Nice one, folks. Good work.

After all the problems and set backs, today we finally signed a legal agreement for some land on which to hold an "eco village". The space is still subject to tests, but so far so good.

The radical convergence in Stirling is happening!

We will be sharing the space with People and Planet, who will be hosting a student activist village and we are working alongside them to provide a safe and lovely space for all to enjoy.

We still need loads of help. Things are going along swimmingly with the neighbourhoods but we need a more people for set up and build site wide stuff we still need more tatting to be done – we specially need loads more timber and buckets, tools would also be handy. We really need more alt tech as well. If all neighbourhoods could contact to say what they are bringing structure wise it would be splendid.

The clanger (there’s always a clanger) is the TAKE DOWN.

Our contract states that we must be off the site by Tuesday the 13th at 9am. We have already negotiated for an extra day (they originally gave us two days) and they have contractors arriving the next day to start making a cricket pitch. Obviously this is a bit tricky and will need all hands on deck, so everyone who can possibly stay to help, please do! There will be a big ol’ party somewhere after the hard work.

In solidarity
The convergence crew

***=========***

CALL OUT for set up and take down crew for the Hori-zone eco-village convergence space.

Hello to all you handy people.

We are in need of people that will help with SET UP and TAKE DOWN of the HoriZone campsite. We are looking for 50+ people for each case.

SET UP: 25th June - 1st July

We are calling for all those who are able to come to the Stirling area to help with setting up the infrastructure for the site. We would be asking you to join existing site collectives, which are focused on specific areas of work.

If you think you might be able to help please get in touch on  site_set_up_crew@yahoo.co.uk

Let us know when you will be arriving and any skills you have, if you have no particular skills we still need you. If you're already coming to set up a space etc but can still be around to help with other stuff please contact this email. If you can bring any tools etc that might be useful let us know.

TAKE DOWN: 9th - 15th July *** NOW 13th July (see above)

If you can't make it up early but can stay around after the summit we also need people to take down all the structures and infrastructure and ensuring the site is spotless.

If you think you may be able to help with this please email  take_down_crew@yahoo.co.uk Again, let us know when you will be arriving and how long you can stay and any skills you have. Also let us know if you can drive or have access to a vehicle, as we will need to be shipping loads of tat away.

Look forward to seeing you!

***=========***

Below is an invitation to the HoriZone please circulate as widely as possible, to all lists your on and even the ones your not...

Hori-zone

A zone of self-organisation, horizontal decision-making, ecology and autonomy in action.

This is an invitation to a radical convergence in rejection of the G8 summit.
This one of the many projects of the Dissent! network.

While the G8 leaders hold their summit, hidden away in a golf course hotel, a fortress protected by barbed wire and patrolled by thousands of police, we will be presenting real alternative ways of organizing in an open and participatory way, inviting all to take hold of their own lives and take a part in the creation of their own futures.

Convergence 2005 invites all those interested in exploring radical non-hierarchical decision-making and autonomy in action to come to an eco village, camping and convergence site near Stirling, Scotland. The Hori-Zone will be a space for meeting, planning, for conspiring, for practicing horizontal organizing and consensus decision-making. A place to experience sustainable systems that do not bleed our planet dry. A place for building the foundations of the world we know is possible.

The zone is open to all those who wish to see a world free from the shackles of power and who wish to start laying the foundations of a peaceful, just and ecologically sustainable society in the here and now.

The site will operate on a ‘neighbourhood’ system, with people living eating and meeting together. Each neighbourhood will strive for self-sufficiency, in both political and practical terms, but will also contribute to the running and well-being of the entire site. All neighbourhoods will form part of the whole eco-village.

Come, and share your music, your art, your skils, your joy

Bring a tent and sleeping bag (and a sleeping mat if you can), good shoes, map, warm clothes, waterproofs and suntan lotion – you never know!

Hori-Zone will be a place where we eat, sleep, dream, live, love and enact our resistance.

