denham country park protest
He said that the Denham protest camp, which has occupied parts of the country park for the last six months, was saving dozens of ancient oaks and other trees from destruction. Speaking to the Guardian before the standoff, he said: “Normally they’d get a cherry picker and a few police climbers to get me down but in a river it’s quite dangerous.”. Activists against HS2 have constructed a 30 foot high ‘Beacon of Truth’ bamboo protest tower in the middle of the river Colne to prevent HS2 contractors from building a temporary bridge within Denham Country Park, Uxbridge, West London. The … HS2 says it will reduce journey times between London and northern England and add capacity to Britain’s crowded rail network. Denham Country Park is a flood mitigation area, and the temporary access road will increase flood risk for downstream communities in Uxbridge and Staines. A short walk through the park will lead you to the towpath along the Grand Union Canal. HS2 security guards and National Eviction Team enforcement agents monitor a HS2 Rebellion activist climbing a tree in Denham Country Park in order to try to protect it from works for the HS2 high-speed rail link. The protest at Denham Country Park is one of several along HS2's proposed route, which protesters say is destroying what's left of England's ancient woodlands and their fragile ecosystems. See SWNS story SWCAswampy. Located in Denham Country Park near Uxbridge, the visitor centre is the central information point for the whole of the Colne Valley Regional Park. She said: “Every single day we are witnessing the landscape drastically changing, HS2 is felling trees and irreparably destroying nature before our eyes. When you … HS2 security guards watch an HS2 Rebellion activist climb a tree in Denham Country Park in order to try to protect it from works for the HS2 high-speed rail link on 8 September 2020 in Denham, United Kingdom. ANTI-HS2 activists have built a 30-foot high tower in the River Colne to block contractors from constructing a bridge. This criminal activity, including illegally trespassing on our construction sites, is a threat to the safety of the public and our workers, and places unnecessary strain on the emergency services during the pandemic.”. A short circular walk takes you out along the banks of the Colne and back to the visitor centre via Misbourne meadow. If playback doesn't begin shortly, try restarting your device. “This is a non-violent peaceful protest and we will continue to do this until the government takes its own advice by acting now to stop biodiversity loss which means stopping HS2.”. Major civil engineering work started this year, after the government decided in February to press ahead with the high-speed rail network. Environmental activist Dan Hooper, (Swampy), in the tower, Denham Country Park, Uxbridge, West London. Uxbridge; Outdoor; Parks and Playgrounds; The good thing about large open spaces, like Denham Country Park, is that they’re full of possibilities. The protest at Denham Country Park is one of several along HS2's proposed route, which protesters say is destroying what's left of England's ancient woodlands and their fragile ecosystems. The campaigners say the action is to highlight the “needless and brutal destruction” of Denham Country Park nature reserve in Uxbridge, West London. He said that the Denham protest camp, which has occupied parts of the country park for the last six months, was saving dozens of ancient oaks … There are two car parks, one on the left and one on the right. The court was told that there have been as many as 31 incidents since October 2017 where protestors had chained or attached themselves with locks to machinery or trees to obstruct the … The most serious happened at the end of July (2020) when three police forces and 30 protestors clashed over the felling of a giant Alder tree. Protesters erected the tower holding Dan Hooper, 47, better known by his nickname “Swampy”, in a river in London to block a bridge for a road through a forest for the HS2 train project. Denham Country Park is the gateway to the wider Colne Valley and links to local footpaths, bridleways and the South Bucks Long Distance Route. He has been frequently arrested for environmental activism, including in October at a forest where protesters occupied treehouses to stop HS2 cutting down part of an ancient woodland. Reasons to Stand for the Trees. Eco-activist Swampy sits in bamboo tower to prevent contractors building bridge. At one point, Hoxha had 700,000 reinforced-concrete bunkers built throughout the country to defend against a multifront attack, each equal in cost to a two-bedroom apartment. HS2 said the work was not impacting ancient woodland, and that alternative access routes – needed to divert power lines crossing the path of a new viaduct – would have been more environmentally damaging. Contractors have been attempting to build an access road to relocate electrical pylons for the planned high-speed railway, and had put in place the concrete foundations of the bridge. A 30-foot-high anti-HS2 ‘Beacon of Truth’ bamboo protest tower in the middle of the river Colne, Denham Country Park, West London, on 7 December. Over the past week, Extinction Rebellion activists have marched along the planned HS2 route from Birmingham to London to protest against the construction of the controversial line Stop HS2 campaign manager Joe Rukin said: “Right from the start, HS2 has been a railway fuelled by lies, with grandiose and impossible promises made by those who will profit it. It is part of the 42 square mile Colne Valley Regional Park, and the Colne Valley Park Visitor Centre and cafe are located in Denham Country Park. Larch Maxey, 48, was removed from Euston Square Gardens by bailiffs on Monday after entering the tunnels as part of protests against the high-speed railway line. Denham, UK. The protest coincided with the arrival of the first two giant tunnelling machines to arrive in the UK. Photo: