Page Content | Events
Features
Newswire
Publish
Links
Regions
Other IMCs
Search
Leeds Bradford IMC | UK IMC | Editorial Guidelines | Mission Statement | About Us | Contact | Help | Support Us

(((i))) Leeds Bradford

Read It. Write It. DO IT!

Pitt Street Social Centre, Hebden Bridge

Prentice | 11.02.2005 19:26 | Culture | Free Spaces

Residents of Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire have opened a temporary "Pitt Street Social Centre", offering tea, cake, videos, workshops, a Free Shop, and a chance for residents to discuss how to stop council sell-offs and the "gentrification" of the former mill-town.

When the Pitt St building became the most recent of public buildings to be put on the market, frustrated locals asked Calderdale Council for time to put forward an alternative plan to keep it as a community resource. However, in their rush to make a quick buck, the Council steam-rollered opposition, and went ahead with the sale.

"Where has the money gone and who are the new owners? We’ve been asking questions but no-one seems willing to tell us anything. How dare our representatives continue to completely ignore our needs and views? It’s just more council corruption." said Katrina, a local involved in the occupation.

This is the second occupation of a public building that has been sold off by the council, in the last year. For five days in April 2004, hundreds of local people were involved in the occupation of the old Hebden Bridge Tourist Information Centre, turning it into the People’s Information Centre. And residents are well aware that other buildings are in line for possible sell-off, including the library and the council offices.

"We want to make sure these remaining resources stay in public ownership for public use, instead of being used to make more money to feed the greed of the private developers who are destroying our town." stated Ed, another resident. "As things stand now, we have to take this kind of direct action ourselves simply to have a community-controlled space."

The residents are demanding that Calderdale Council take immediate action towards:

* significant investment in affordable social housing that is sustainably built

* protection for local people working locally so they are not forced to leave by rising housing costs

* visible commitment from the council to involving people in the decisions about what happens in Hebden Bridge

The Social Centre invites all Hebden Bridge residents to make use of the space. Activities planned so far include

* a Free Shop, where people can bring things they don’t want or need anymore, and can take away what they like – without paying!

* Hebden’s newest Café, the "Gap in the Market", will be open 11.30am – 8.30pm, serving quality food at affordable prices

* Discussion forums on topics raging from global to local, e.g. the current development of Hebden Bridge, and

* Video and music performances during the day and in the evening

* There’s also a rumour of a Real Estate Agent, where people can give their suggestions on how currently underused space in town could be improved for the benefit of people living and working locally.

Pitt Street Social Centre may be contacted on 07952 443618, for a limited time only.

for more information about the sale of Pitt Street see  http://www.hebdenbridge.co.uk/news/news04/60.html

Prentice

Write It
Publish your news

Do you need help with publishing?

Search

The Common Place - Leeds The 1 in 12 club - Bradford The Trades Club - Hebden Bridge

Kollektives

Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World

Other UK IMCs
Bristol/South West
London
Northern Indymedia
Scotland

IMCs


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech