Police have told campaigners that the remaining Camps will definitely be evicted this week. The peaceful protests – which have now been running for a month, with 12 arrests – have seized national attention over the past week [2].

The main camp, which has been in place since 21 December, includes treehouses and tunnels and is located on the proposed route of the BHLR close to Adam’s Farm, Crowhurst [3]. Further trees on route are occupied by protestors at nearby “Decoy Camp”.

On Monday, in icy early morning conditions, over 50 security guards, police, and bailiffs - including a climbing team - removed protestors from trees at the “Three Oaks Camp” near Upper Wilting Farm, Crowhurst. The trees, including a magnificent 400 year old oak, were subsequently felled.

Tree-felling work for the road started on 14 December 2012 and represents the first significant work on the highly-controversial £100m road, one of over forty “zombie roads” that were declared dead years ago but have now been resuscitated as part of as part of Britain’s largest road-building programme in 25 years [4, 5].

Work on the BHLR has consistently attracted protest and peaceful direct action since it began in December 2012, with a number of local people arrested including pensioners. The Combe Haven Defenders (CHD) have called on 1,066 people from the local area and across the country to "pledge to take part in peaceful resistance to the construction of the Bexhill-Hastings Link Road" [6].

Contact 07926 423 033

NOTES
[1] www.combehavendefenders.org.uk
[2]  http://combehavendefenders.wordpress.com/recent-media-coverage/
[3] Nearby postcode TN33 9AY. For map see  http://combehavendefenders.wordpress.com/camp-groundrules-directions/
[4] See 'Controversial 'zombie roads' scheme to be resuscitated', Guardian, 10 October 2012,  http://tinyurl.com/zombieroads
[5]  http://bettertransport.org.uk/media/26-Oct-roads-report
[6]  http://combehavendefenders.wordpress.com/pledge/