Carmageddon in Brighton

Reclaim The Streets

On the 21st December South Downs EF! carried out the first road blockade in the Carmageddon campaign and their first action.

The last Saturday before the consumer hype of Christmas set the scene, complemented by several thousand cars which are daily crammed into Brighton. After a gathering of the masses (about 20) in the town centre, banner waving and singing along to groovey tunes we moved in for our attack on the car empire.

Minutes later our blockade was up, horns honked, engines roared, motorists screamed, while we sung, laughed and smiled at the scene which was now before us.

When the police arrived they managed to calm down a few motorists who seemed close to falling off the edge of sanity such as "I've got nothing to loose - move or die!"

Our spirits were lifted however by several people from surrounding houses who ventured out on to the now clear street to offer us tea. Passers by tried to convince us to blockade their street and people waved and gave us the thumbs up for our efforts.

The police finally broke the blockade - after about half an hour of deliberation - when we failed to 'be reasonable'. There was on arrest - which was followed with no charges, just a chance for a good rest for a very tired activist.

Workshops took place on the following day, where activists from Glastonbury, London and Brighton had the chance to talk about the action and the way forward.