M11 (Non) Opening

The M11 link road in North East London was the scene of protest once again on 7th June. The road which has been the subject of protests and resistance since the battle of the Chestnut tree in December '93, when people living in the ancient sweet chestnut in treehouses on George Green, Wanstead, were violently evicted.

Activists had received a tip-off that the opening of the road was set for the seventh, so back to George Green it was where 70 to 100 people met to the sounds of a cycle powered sound system,and then converged with others outside the link road offices before processing along the road and onto the way-behind-schedule, unopened and unfinished link road.

People walked the route of the link to sounds of whooping and yipping reminiscent of the abundant 1994 No M11 protests. When they came to locked gates they turned back and found some still-working machinery to occupy.

When work began to be disrupted the police moved in. People moved off onto the roundabout, vans of tactical support officers moved in and began to get heavier, pushing people off the road back to the pavement. At this time one arrest was made of a person objecting to the way someone with a pushchair was shoved from the road to the pavement.