A-Infos (en) Britain, HEREFORD Anarchist Federation GROUP Heckler #14 June/July 2010

âDisobedience in the eyes of anyone who has read history, is manâs original virtue. It is 
through disobedience that progress has been made, through disobedience and rebellionâ 
âOscar Wilde ---- No change to the dictatorship ---- Cllr Roger Phillips, leader of the 
council since God knows when, has been re-elected as leader again. The people of 
Herefordshire didnât get to vote on this, the councillors decided it amongst themselves. 
Long live democracy! ---- Squatter Estate Agents ---- 6 Lloyd Street, Portfields, Hereford
Empty for three yearsâNOT SAFE TO SQUAT. ---- 8 Lloyd Street, Portfields, Hereford Empty 
for three yearsâNOT SAFE TO SQUAT. ---- 23 Cotterell Street, Whitecross, Hereford NOW 
OCCUPIED BY NEW TENANTS ---- Old NHS building, Eign Street, Hereford Next door to old Eye 
Hospital. Large property. Could house several families.

1 Quicksets, Redhill,
Hereford
Property on the edge of the city.
Empty for several years. Has potential.


Let us know of empty properties:
kay.bulstreet@hotmail.co.uk
Advisory Service for Squatters: Tel. 020 3216
0099 or visit www.squatter.org.uk

------------------------------------------------

Three years onâ Houses STILL standing empty

A stand-off between Herefordshire Housing and an
insurance company has left two houses standing empty for
three years because neither party will take responsibility
for the cost of repairs.
In a report compiled for the Heckler, Herefordshire
Housing told us how tenants from the houses in Lloyd
Street, Hereford were first moved out in 2007 because of a
major subsidence issue, which is now beginning to affect
the neighbouring properties.
A claim was made with their insurance company who offered
Â25,000 for an underpinning system. This was rejected.
What it now means is that Herefordshire Housing are
refusing to pay for the repairs on their own property, whilst
their insurers are refusing to cough up the full amount as
well. Whatâs that figure we keep repeating? Five thousand
people waiting for a homeâget it sorted!
We first reported on the Lloyd Street properties in our last
issue, encouraging people on the housing waiting list to
squat them; our position being, if the housing authorities
wonât find you a home, take matters into your own hands
and do it yourself.
Within days, grilles were put on the doors and windows
of these two houses to prevent anyone gaining entryâthe
first bit of work that had been done to them in years!
Despite the danger, no safety notices were displayed up
on the properties. This is still the case.
We asked Herefordshire Housing what actual work had
been done to the Lloyd Street properties over the course
of the three years and when proper repair work was due to
start. They failed to answer.
And keeping schtum seems to be the order of the day: we
also contacted Herefordshire Council to ask why another
empty house we featured in our last issue in Quicksets,
Redhill, has also been left standing empty and in a terrible
state of disrepair for years. They refused to comment.
So letâs repeat it again: thereâs thousands on the housing
waiting list! Thereâs people in temporary accommodation
waiting for somewhere permanent. Thereâs people who
arenât even allowed temporary accommodation because
housing officers tell them theyâre not entitled to social
housing. Thereâs people who are literally homeless! And
all this while landlords like Herefordshire Housing are too
stubborn to pay for the repairs themselves.
What we urgently need is housing to be controlled by the
tenants, for the tenants. Kick out the incompetent bosses
on their fancy salaries, we can do a better job ourselves.

-----------------------------------------------

Councillors deaf to all objections

Should next yearâs local elections change the rotten-to-
the-core Herefordshire Council, the autocratic authorityâs
all-powerful Central Planning Committee should be the firsto get a thorough clean-out.
Two disgracefully lop-sided decisions were whistled
through this Spring: the fatuous âlink road to nowhereâ and
a lacklustre housing development in the grounds of the
listed Caradoc Court, near Ross-on-Wye.
After ruling that Itâs Our City founder, Cllr Mark
Hubbard, had âa prejudicial interestâ in the outcome and
expelling him from the Brockington debate, the 14-person
committee (10 Tories, including the chair and vice-chair)
took less than three hours to nod through the Â14-million
road, despite the committee receiving an unprecedented
83 letters of objection.
Even more scandalous was the planning departmentâs
contemptuous treatment of Hereford Civic Societyâs 32-
page technical analysis of the follies of the Link Road,
which had taken the society over 250 member hours to
research, write and publishâits existence warranted a
mere eight words in the committee papers!

One member of the public who was given leave to speak
under the three minute rule was local photographer Keith
James, whose business premises directly faces the new
roadâs junction with the A49. Mr Jamesâwho was never
sent a formal notification of the planning applicationâsaid
that despite his constant barrage of letters to the roadâs
promoter ESG, he was first paid a visit by planners just 48
hours before the Brockington meeting!
No fewer than six planning committee members raised
the matter of the horrendous traffic problems which the
new cross-city road will impose on residential roads such
as Barrs Court and Bodenham. But the two people who
should have been present to speak up for their constituents,
Aylestone ward councillors Nick Vaughan and Brian Wilcox,
were conspicuous by their absence.
Two weeks later the committee was back to give the green
light to a complex of six bland, executive-style detached
houses, to be built in the grounds of Caradoc Court, the
partially-restored 17th century mansion at Sellack, which
was mysteriously gutted by a fire in 1986. Even a 300-
signature local petition failed to impress the committee,
which approved the scheme â submitted by the propertyâs
owner, local Tory county councillor Harry Bramer.

---------------
We would like
to hear from
a Ms Leokadia
Butler.
Please get in
touch.
---------------

Hereford Gay Pride

May saw Herefordâs third annual âOut in the Sticksâ festival,
with even more lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans themed
events than last year.
The main event was a big diversity party on Castle Green.
Highlights from the day included theatre from the About Face
Theatre Company, a performance by 2 Faced Dance Company,
Hereford Malayalee Association performing Indian dancing
and a talk from gay rights campaigner, Peter Tatchell.
âWe hope to have another family-friendly event next
year,â says Herefordshire Rainbow Forumâs secretary,
Lynsey Radmore, who co-organised the event with
Christian Mather of Gay Pride UK.
âIt was great to see people from all our diverse
communities on the green having a great time, regardless
of their sexual orientation or gender identity.â
Our respect goes to the organisers for another fantastic
festivalâweâre already looking forward to next years.

---------------------------------------------------

Politics is for life, not just the ballot box
In our last issue we laid out our own political ideas. We said voting
wonât change anything â but the involvement of each of us in our
communities will.
In any neighbourhood a whole range of positive and practical things
can be organised and encouraged which bring people together and
build up community spirit:
â encourage discussion in your street or block of flats
â do local door-to-door leaflets or newsletters about local issues
â start a community action group
â hold public meetings on topical local issues
â organise street parties, picnics and other social events
â campaign for play and youth facilities
â demand traffic calming
â fight for better housing
â defend useful community facilities threatened with closure
â make sure the streets are kept clean
â promote recycling projects
â plant trees in streets and parks
â start a âpark friendsâ group to protect and improve green spaces
â set up and support parentsâ groups in schools and playcentres
â find positive ways of reducing anti-social behaviour
â make sure local historical sites and buildings etc. are protected
The possibilities are endless and with a community action group you
could start to do them all! Why not get together with two or three
neighbours you know and start meeting regularly in each otherâs
homes or the local pub? Give yourselves a name. Call a meeting of
local residents to publicly launch your action group.
Discuss what people feel are the important issues, and things you can
start to do together; deliver reports of these discussions to all interested
neighbours. Link up with other community groups around the county.
Contact the council to find out whatâs going on about various issues.
Take action for the improvements your community wants.
Itâs about taking âownershipâ of our own neighbourhoods and our
own lives. Most importantly, stick at it and you and your community
will be stronger for it.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Supporters fight cafà closure
More than 2,500 people have signed a
petition against plans to close a popular
Malvern cafÃ.
St Annâs Well cafà tenant, John
Redman, has been told by the Malvern
Hills Conservators group that he must
vacate the building in October to make
way for a redevelopment that will
include a visitor information centre.
Mr Redman handed in the petition when
he recently attended a Conservators board
meeting.
Supporters were also in attendance
and the evening was characterised
by hostile interruptions before being
adjourned twice.
The fight to save the cafà continues.
Find our more by joining their Facebook
group âSave St Annâs Wellâ!!!â.

---------------------------------------------

ESG lose fundingâstop it all now!

Another blow has been dealt to ESG
Herefordshire after critical funding for the link
road was withdrawn.
The governmentâs Homes and Communities
Agency has frozen funding for phases two and
three of the link road with money for phase one
still unsecured.
The council has now put all compulsory
purchase orders on hold as the entire ESG
project looks set to grind to a halt.
Now is the perfect opportunity for the council
to wake up and smell the steaming pile of
excrement that is the ESGâthe people of
Hereford donât want this project and thereâs no
money for it anyway!
ESG Herefordshire claims it is coming up with
alternative âinnovativeâ funding plans. What
could these possibly be? Jumble sales? Where
do they think theyâre going to find the millions
of pounds needed now the government has
said no?
Theyâve wasted millions already, with nothing
to show for it. Theyâve paid themselves a very
pretty penny to come up with a set of plans no one supports. Theyâve totally ignored the
voices of Herefordians. The whole project is a joke. Stop it all now!
Cllr Roger Phillips, leader of the council, can be bombarded with
complaints on 01544 340269 or by email rjphillips@herefordshire.gov.uk
------------------------------------------------

Herefordâs Radical History â part three

âWhen farmers became gentlemen, their labourers became slavesâ âWilliam Cobbett, 1830