For more information and to register:
e-mail  info@g8convergence2005.org

Em, have i missed something or have you yet not actually said where its happening - i mean if your asking for all this stuff shouldn't you tell people where it's gottta go to - now that you've got a site

or do we text on a yet to anounced phone number the night before?
come on guys - step out of the shadows - it's late in the day

love and smash the G8
from a possible villager

The location of the camp is not secret, it was feature on news in Scotland, and has been decscribed in open meeting.

It is disused farmland once call Burrough Meadow, now marked for development. It has beutifull views of the Ochil hills. A ruin of Cambuskenneth Abbey across the river. Stirling Castle as well as the Wallace Mounument in sight.

I would advise anyone who can to go for a walk in the area and the Ochils before the summit.

 http://silver.j12.org/links.htm

G8 protest camp organisers outline plans
20 June 2005 17:58
 http://scotlandtoday.scottishtv.co.uk/content/default.asp?page=s1_1_1&newsid=8066

(see website for tv news report)

The organisers of a massive G8 protest camp near Stirling spoke about their plans for the first time today. As Scotland Today revealed last week, an alliance of groups is trying to set up a site with enough room for 5,000 people, 20 miles away from the summit at Gleaneagles.



The protesters say the camp beside the River Forth will offer a glimpse of a better world - an environmentally friendly eco-village. The site at an old farm could take up to 5,000 people.

Camp organiser Phil Batchelor said: "We consider ourselves to be very responsible organisations, we're trying to build a very peaceful site here to demonstrate positive alternatives to the G8. We really don't expect any trouble or anything that would disrupt the lives of people in Stirling."

The camp will also be a base. On its website, one of the main protest groups says: "Dissent! feels it is possible to gain a major and inspiring victory against global capitalism by directly shutting the G8 down by blockading the roads...while other groups go over the hills to enter Gleneagles."

The same site says the final tactics would be worked out within the camp. This site would bring thousands of G8 protesters within 20 miles of Gleneagles. The hotel is over the Ochil hills there to the northeast. To the police, it also has the distinct advantage of there being only one way in and out of the sight. They will be able to monitor the protesters as they come and go.

The organisers Scotland Today spoke to today played that down, saying they did not know about what else was being planned. They do have an ally - the chairman of the nearest community council is a former member of CND.

Alistair Raeburn from Cambuskenneth Community Council said: "I think it's going to be in somebody's yard, and why not? In a personal level I have some sympathy with what they're doing, so I don't see any reason why it shouldn't be here. What strikes me though that if Bush comes into Prestwick airport, he's on the flight path to Gleneagles from here, so so he might very well see the village from the air and appreciate what he's coming to."

The local council will decide whether to give the camp the go-ahead on Friday.

------------------

Stirling set to host temporary campsite for G8 protesters
15 June 2005 17:58
 http://scotlandtoday.scottishtv.co.uk/content/default.asp?page=s1_1_1&newsid=8012

(see the weblink for tv news video)

Twenty acres of publicly owned land beside Stirling Albion football ground is set to become a temporary campsite for 5,000 G8 protesters. Stirling Council has reached and agreement in principal, to lease the land to an alliance of campaigners.



The protesters are calling it a rural convergence centre - to everyone else it will be a temporary campsite and a base for their activities during the G8 summit. The potential site lies behind Stirling Albion's Forthbank Stadium. An alliance of environmental and peace groups want to set up an eco-village with room for 5000 people.

The land on Borrow Meadow Farm belongs to Stirling Council, which has agreed in principle to lease it to the protesters. Its chief executive said the protesters had been close to signing deals with private landowners but twice their plans fell through at the last minute. They came to the council asking if they could help.

Keith Yates, chief executive of Stirling Council said: "We're aware people will be coming in any case. The issue is, is it better to have a planned site where 5000 people can spend time during the summit than a series of random camps around the area. I think the feeling is it's better to have a camp on a planned basis."