HS2 Rebellion On 8 December, police and security staff cleared an anti-HS2 protest camp in Denham Country Park in West London. to highlight the destruction HS2 will reap and to ask people to Stand for the Trees. The protest at Denham Country Park is one of several along HS2's proposed route, which protesters say is destroying what's left of England's ancient woodlands and their fragile ecosystems. We will update you with the latest in the morning, but until then you can catch up on today’s events here. Environmental activist Dan Hooper, also known as Swampy, is up in the tower, and other peaceful protesters are gathered around the bottom of the tower. Hs2, Politics, Railways. Stop HS2 protester tries to block digger knocking down trees in Harvil Road (Image: Sally Cakebread Denham Against HS2) At present, the protester remains under the digger, and her family are unsure how long the protest will continue for. Swampy said he hoped that the action was “at least slowing HS2 down until the government decides to scrap it”. Denham Country Park. Albania was the last country in Central and Eastern Europe to be caught up in the collapse of communism, introducing its first cautious reforms in 1990. LONDON (Reuters) - Bailiffs abseiling from a crane removed a veteran British eco-activist known as “Swampy” from a shaky bamboo tower on Tuesday built to delay construction on a planned multi-billion pound high-speed train line. The protest at Denham Country Park is one of several along HS2’s proposed route, which protesters say is destroying what’s left of England’s ancient woodlands and their fragile ecosystems. All quotes delayed a minimum of 15 minutes. Environmental activist Dan Hooper, also known as Swampy, is up in the tower, built in the middle of the River Colne in a bid to stop HS2 contractors from building a temporary bridge. Denham Country Park. The two 2,000-tonne machines were manufactured in Germany before being shipped in parts to the UK. Swampy, real name Daniel Hooper, was protesting against high speed rail project HS2 as engineers prepared to build railway tunnels beneath the Chilterns. Anti-HS2 activists have built a a 30 foot high ‘Beacon of Truth’ bamboo protest tower in the middle of a river in Denham Country Park. However, on Tuesday morning, construction crews had set the first half of the steel bridge into place, within a few metres of reaching Swampy’s nest in the river, while security personnel lined the water. On 29th December, Chris Packham will be leading a walk around the Colne Valley (start 12.15 at Denham station, wear boots!) This was a well-supported protest, with a lively, upbeat atmosphere, and a clear message urging the government to scrap HS2 altogether. 8th September, 2020. Visitor Centre. Hooper told Reuters on Monday that HS2 was “an absolutely abysmal project causing deforestation across the country”. Parking: The car park is on Denham Court Drive – a long and windy country road. These are the details for the Denham Country Park: Address: Denham Court Drive, Denham, Uxbridge UB9 5PG. Reporting by Andrew RC Marshall; Editing by Andrew MacAskill/Guy Faulconbridge/Alexandra Hudson. Denham Country Park is a 69-acre public park and Local Nature Reserve in Buckinghamshire and the London Borough of Hillingdon. Activists against HS2 have constructed a 30 foot high ‘Beacon of Truth’ bamboo protest tower in the middle of the river Colne to prevent HS2 contractors from building a temporary bridge within Denham Country Park, Uxbridge, West London. However, whilst the Transport Secretary had won an injunction to stop ‘unlawful’ protests on the construction site, this only prevents some type of protest on the site, and the direct action at Colne Valley has continued. Thames Valley police said two men had been arrested on suspicion of attempted assault in connection with the protest, Swampy – as Daniel Hooper, 47, is best known – said that attempting to complete the bridge with protesters in the way would be “shockingly dangerous”. Two 170 metre-long tunnel-boring machines are being assembled to start drilling the 10-mile Chiltern tunnels in spring 2021. The protest at Denham Country Park is one of several along HS2’s proposed route, which protesters say is destroying what’s left of England’s ancient woodlands and their fragile ecosystems. The activist, from the group HS2 Rebellion, is accused of trespassing and disrupting HS2 construction work at Euston Square Gardens by refusing to leave a tunnel under … Protesters are trying to stop construction at site in Colne Valley nature reserve, west of London, Last modified on Tue 8 Dec 2020 19.44 GMT. The Woodland Trust, a conservation charity, calls HS2 “a grave threat to the UK’s ancient woods, with 108 at risk of loss or damage.”. The construction site beside the M25 is the size of 80 football pitches, with the tunnel’s south portals already created ready for the machines. The protesters walked through Denham Country Park to view the damage caused by HS2, and finished up at Blackford pumping station in Harefield, which faces closure. Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. A “peaceful march” is being planned in Denham Springs to protest the death of George Floyd, the African American man who recently died at the hands of Minneapolis law enforcement. It was a number of more recent incidents at Denham Country Park near Uxbridge that fuelled the controversy. He first rose to prominence in 1996 after spending days in a tunnel system built to stop a planned road in western England. 7th December 2020. Ed)…. Environmentalist Swampy, whose real name is Daniel Hooper, protests at the HS2 construction site in Denham. Justice Holland, ruling on his third case against peaceful protest in the Colne Valley, judged in favour of a “Substantive Amendment Application, submitted just days before by HS2, to extend an existing injunction to control a much larger area of land, public rights of way, and countryside, including parts of Denham Country Park.