Sadly indymedia was a casualty of the heavy, illogical and indiscriminate policing operation surrounding Climate Camp, and Sipson village in particular. The satellite truck and its power supply were caught up in a massive and pointless traffic jam.
Linda McCutcheon pleads with police
and eventually gets her prescription filled
Police control causes jams
so campers are forced to carry stuff to site
Local people - even kids turned out to help
Some people could go where they pleased
Even people on bikes got searched
and everything had to be carried ont to site by hand
And it is inconsistent. Some vehicles pass through without interference - witness the Rolls Royce - yet any vehicle that might be deemed to belong to a camper is stopped and searched.
This led to a massive traffic jam around midday. Vans destined for Climate Camp were backed up along Sipson Road awaiting search, local residents fumed with rage as they were unable to go about their business.
Terry McCutcheon was taken ill in the night. With only a single kidney the fact that he was diagnosed as having a urinary infection was very serious. His wife Linda needed to take his prescription to the chemists in Harlington - the other side of Climate Camp.
Only after a lengthy pleading with police - see pictures - was she allowed to drive along the lane to get her husband's drugs.
Meanwhile anyone arriving in a vehicle for Climate Camp was being refused entry. Food and sanitation supplies were halted - everything had to be unloaded at the roadblock and carried or dragged to the site - half a mile away. Families - kids crying at the roadside - were forced to abandon their vehicles and carry their possessions, often in several trips, to the camp.
Local residents came out of their homes offering food and drinks to stranded campers. Some even offered to help transport goods to the camp, including one gutsy ten year old (pictured).
Later in the day some vehicles were permitted to drive to - but not onto - the camp. Indymedia's trucks arrived in this way at around 7pm and a call went out to help unload and carry the tents and equipment onto the camp. Dozens responded, including a team of kids with wheelbarrows shifting the stuff across the site.
Meanwhile "BAA logistics director, Shaun Cowlam, said he was concerned the protest could distract police from counter-terrorism".
So why, local residents ask, are the police harassing their community instead of policing the airport? Why are there road blocks in the villages preventing people reaching a protest camp that the High Court has already deemed to be legal?
Climate Camp "officially" begins tomorrow. Indymedia now has connectivity, and there are plenty of people with contributions to make to the debate.
Watch this space.
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