Squatting Robin Hooding

[Ram Selva]

This was front page news on South London Press - a welcome break from 
the usual rape and murder doom and gloom - not sure if thats what the 
SLP intended though

<http://www.slp.co.uk/news.cfm?id=13661>

see full article cut and pasted below as the newspapers Website is a 
bit dodgy with maintaining links for archival purposes.

A caption above (in the front page) also advertises Joanna Lumley, a 
South london resident saying something in pages inside that Homelessness 
in london is not OK or something similar.

Also worth reading :
<http://www.slp.co.uk/news.cfm?id=12625&searchword=squatter>


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<http://www.slp.co.uk/news.cfm?id=13661>

Squatting drive ‘could work in other boroughs’
Monday, 16 April 2012

SQUATTERS who have occupied a seventh empty council home want to widen 
their campaign across South London.
Lewisham People Before Profit political party is demanding councils 
hand empty homes to people in need to combat the council’s housing 
shortage crisis.
In the latest of a series of ccupations, party members got into a large 
house in Eltham Road, Lee, on Thursday morning.
The Greenwich council-owned home, which has been empty for around two 
years, is split into seven flats.
Party member John Hamilton told the South London Press: “Members 
entered the property very easily. The front door was unlocked.
“It is a magnificent mansion – a vast house which has been completely 
unused for months.
“It’s in great condition, too.
“Why Greenwich hasn’t been using this building to help re-home people 
on its housing list is a mystery.
“We have also had interest from campaigners in Southwark who want to do 
the same thing with unused Southwark council properties, so the campaign 
could stretch across South London.”
The party first occupied five Lewisham council family homes, in 
Deptford and New Cross, on February 19.
The homes were due to be sold at an auction but the council was forced 
to postpone the sale.
A family of five have moved into one of the homes in Angus Street, New 
Cross. On March 27, squatters also got into a house in Hazeldon Road, 
Crofton Park, run by L&Q housing association.
Mr Hamilton said: “These are all great houses in good condition that 
either don’t need much work doing to them or are actually ready to be 
lived in as they are.
“We are going to meet as a party over the next week to discuss exactly 
what we want to do with these properties.
“Ideally, we want to get people who are on the waiting list to move 
into some of them.”
In Lewisham, nearly 17,000 people are on the council’s housing waiting 
list.
Greenwich council was unavailable for comment at the time of going to 
press.

For the full story, you can get a full online edition at 
www.slp-e-edition.co.uk

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I'll happily scan the whole article, which is in two parts, and send it 
to anyone interested.

Ram