THE MOUND THAT ROARED

Brighton’s latest community garden - nicknamed the Mound - successfully fought off a dodgy eviction on Monday. The squatted land, derelict for over ten years, has been occupied by ragged band that no-one is calling ‘the diggers’ (well not yet, give it time).

The managing agents, Hargreaves have tried by hook or by crook to get them off the land, first of all serving them papers under our old friend the Criminal Justice Act. When this failed, Monday saw an incursion by eight heavies.

One gardener told SchNEWS, “It all started at 9am when three guys in a white van showed up to ‘clear the garden’. By eleven this had escalated to six bailiffs, a handful of workmen and seven cops. Some of the bailiffs climbed onto a flat bed truck in order to get over the garden walls, while others nipped around the back and began pulling the fence down. Around fifteen of us surrounded them and saw them off.”

Meanwhile gardening continues with the construction of a raised beds and the beginnings of a wildlife observation pond. For more check out http://brighton-mound.org.uk