Reunion Rampage at Newbury Bypass

BY ALEC SMART

Billed as a ³Reunion Rampage,² environmental protesters returned in January, 1997 to the construction site of the controversial Newbury Bypass for an intended three days of work disruption. Two flyers circulated for the event. One, with a cartoon of a spread-eagled climber wielding a monkey-wrench, encouraged ³non-violent direct action.² The other advertised a ³fence decorating² session, exhorting protesters to bring ³ribbons, photos, poems... to create a living mural of hope.² The former was pitched to ³rampage² on January 9 and 10, the latter for the 11th. As events unfolded, the converse occurred.

Late on the evening of January 9, around five affinity groups formed, plotting methods to gain access to the various compounds established along the nine-mile route. The compounds are enclosed zones where the road building is underway. The bulldozers, diggers and on-site management portacabins are stored within, surrounded by a 10-foot-high steel mesh fence. Overnight the compounds are illuminated by generator-powered floodlights, resembling some prisoner-of-war camp. Jokes were circulating of the attempt to storm ³Stalag Luft.²

At 3:30 a.m. the first group departed to make an assault on what was once the lush tree- house village of Snelsmore, now just a barren bulldozed plane of rubble. Thames Valley Police (jokingly referred to as TVP after the dehydrated vegetarian soya mince) were on hand in large numbers to repel all potential invaders. The contractors, Costain, had drafted extra security to hold the forts as well.

Over the next few hours, raids were attempted on the Chase and Kennet canals. At Kennet a few people gained entry for long enough to clamber aboard digging equipment before being arrested for the criminal offense of aggravated trespass. Thus, it was a largely unsuccessful day of actions. There were nine arrests.

On January 11, the Friends of the Earth rally and fence-decorating demonstration began somewhat peaceably, with over 1,000 people assembled, and then marched along part of the bypass route in the damp mist. A group of police officers loitered by the railway station, gathering evidence, filming protesters and intercepting those whom they recognised as having conditional injunctions (from last yearıs long eviction of 20-plus protest camps, which resulted in over 900 arrests). Sadly, those recognised were hauled-off for further criminal proceedings.

On reaching the worksı area the crowd lined the fencing, but instead of decorating it, some deconstructed it and soon hundreds swarmed into the muddy, machine-ravaged sector. The TVP officers, many on horseback, and site security were overwhelmed, putting up little resistance as the seething mass teemed over the digging equipment and a crane. Whilst police, the media and Highwaysı Agency security filmed everyone that moved, a rhythm was beaten out with a rock on the bonnet of a huge, earth-moving lorry and the air was liberated from its tyres. The 25-ton vehicle unceremoniously deflated and settled into the orange mud, then was dispatched to oblivion as it was ignited and consumed by fire. The 15 or so climbing all over it soon abandoned the burning hulk. The contractorsı portable huts then begin to belch smoke, flames devouring their flammable computer and furniture interiors. Many ran, fearing that the dumper truck would blow, not realising that a diesel motor will not explode.

Friends of the Earthıs executive director, Charles Secrett, condemned the arson, but in his address to the rally declared, ³because of the Newbury protest, we will never see a road like this go through again.² Indeed, contractors Costain may never see another roadsı construction project. The company is fighting off liquidation, and the estimated £75,000 damage caused by the site invaders might just push them over the brink. In July 1996, Costain, whoıd won the Newbury bypass project (estimated in 1996 to cost £101 million) had to call an Emergency General Meeting. They were financially ³rescued² in a share package deal by Malaysian firm, Intria. On September 6, Œ96, at their Annual General Meeting, 300 environmental protesters, possessing one share each, dominated the proceedings. Only 100 other shareholders were present. The security camera was turned to face the wall, and the new Malaysian director refused to answer questions put to him about Costainıs involvement in the Newbury Bypass. He cited ³commercial sensitivity.²

Another Emergency General Meeting was held on January 6 this year at the Barbican Centre, as Costainıs share value has apparently fallen below 50 percent of their capital value as a listed company.

Of course, the arson maynıt be attributable to the usual ³pixies² or ³elves² often blamed for such misdemeanours. At the Rickey Bridge worksı site, two security guards from Pinkertonsı reported witnessing ³spectral presences.² Suspecting ghosts from the nearby 17th century civil war battlefield, one imaginative fellow allowed himself to be interviewed by BBC Radio 4. He asserted, ³There was some protester activity. A security officer reported seeing some shadows. I went down with a torch to investigate. I saw a human form, no defining features...a clear mist floating across the garden.²

The Archbishop of Durham Cathedral, Canon Michael Perry has added his weighty judgment, ³Things that have happened in specific locations...some people have managed to plug into them... Sometimes building works disturb certain memories...itıs so irrational the whole thing.² Hmmm.

Independent traffic studies have indicated that only 15 percent of Newburyıs serious traffic congestion will be removed by the Bypass once itıs built. This would be heavy goods lorries primarily. Researchers state that there are 4,800 through-journeys by heavy goods vehicles per day on the existing A34 Bypass. Newburyıs first Bypass was constructed in the 1960s and is now clogged-up with five roundabouts allowing for cross-traffic from housing estates, industry and those great motor-car attracters‹superstores.

Along the new Bypass, 700 planning applications for ³in-fill² have already been submitted, including estates for 5,000 new houses. So the problem will repeat itself...The pubic was not informed in two enquiries in 1988 and 1992 that the new Bypass was to be part of a network of Euro-routes, this sector connecting Glasgow to Southampton, Portsmouth and Plymouth for ferries to northern Spain and southern France.

Local Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament David Rendel, one of the Bypassıs most ardent supporters, is well aware that Newbury residents have been conned into accepting a major trunk road as a solution to local traffic problems. He was quoted in the Newbury Weekly News on April 1,1993, (So whoıs the April fool?), ³The benefit of the Bypass would only last a few years, as Government figures predicted Newbury traffic would be back to present levels by the end of the century.² (Hey, but thatıs only three years away!) He expressed it so concisely, ³The Bypass is being built to speed the traffic flow from Southampton to Birmingham and back, rather than to solve Newburyıs problems.²

On January 11, just before this recent torching, Rendel appeared to be changing tack, perhaps to dampen his original zeal. He blamed ministers for letting Newbury down by refusing to pay more than £100,000 for traffic-calming measures (councillors sought £686,000). The councillors were hoping to stop new local traffic from being drawn into town when the Bypass opens in 1998‹a bit like shutting the gate once the horse has bolted. So, plans to mark-out cycle lanes and pedestrianise the town centre will have to be shelved. Methinks that the existing pro-bypass residents are in for an unpleasant surprise when all the new residents begin driving into town for work and domestic duties...Shall the rest of us say ³told you so?²