Notts Indymedia was launched on August 5 2005 – we are 5 years old today! We’d like to thank everyone who’s helped to make the site the great success it’s become. To celebrate we’ve put together a round up of the major events and ongoing campaigns that have featured prominently over the last 5 years.

2005
One of the first projects to get coverage on the Notts site was the squatting of a number of empty properties on Burns Street. These would become the ASBO social centre which was a great community resource for a number of years.
New Squatting Project in Nottingham | Abandoned for over 7 years... | YES, we’re open !

One of the campaigns that received a lot of well-earned coverage over the years was Nottingham Against Incineration and Landfill (NAIL). NAIL campaigned against the City Council’s incinerator at Eastcroft. They held a demo in Market Square in October 2005. Since then plans for the expansion of Eastcroft have been rejected by the Planning Officer and then successfully appealed by owners WRG.
NAIL campaign hammers on... | NAIL campaign ’banner drop’ at Sneinton Boulevard | Campaigners meet Environment Agency over incinerator | Planning Officer insists on wider public consultation for incinerator expansion | Nottingham Against Incineration and Landfill campaigners hand in petition | Incinerator Public Meeting - Public Bodies pull out! | Planning Officer Recommends Rejections of Incinerator Expansion | Massive victory for anti-incinerator campaign in Nottingham | Eastcroft Incinerator Expansion - WRG lodge Appeal | Approved Incinerator Expansion Paves Way For Direct Action

In October, angry protests greeted arms dealers attempting to recruit on Nottingham University’s campus. Caterpillar, BAE and Rolls Royce were picketed.

Protests as arms dealers attend careersfair

2006
In early 2006, the university was hit by major protests again as Prime Minister Tony Blair addressed Labour party activists at the East Midlands Conference Centre. Protesters slipped through police lines to occupy the car park of the centre and then forced their way out of a kettle to escape.
Day of action as Tony Blair sets out new nuclear power policy in Nottingham

In March, regular Indymedia contributor Tash was arrested whilst photographing an armed police operation in St Ann’s. This was in spite of being involved in the agreement of new guidelines for the police concerning interactions with journalists just days before. Tash won the support of many journalists during his trial, including NUJ General Secretary, Jeremy Dear.

Indymedia photographer arrested by armed officers

During the Spring the local No M1 Widening group were busy attacking plans to widen the motorway at various consultations around the county. In October a coordinated action saw anti-roads banners dropped along the length of the motorway. Unfortunately the campaign later fell foul of draconian police action as a number of activists were arrested on conspiracy charges. By the time they’d cleared their names, widening of the motorway was well under way.
End of beginning for No M1 Widening campaign | Banner drops along M1 link roads to climate chaos | Work Starts On M1 Widening As Protests Continue

Also that Spring, local activists set up a protest camp in Sharp Hill, on the edge of Nottingham. This greenbelt land had been earmarked for residential development. The ongoing campaign eventually saw the plans scrapped.
Action stepped up at Sharp Hill

During the Summer, the JB Spray building, an old lace factory in Radford, was occupied by a group intent on using the space for community purposes. They were subject to an illegal eviction before reoccupying the building for several weeks.
J B Spray Building Occupied / Evicted / Reoccupied

The Autumn saw nationwide protests against Shell for its exploits in Rossport, Ireland. In Nottingham a protester was hospitalised by a driver as protesters descended on a garage in town, shutting it down.
Protester hospitalised in successful Shell blockade

2007
2007 saw the eagerly anticipated (by some) reopening of Nottingham’s Market Square. Not everyone was happy though and there were worries that the (very expensive) square would just be seen as the Council’s property to hire out to commercial outfits. These worries seem to have been justified as barely a day goes by without an ice rink, big wheel, Nottingham riviera, German market or some other money making scheme dominating the space.
Our Square Isn’t It?

In April a daring action took climate protesters inside the bowels of the Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station and bring operations to a halt for a few hours. The action, part of the Spring into Action series of events around climate change, protested the use of coal in power stations. Those arrested later called expert scientists in their defence at trial.
Climate Activists Bring Powerstation Operations To A Halt | ’Clean’ Coal On Trial

In the Autumn, fascist BNP leader Nick Griffin came to Kimberley to speak to party activists. Anti-fascist call outs resulted in a 100 strong crowd descending on the venue and preventing BNP members attending the event. Griffin had a hard time leaving and fumed about a Marxist police conspiracy to stop him speaking.

