Thursday 17 December 2009

Black Cat Centre evicted and reoccupied! Come on down!

Yesterday saw the much loved Black Cat Occupied social centre evicted, with a 17 strong solidarity demo outside. Despite the eviction being a sucess, new squatting activists have moved in -

Following the eviction of the Black cat Centre yesterday, the building has been re-squatted. Local activists and residents, acting in solidarity with the recentley evicted Black Cat squatters last night squatted the building again, and intend to continue operating it as The Black Cat Socail Centre. Speaking to Bath Activist Network last night, one of the new squatters, a resident of Oldfield Park, said 'The work that the original Black cat squatters put into the social centre was so insiring, and such a benefit to the community that we felt that we had to act, and re-open the social centre to the community for as long as possible'.
This latest development means that owners Cabot will have to re-instigate court proceedings to evict the new squatters. The occupiers last night said that, as with the last occupiers, they were keen to enter into a rent paying agreement with Cabot in order to keep the space in community use for as long as possible.

The new squatters intend to have the Black Cat, with all of its previous uses and events running by Friday morning.

For more information, or for an interview with the new squatters, call 07794774938

Monday 14 December 2009

Action Stations - come and stop the Black Cat eviction - Weds 16th Dec - 11am

We've just received our eviction notice. The bailiffs are due around at 11am on this Wednesday, the 16th December.
After a really sucessful few months, the owners have decided to try and evict the Black Cat social centre - but the occupiers have decided not to go quietly. In the 3 months that it has been operating, the black cat has been home to dance classes, open days, a library, a cafe, film nights, a freeshop, a massive benefit gig raising hundreds for local causes and more - we are not going to let that go to waste because of corporate greed.
We desperately need people to help with resisting the eviction, either to be in the house and be difficult to remove, or to film the bailiffs to ensure compliance with the law, or to protest in solidarity outside. This being Bath's only autonomous social space, it's important for us to send a message to the authorities and landowners that they can't just sweep us aside.

The Social Centre Collective can be contacted at BathSocialCentre@Googlemail.com, or on 07794 774 938
We are planning a peaceful solidarity demo outside the building, as well as resistance inside. We have almost unlimited crash space, so come on down and help save a space that has become valued by local residents, activists or otherwise.

You can find us at -
The Black Cat Centre
7-10 Kelso Place, upper bristol rd, Bath

Please distribute this message widely.