Councillors will decide next week if the camp should get the go ahead. If it does, the protestors will travel from the site to demonstrations round Scotland and 20 miles away at Gleneagles. Today veteran peace campaigner Tarqi Ali backed protestors who want to march past Gleneagles on the opening day of the summit, saying: "There have been massive demonstrations against the Iraq war, a million and a half in London. No violence at all, absolutely nothing, no tension with the police. And the same thing could happen here."

It is being claimed that police opposition to the march is political. SNP leader Alex Salmond said: "It's my belief that the decision was taken by the Foriegn Office and the Home Office, not by the chief constable himself."

Tony Benn, the chairman of Stop the War, said: "It would be a very dangerous thing to say we can't have a demonstration because of the inconvience."

In Stirling the protesters will have to meet a series of conditions before the camp is given permission. Inevitably there will be concern about this plan, opinion in Stirling will be divided. But the chief executive of the council clearly believes that this single site is the best option not just for the protestors, but for the public as well.

Eco Village

 http://www.stirling.gov.uk/index/council_homepage/g8_summit/g8_eco_village.htm

Since the beginning of the year officers from Stirling Council have been in discussion with various groups who wish to hold alternative events in response to the G8 Summit at Gleneagles. So far negotiations on two privately owned sites have fallen through and the Council is now in discussions with these groups to allow them to use land on a site earmarked for development at Forthbank, on the outskirts of the City.

An application was received on 14 June 2005 from Convergence 2005 to run a week-long eco-village and campsite for 5000 people on the site. The eco-village will be managed and stewarded by Convergence 2005, and bookings for the site to be made via the internet.

The Regulatory Functions Panel will meet on Friday 24 June to consider the application for a licence to run the week long eco-village and campsite.

Cambuskenneth, Riverside and Polmaise Community Councils have also been informed of the application and seminars will be held for the businesses in the Springkerse and Forthbank areas on Wednesday 22 June.

If approved, the site will be made available to Convergence 2005 following health and safety and licensing conditions being met and they will be wholly responsible for the stewarding and the operation of the site.

This site has been selected as it poses the least possible disruption to residents, business and visitors to Stirling. It is bounded on three sides by the river, has a main road running alongside giving good road links to and from the campsite to the motorway network.

Keith Yates, Chief Executive “We are aware that individuals and groups will be coming to Stirling during the week of the G8 summit. We are recommending this application is accepted as we believe this site will cause the least possible disruption to residents and businesses in Stirling. We have had regular multi-agency meetings with this group and they have fully co-operated with all our requirements. They are keen that this site is seen as a demonstration of an ecological lifestyle and we have been reassured by their commitment managing the site on sound ecological principles.”

The eco-village will divided into zones and will include a green zone and peace zone. There will be a performance area, with noise level limits set by Environmental Health.

The campsite will include an exhibition of alternatives to current energy sources and will be powered by solar panels, wind generators and portable generators which run on bio-diesel – a vegetable oil based fuel.

If the application is approved the site will operate for a week from Sunday 3rd July 2005.

Eco-village camp licence could be scrapped over security row
DAMIEN HENDERSON June 23 2005
 http://www.theherald.co.uk/politics/41771.html

ANARCHIST G8 protesters have "banned" police from the closest official campsite to Gleneagles – a move which could lead to plans for the facility being scrapped.

About 5000 people are expected to camp at a specially designed "eco-village" south of Stirling if a licence is approved by councillors tomorrow.

The Convergence 2005 Collective campsite is expected to accommodate the most radical elements in the protest movement, some of whom are planning road blockades and other events to disrupt the meeting of world leaders beginning at the Gleneagles Hotel on July 6.

But a "no police on site" policy proposed by Dissent!, an anarchist network which is helping to establish the facility, has caused alarm among police and thrown the licence application into doubt.

Organisers have warned that thousands of people travelling to Scotland will resort to camping illegally in farmers' fields if the official campsite falls through. The facility is due to be located on land owned by Stirling Council.

The Dissent! plan to prevent police access was discussed at a meeting in Glasgow earlier this month. Members discussed having a police presence and said they would try to persuade any victims of crime to meet police officers off-site.

