Today (18th June), a baliff or lawyer and a locksmith came to Rampart Street to deal with the last paying tenant within the block of properties which have been earmarked for redevelopment. However, they were not coming to kick him out!

The accountant who has had his office in this building for 12 years had renegotiated a contract with the buildings new owner a couple of days earlier. Today, in some strange legal ritual, the baliff or laywer removed the accountant from the building while the locks were changed. Possesion of the building having been legally gained, the accountant signed a new contract for a further nine months tenancy and was given the new keys.

What does this mean for the squatted social centre? Well it means that there are no immeaditate plans to redevelop the block and that there may be a good chance of negiotiating a secure period of time for the project to maintain possesion of the building.

Now is a good time to get involved. There is a large ground floor events space with toilets, and kitchen facilites. There is also space for workshops and offices for campaigning and creative projects so get in touch if you are interested.

Like always, this project needs input and energy. If you have an event you would like to occanise and need a space, then let us know. If you have some time on your hands to come along and make things happen, please do.

Some of the projects all ready off the ground include a regular film nigh, extensive public free shop and free internet access. We hope to be able to get a cafe going so if that interests you, you would ne most welcome. Other stuff planned in the near future includes art exhibitions and juggling workshops but we want to see lots more people taking advantage of the potential here.

So, the rampart is safe for now and could be here for quite a while longer. Now is the time to get involved.