Anti-fascists successfully blockade BNP meeting venue

In Newark, a conference promoting the use of biofuels was disrupted by activists who pied a senior BP executive and held banners outside the venue protesting the ‘greenwash’ of the companies involved. A simultaneous blockade of a biofuels refinery in Middlesborough was also carried out. The activists returned in 2008.
Biofuels Conference Disrupted At Concerns Over Multi-National ’Greenwash’ | Activists Disrupt Biofuels Conference

At the end of the year, the BNP’s local problems were compounded when Broxtowe councillor and rising star, Sadie Graham, was unceremoniously expelled from the party amidst accusations of treason. It turned out that BNP security had been bugging party activists’ phone calls and they raided her house removing a laptop and data. The expulsions led to a split in the party and a serious weakening in the local area.

Broxtowe BNP Councillor Expelled From Party

2008
Early in 2008 the City Council came under fire from local residents for its attempts to close the much-loved Victoria Baths leisure centre. Sadly the Save Victoria Baths protests fell on deaf ears and the leisure centre has now been closed pending radical rebuilding.
Council Under Fire From Campaign To Save Leisure Centre | Victoria Baths axed early in city budget | Campaign to save Victoria Baths takes fight to the council

In March, a member of the city’s library staff used the Notts Indymedia site to anonymously speak out against attempts by the management to bully staff into wearing uniform. Unison took up the issue which became a popular campaign.
Library Staff Speak Out Against Uniforms and Management Bullying

In April, a mass blockade of energy company E.On’s Nottingham offices shut hundreds of workers out of the building for most of the morning. The action, in protest at E.On’s involvement in plans for the construction of Kingsnorth coal power station, was part of a Fossil Fools day of action. Two activists arrested for their part in the action were later acquitted with no case to answer.
Fossil Fools Take On E.ON In Nottingham | No case to answer after Notts E.On protest

Later that month, Trident Ploughshares coordinated a mass blockade of Derby’s Raynesway plant where Rolls Royce manufacture the reactors for Trident nuclear submarines. The blockade lasted for 5 hours. Eight of the 10 involved were later acquitted due to police bungling of the prosecution.

Trident Activists Blockade Rolls Royce in Derby | Raynesway Blockaders in Court

In May, Nottingham was in the headlines as two men were arrested on terror charges at the university. Hicham ‘Hich’ Yezza, a member of staff, had agreed to help his student friend, Rizwaan Sabir, with research for a proposal for a PhD studying Islamist terror groups. Police released the pair from anti-terror detention after a week of questioning but Hich was immediately rearrested on immigration grounds. Hundreds of students and staff turned up for a demo calling for academic freedom and Hich’s release. Hich eventually won the right to remain in the UK in 2009.
Anger Over "Terror Arrests" at Nottingham University | Nottingham Uni Detainee Innocent But Still Facing Deportation | Hundreds Join Demo for Academic Freedom and Against Deportation | Campaign Victories As Hich And Amdani Are Released On Bail

Later that month, a campaign began against a proposed opencast coal mine site in Shipley, Derbyshire. A mass trespass on the site as followed by several month long occupation of abandoned farm buildings on the site – Shipley Bodge. The eventual eviction of the squat’s tunnels and lock-ons took about a week and cost UK Coal a sizeable sum of money. Protesters returned to the site later in the year to lock onto earth moving machinery.

Campaigners Trespass on Proposed Coal Mine Site | Coal On Hold - Derbyshire Coal Mine Site Occupied | Derbyshire Opencast Mine Squatters: Eviction Imminent | Derbyshire Coal Mine Occupation - Eviction Happening Now | Protests continue at Shipley open cast site

Not long after the detention of Hich Yezza, another Nottingham activist, Amdani Juma, was detained and faced deportation. Amdani had volunteered with the Nottingham Refugee Forum and AIDS charities for many years and was well known. Large protests in the Market Square and a campaign helped to get him released but, 2 years later, his status is still precarious.
Another Nottingham Activist Detained For Deportation | Nottingham Protests in Support of Detained Resident | Campaign Victories As Hich And Amdani Are Released On Bail | Amdani, Mustafa and Selina are still here