However, a "last resort" proposal to escort police on to the site met with fierce resistance and was not adopted.

Phil Jones, a campaigns worker with CND Scotland, accused police of having a "macho" attitude in their discussions with protesters.

He said: "It would be incredibly provocative for police to enter the campsite uninvited. The nature of the groups who will be there is very hostile to police, so we're saying it's not sensible (for police) to expect to walk on and off the site."

An agreement that police and local authority environmental inspectors would be met and accompanied by stewards at the site was reached with Stirling Council, Mr Jones said. However, police are unhappy they would not be given unfettered access.

It is understood that Central Scotland Police have not ruled out an official objection at tomorrow's licensing meeting.

Also yesterday, Aberdeen City Council agreed to show the Murrayfield Live8 concert on screens at Seaton Park on July 6, despite earlier claiming it would be too expensive.

Council leader plays down Edinburgh G8 fears
24 June 2005 17:59
 http://scotlandtoday.scottishtv.co.uk/content/default.asp?page=s1_1_1&newsid=8117

The leader of Edinburgh Council today compared concern over the forthcoming G8 protests to the panic over the Millennium bug before the year 2000. Donald Anderson spoke out as a radical protest group booked enough room for 3000 people at a council-run camp site in Edinburgh. Protesters also won permission today to set up a camp for 5000 people at Stirling.

Another ring of steel has gone up for the G8 - this time it is round a massive new camp at Craigmillar in Edinburgh. The 28 hecatre site three miles from the city centre will be ready when protesters start to arrive in large numbers next week. The fence is intended to keep them safe and secure.

Six observation points are situated around the perimeter fence. The entire site has enough room for 15,000 people and there is extra space if even more turn up. An alliance of English protestors who are hoping to disrupt the G8 with road blockades has reserved spaces for 3000 people.

The South-East Assembly's website features doom laden music but the group includes a broad range of activists. As seen recently in Sheffield, some use humour to get their point across. Others are organising a demo in Edinburgh on July the fourth which is causing police concern. The council leader says an unjustified climate of fear is developing in the city.

Donald Anderson, the leader of Edinburgh Council, said: "It's a bit like the run up to the Millenium when people were concerned about the bug and there were all sorts of predictions of chaos and anarchy raining out and it didn't come to pass. We are convinced we can pull it off, with disruption but without scenes of major violence or disruption in the city."

Stirling Council today gave permission for a camp on fields beside the River Forth. As Scotland Today revealed last week, protestors hope to create an eco-village for 5000 people and a base for their demonstrations at Gleneagles.

Protest camp organiser Phil Batchelor said: "We're all really pleased that Stirling Council has listened to our assurances and realised that a legal site was much better all round for a peaceful protest."

Police access to the site was a potential sticking point - but the protestors agreed that they'll let them in if they feel their presence is required.

The rural convergence site is within walking distance of Sterling.

Buses to stirling

8 buses / day From Edinburgh - St Andrews Square bus station

1st : 8:30 am arrives 9:30am
Last: 5:30 pm arrives 6:30pm

10 buses / day from Glasgow - Buchanan St bus station

1st : 6:45 am arrives 7:30am
Last: 5:20 pm arrives 6:10pm

Citylink bus - 08705 505050

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Trains to Sterling

From Edinburgh (approx 30/day)
1st : 5:18 am arrives 6:07am
Last: 11:33 pm arrives 12:23am

From Glasgow Queen St
1st : 5:55 am arrives 6:24am
Last: 11:48 pm arrives 12:33am

National Rail Enquiries - 08457 48 49 50

Glendevon ,,There is lots of camping and there is a Youth Hostel and
Glendevon park has a cafe and toilets and plenty camping areas and is 2miles from Gleneagles,you will find phone number under Glendevon Estate I was there last year camping they allow campers and caravans etc we always camp there for T in park, Did you know there is a Railway station near Gleneagles called Gleneagles.you get on a Train going to Perth from Edinburgh or Glasgow.