal-Mart’s plans for a superstore at Worthing Sixth
Form College. At a meeting with local residents, Worthing council
planning supremo Mike Bleakley revealed that he had requested a "retail impact
assessment" on the scheme by "Chase and Co". This left several people
wondering who these Chase people are. Where better to turn to than
www.chase.com, where we learn: "Chase is the retail financial services
franchise within JPMorgan Chase. The merger of The Chase Manhattan Corporation
and J.P. Morgan & Co Incorporated was completed on December 31, 2000."
Coincidentally there is a certain 1996 news item still handily available to
net surfers on www.cardweb.com. This concerns the launch in the USA of a new
credit card, called the Wal-Mart MasterCard from Chase, which
"aligns the world’s largest retailer with Chase Manhattan, the
nation’s largest bank, and MasterCard." David Glass, president and
chief executive officer of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc, is quoted as saying: "This is
the first time we have allowed the Wal-Mart name to be co-branded" and we
learn how very pleased MasterCard is to "work with such valued partners as
Wal-Mart and Chase on one of the most important co-branding programs ever
launched". So let’s get this straight. Can it really be that Worthing
Borough Council is asking for a report on the impact of Asda/Wal-Mart on the
local area from a US corporation that is proud to be one of Wal-Mart’s
best chums? Surely that wouldn’t be right, would it? * NO to Asda
campaigners are gathering at Worthing Town Hall for a protest and petition
hand-over on Monday, July 1 at 5.30pm. All support welcome.
Movers and shakers
WHAT an extraordinary reaction from Tory
councillor John "Two Votes" Livermore over the way the
Asda proposals may have cost his party the local elections. In a
letter to the Worthing Herald on May 16 he condemned the
"thoughtless and in my view totally irresponsible actions of Worthing
College" in releasing details of the plan before the election, thus making
it a big issue. In other words, he felt they should have hushed up the
plans until the Tories were safely re-elected, thus sparing them the
unpleasantness of being answerable to the electorate for their decisions! But
why would Mr Livermore have expected a political favour on that scale
from the college in the first place? The answer may lie in a reference to the
Tories’ pet "Worthing Together" project in the Worthing
Herald on May 23. This is apparently a "local strategic partnership" involving
"movers and shakers" in the borough - ie the usual old smug ruling
clique. And who is new chairman of this cosy Tory-approved body? Why, none
other than John Robinson, principal of Worthing College...
PORK-SCRATCHINGS
ON the back of TV exposure on Channel
4’s Mark Thomas Product, the Simon Jones Memorial Campaign
has released its new updated video Not This Time - and Worthing is one
of the places it is to be shown. Simon was killed on 24th April 1998, aged 24,
on his first day as a casual worker at Shoreham docks - another
victim of our growing casual labour economy. He was sent to work unloading
cargo inside a ship - one of the most dangerous jobs in the country - with
only a few minutes’ "training". Within hours of starting work his head
was almost severed by the grab of a crane. Said a spokesman for the
Brighton-based campaign: "The growth of casualisation, where people are
forced into low paid jobs with little or no training, no job security, no sick
pay and no holiday pay means bigger profits for companies - and more deaths
and injuries for the people working for them." The video, plus campaign
speaker, can be seen from 7.45pm on Tuesday July 23 in the upstairs function
room at The Downview pub, opposite West Worthing station (direct access to the
room via the side entrance in Downview Road). The campaign has a website at
http://www.simonjones.org.uk or
write to Simon Jones Memorial Campaign, PO Box 2600, Brighton BN2 2DX.
* * *
FOLLOWING the spot of bother on the prom after the England v Sweden game
(bit more trouble than those terrible Titnore campaigners you were so het
up about, weren’t they, PC Stevens?), pub-goers were surprised to
find that evening that they couldn’t be served if they were wearing
England kit or any kind of national badge, including union jack motifs.
What an appropriate way for Worthing to celebrate the golden jubilee
weekend!
* * *
POOR Tim Dice. First his Tory group lost control of
Worthing Borough Council and then he noticed - horror of horrors
- that the flag flying outside the beach office on the seafront to mark the
jubilee was upside down. Thankfully we gather he was able to despatch a
speedy email to ensure the mistake was corrected and Worthing was spared
national humiliation. What would we do without him?
* * *
A REFRESHING alternative to the handful of cheesy forelock-tugging royalist
street parties was the Dub Jubilee and skateboarding event in
Homefield Park. Shame about the chilly weather - let's hope there's another
one soon.
* * *
SHOULD Brighton be made the European Capital of Culture for 2008? You may not
have given it much thought as yet, but a highly thought-provoking leaflet
opposing the suggestion has been published by residents of the city down the
road. Contrasting the very real social problems facing Brighton with the
complacent vanity involved in the promotion of its "cultural" status, the
authors comment: "A stale cake is a stale cake, even if you smother it with
icing and stick a cherry on top." Shades of the palm trees on Worthing
seafront, there... Send SAE to BASH!, PO Box 521, Hove.
* * *
WHY do developers Hargreaves of Rustington seem so confident
they will be allowed to build 90 houses on downland west of Lyons Farm,
Worthing - when a planning application hasn't even been submitted yet? That's
the question from the Beeches Avenue action group, who recently
handed in 250 objections to the area being allocated for development, with
more to come. Any inside info gratefully received, as ever...
* * *
SICK to death of biased coverage of important issues on the TV news? If
you’ve got internet access why not bypass the dodgy middle man and go
straight to the scene of the action with http://www.uk.indymedia.org Meanwhile,
global conspiracy theorists might like to take a look at US site http://emperors-clothes.com
There are no real protesters
ALL protesters are imposters and
therefore should be ignored and reported to the police by upright, law-abiding
citizens, said the Secretary of State for Free Speech and Social
Obedience yesterday. He explained: "Basically, all protesters fall
into one of two categories. Either you have your NIMBY local residents,
selfish and small-minded egotists just trying to shift problems away from
their own neighbourhood at other people’s expense. Or, on the other
hand, you have your outside non-local agitator-type protesters, who get
involved trying to whip up a commotion about local issues that are absolutely
none of their concern. Neither type of protester is acceptable in a
pluralist democracy such as ours and any statement to the contrary is
completely illegal."
Are you local?
THE PORK-BOLTER, set up in 1997, has always
been proud to be a local independent newsletter, but we realise that under new
police definitions, we may not qualify as "local" to your address unless we
are actually kipping on your sofa. Drop us a line at PO Box 4144, Worthing,
West Sussex BN14 7NZ. You can also pay a visit to our website at http://www.eco-action.org/porkbolter
or send e-mail porkbolter@eco-action.org. e-mail
subscriptions are also available.
Printed and published by The Pork-Bolter, PO Box 4144, Worthing BN14 7NZ.
No copyright. By Appointment to Peter Bottomley MP.
and finally ...
Reclaim Your Town, Reclaim Your Life!
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