Camp Bling

Media

Press release:

 

Camp Bling ‘Save Priory Park!’ road campaign

 

Thursday 30th April 2009

 

Contact Camp Bling directly on 07866 967601

 

Or e-mail camp.bling@yahoo.co.uk

 

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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Camp Bling announces 'the end' as road scheme stopped.

 

Long running road protest and counter-cultural campaign site Camp Bling, based in the middle of Southend-on-Sea, Essex, is set to be decommissioned by the summer, after the long awaited announcement that the controversial Priory Crescent road widening has now officially been cancelled. (1)

 

Members of the camp met with Council leaders last night with a view to resolving the situation, after the publication of an open letter from Transport Councillor Anna Waite, stating that £5m in central government funding would be spent solely on the Cuckoo Corner roundabout, with possible junction improvements - but no widening - to follow at the Prittle Brook industrial site at a later date. (2)

 

As a result, campaigners intend to honour their public pledge to clear and vacate the camp, now that their objective to stop the road has been met completely. It is expected that it will take a number of weeks to fully return the East Saxon king's burial to its former condition, with all structures and materials on the site to be removed by the group, with the objective of incurring no cost to the local taxpayer.

 

Speaking from the camp Ginger said, 'We would like to thank each and every one of the people who have been involved, not just with Camp Bling, but also with the ongoing campaign which ran from 2001 in opposition to the scheme. It's not every day that you get to be part of an effort to stop a £25m road widening, with the added opportunity to warn people of the culmination of environmental and social crises that we now all face.'

 

'For many of us this has been our first taste of an alternative, lower impact, and more compassionate lifestyle. We have shared our experiences - both good and bad - along the way, and often got people to acknowledge the real choices that we all have. It is time for everyone to confront reality, as western industrial society continues to overshoot the ecological limits of the Earth.' (3)

 

People are still welcome to visit the camp whilst decommissioning is underway, and are also encouraged to check out some of the alternatives at: www.campbling.org

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ENDS.

 

NOTES TO EDITORS:

 

(1) Camp Bling was first set up by local activists on 23rd September 2005. For more info about both the camp, and the long running campaign, go to: www.campbling.org 

 

(2) See full contents of letter at:

http://www.southend.gov.uk/news/default.asp?id=2835

 

(3) Climate, Peak Oil, Overpopulation, Mass Extinction, Overconsumption, etc.

 

 

Press release:

 

Camp Bling 'Save Priory Park!' road campaign

 

Tuesday 13th January 2009

 

Contact Camp Bling directly on 07866 967601

 

Or e-mail camp.bling@yahoo.co.uk

 

 

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE.

 

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Camp Bling prepares for Priory Crescent go ahead.

 

‘Prepare yourselves for large scale direct action in defence of the Earth.’ That is the message from activists at Camp Bling, road campaigners, and local residents, as approval for recommending funding of the controversial Priory Crescent road widening in Southend-on-Sea is expected to be given at a meeting of the East of England Regional Transport Forum this Friday. (1)

 

Contrary to widespread belief and recent comments from Southend council leader Nigel Holdcroft, the project has not been scrapped, and the local Conservative group headed by him are pressing ahead in the face of virtually total opposition from across the board, including within the council chamber from the other political parties who have vowed to scrap it. (2)

 

It is understood that £7.5m of central government funding is scheduled to be made available in two blocks from as early as April 2009, with the only outstanding requirement then being for concurrence from the Department for Transport which would respond to the finalised regional guidance to be provided by late February, and a council vote to formally approve the business case request for funds.

 

Speaking from Camp Bling, Ginger said, ‘we feel we have done pretty much all we can to both stop the road and provide an alternative view on the state of the planet. No doubt about it, if the go ahead is given then there will be anarchy on Priory Crescent which will be completely beyond our control. People are likely to arrive from far and wide to stop the destruction.’

 

The recent ‘emergency relaunch’ in September 2008 to address environmental catastrophe as it unfolds and accelerates, and new website: www.campbling.org have been well received, drawing ongoing attention from around the world with the message that fundamental and radical lifestyle change is needed more than ever. (3)

 

Ginger added, ‘future generations will look back at the people like those behind the Priory road scheme, and wonder what stopped them from making the simple connection to the radical changes that we now urgently need to make. This could still be the end of the road and a new beginning if the right choice is made, but we are running out of time.’

 

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ENDS.

 

NOTES TO EDITORS:

 

1) Details for the East of England Regional Transport Forum, regional funding proposals, and forthcoming meetings (16th Jan/10th Feb) can be found at:

 

http://www.eera.gov.uk/meeting-and-events/regional-forums/regional-transport-forum/

 

2) The latest proposals were first put forward in 1998, and are now solely supported by the Conservative group, though the scheme has a history originally dating back to the early 1970’s.

 

3) A significant number of people have signed up for direct action via the Camp Bling 'beat the bulldozer pledge': www.campbling.org/bulldozerpledge.htm

 

Press release:

Camp Bling 'Save Priory Park!' road campaign

Wednesday 17th September 2008

Contact Camp Bling directly on 07866 967601

Or e-mail camp.bling@yahoo.co.uk

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE.

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Camp Bling announces emergency relaunch on third anniversary.

'The global situation has changed dramatically since the protest site was first set up specifically to stop the road - both in terms of the overall environmental impacts and accelerating pace.' (www.campbling.org) 

Protesters and supporters at Camp Bling will mark a third full year of occupation to stop the controversial Priory Crescent road widening on Tuesday 23rd September 2008 with an emergency relaunch to address environmental catastrophe as it unfolds and accelerates around the world.

The camp are set to go live with new website: http://www.campbling.org on the anniversary date, to support their objective to stop the road widening, whilst at the same time taking a dramatic new turn to discuss critical issues such as consumer culture, peak oil production, mass extinction, and the appropriate response to these and other crises. (1)

Resident Gavin said, 'we could not have predicted how quickly the world was going to change when we first set up Camp Bling three years ago. Now we feel compelled to address the fundamental need for lifestyle change during the coming crash, as western society overshoots the ecological limits of the earth.’

Latest member Paul added, 'funding towards the £13.5m Priory Crescent scheme is unlikely to be granted to the Council before 2011. A further three years defending the site will provide ample opportunity for us to begin to push a far more radical agenda. We have always walked the walk - now is the time for us to start talking all about it.’ (2)

People are invited to visit both the virtual world of the new website, plus the real one of the road protest as the Blingers dig in for a fourth winter, with a comprehensive revamp and ongoing building work planned, and support therefore still very much required from the local community.

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ENDS. 

NOTES TO EDITORS:

1) See 'Tipping points' page at http://www.campbling.org/ for latest background data and definition of peak oil theory.

2) Southend Borough Council latest Priory Crescent cost estimate of £11.5m presented to Department for Transport does not include £2m already spent to date.