During the summer, anti-fascists ratcheted up a major campaign against the return of the BNP’s Red, White and Blue festival to Denby, Derbyshire. Pickets of the licensing hearing led to the BNP withdrawing their application. On the weekend itself, a 100 strong black bloc attempted to block access to the site and fought with police. Meanwhile protests were held in the nearby town of Codnor and some marchers were allowed to protest near the site.
BNP Withdraw Festival Licence Application in the Face of Protests | Anti-fascists Prepare to Stop BNP "Festival" | Protests greet BNP "festival"

In October, another anti-deportation campaign was launched, to prevent the deportation of an asylum-seeking family from Ghana. Selina Adda and her young children had a huge amount of support from their local community in the Meadows. They were released from detention but their fate is still undecided.
Anti-deportation campaign for Notts family | Amdani, Mustafa and Selina are still here | Urgent action for Notts family facing deportation

2009
The start of 2009 was dominated by responses to the massacre of Palestinians taking place in Gaza. There were several large public protests across the region. As part of a wave of similar actions across the country’s universities, students at the University of Nottingham occupied a lecture theatre in protest. The management were unimpressed and violently evicted the occupiers during heavy snow.
Nottingham Responds to Gaza Massacre | Gaza: Weekend of Protest Across the Midlands | Nottingham university occupied in solidarity with Gaza | Nottingham Gaza solidarity occupation violently evicted

The next big event was the dramatic police raid on the Iona school in Sneinton, in April. 114 climate activists were ‘pre-emptively’ arrested by police in a massive operation. Police claimed that the 114 were conspiring to disrupt the operations of Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station. Two years on charges have been dropped against all but 26 of those arrested. They are yet to be tried.

Mass Arrest of 114 Climate Activists in Raid

Meanwhile, in Forest Fields, opposition to a City Council plan to put the neighbourhood under CCTV surveillance was building. An initial consultation was declared a sham by the residents who claimed that the information given by the police was incomplete and, hence, misleading. The scheme was eventually approved in a controversial vote and the cameras are now in place.

Campaign against CCTV in Forest Fields continues to grow

Rolls Royce Raynesway received attention once again in 2009. A squatted peace camp was set up near the site of the factory and lasted for several months before eviction.
Peace camp established at Raynesway, Derby

Over the summer squatters reclaimed the (still empty) JB Spray building in Radford. Unlike the previous occupations, this one has been long-term – squatters are still there. However, this week the legal owner gained a possession order for the building and they are preparing to resist the eviction.
Squatters Retake Nottingham’s JB Spray Factory | JB Spray squat under threat

In August, the BNP returned to Denby for their summer festival. This time they were met with a very sizeable anti-fascist protest of several thousand people. Attempts were made by the protesters to block roads and a number of BNP members were arrested for sieg heiling.
Anti-fascists challenge BNP’s return to Derbyshire

In the Autumn, thousands of climate activists descended on Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station for the Climate Swoop. In spite of a massive police operation, many of the site’s security fences were breached although protesters were not able to shut the power station down.

Climate activists swoop on Ratcliffe

At the end of the year, the knuckle draggers of the English Defence League came to Nottingham to drink beer and piss on the castle. They were met by a robust counter-demo of local anti-racist groups, autonomous anti-fascists and local youths.
Fascists rally in Nottingham

2010
One of Nottingham’s long-running campaigns, Shut Down H&K, made headlines in 2010 as activists blockaded the arms dealers premises in Lenton and unfurled banners from the roof. H&K’s managing director later claimed to have been intimidated by the peaceful protesters. Shut Down H&K continue to picket the site every month.
Direct action shuts down H&K | Nottingham anti-arms trade activist convicted

In March, the East Midlands National Front made an ill-advised attempt to hold a day of action in Derbyshire. All 5 of them were surrounded by anti-fascists in Ripley town centre and surrendered their union jack and all their leaflets. Unsurprisingly, they haven’t been heard of since.
National Front humiliated in Derbyshire

Back in Nottingham, Council Leader Jon Collins announced that community groups were to be evicted from the Radford Unity Centre as part of a dodgy deal. The local community turned out in force to march to the Council House in protest.
Radford community on the march

The campaign against the Red, White and Blue festival appeared to have won an important victory after the BNP announced that this year’s event was cancelled, in May. The party claimed to be focussing on local events instead but none of these seem to have materialised.
Anti-fascists claim victory as BNP festival cancelled