The system of land use that developed up until the 19th century in Herefordshire
mirrored that of the rest of the country. Each household had a share in available
land and access to woodlands in order to produce sufficient food and fuel for the
household. Any surplus was bartered at the local market. This system lead to the
âcommon landâ that can still be seen in the county today, the most important of which
is the Lugg meadows to the east of Hereford.
Much of the agricultural land and woodland was owned by the lords of the
manor. These land owners, many of whom were MPs, realised that great power
and wealth existed in land ownership and so set about enclosing common land
and removing the rights of the rural people. Through a series of laws six million
acres of land were enclosed.
The most damaging effect of the Enclosure Acts was the forcing of previously
independent people into wage slavery as agricultural labourers, who often earned
the lowest wages in the country.
Life became increasingly hard as the 1800s wore on. Many rural folk
had to endure âmop fairsâ where they stood on the street like cattle
while prospective employers looked them over and then haggled with
them for their wage. Many people moved to the city or emigrated to
look for a better life.
Discontent with appalling living and working conditions finally resulted in the
organising of agricultural unions in the county. In 1871 at the Lion Inn in Leintwardine,
350 people turned up for what resulted in the North Herefordshire & South Shropshire
Agricultural Labourer Improvement Society. This was followed a year later by the
Hereford Agricultural Labourers Union after a meeting at the Old Gore Inn in Yatton.
Although the methods of action differed between these unions both had similar
goals: improvement of labourers cottages, increase in wages and conditions, abolition
of the mop fairs and land reform. This was the first time many workers had organised
themselves. Agitation and strikes lead to successes in wage increases and living
conditions. As trade unionism took hold branches were organised in most villages
with many thousands of members across the county.
This article can only begin to touch on the subject. For an in-depth
study we highly recommend the book âRoses round the door?â by Tim
Ward published by Logaston Press.
Do you remember a local socialist newspaper called âThe Bullâ? Email
us at kay.bulstreet@hotmail.co.uk

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bill Wiggin supporter forces closure of Mordiford Post Office

Mordiford Post Office is to close this summer
following a massive rent increase by the
landlord and Bill Wiggin supporter, Major
James Hereford.
Mordiford postmaster, Harvey Harwood, says
that the new rent is now more than he is paid
by the Post Office and that it is very unlikely that
anyone else would be able to take over under the
circumstances.
Major Hereford was pictured supporting
North Herefordshire MP, Bill Wiggin, on one
of his election leaflets â the same leaflet
thatâironicallyâtrumpets Wigginâs supposed
opposition to Post Office closures.
Herefordshire has a long tradition of the rural
rich screwing over the rural poorâitâs good to
see Major Hereford is keeping that spirit alive.

Summer festivalsâour pick

By the time the next Heckler comes around some
of us at Heckler HQ may have lost a few more
brain cells, due to our favourite festival, Nozstock,
happening on the 9thâ11th July. And if last year
is anything to go by some of us might not make it
home at all.
Where as we wouldnât normally dream of telling
you what to think, say, or wear on your head, we
feel we have to tell you to get down to Bromyard
on that weekend and enjoy the summer.
Another locally run festivalânow in its second
yearâis Aestival, featuring folk to rock, reggae
to dubstep. The event is happening 19thâ20th
June at the Yurt Village, Fromes Hill.
nozstockfestival.co.uk aestivalfest.co.uk
Cuts
The governmentâs looming cuts will be ruthless
and destructive, but we would be wrong to
blame any one party. This recession was caused
by an aggressive, profit-hungry global systemâ
capitalism. Unless capitalism is overthrown
by way of revolution we will continue to face a
never-ending cycle of recessions and cuts.

-------------------------------------------

Sport

World Blind Football Championships comes to Hereford

While the attention of the mainstream media, the FA and FIFA are firmly focused on an over
hyped corporate event in South Africa, people closer to home are preparing to make history.
The largest disability football event ever to be held in England is coming to Hereford.
Between 14thâ22nd August the Royal National College for the Blind (RNC) is hosting
the menâs 2010 IBSA World Blind Football Championships. All the games are taking
place at the Point4, the new international standard sports centre at the RNC.
Ten teams including the hosts, England, and current champions, Argentina, have been
drawn into two groups. European Championship runners up, England, are in group A
and kick off the tournament against Spain at 3pm on the opening day.
For those of you that havenât experienced this sport before, blind football is played on 
an indoor pitch with five players on each team. Outfield players are all blind but the 
goalkeeper can be fully or partially sighted and operates in a small area. Touchline 
boarding is in place to enable a free flowing game and also enable players to orientate 
themselves on the pitch.
The football contains ball bearings so that it makes a noise when it moves.
The buildup to the championships has seen school children from around the region
wearing blindfolds and taking part in blind football matches. As well as promoting the
tournament this is increasing the awareness of issues faced by those with disabilities
and the benefits of sport for all sectors of the community.
We at Hereford Solidarity League think itâs great that an event that has previously been
held in Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires is coming to our city. With tickets costing Â5 for
a day pass we hope, like us, you will go along and give your support.
For a fixtures, tickets and general information visit www.blind2010.com
or phone the RNC on 01432 265725.

study questions homophobia in football

Researchers at Staffordshire University are currently running an online survey to find
out fans opinions on gay footballers. A small pilot study of 250 fans found positive
attitudes to homosexuality.
Ellis Cashmore, professor of culture, media and sport said that initial findings found
that most people are relaxed about the presence of gay footballers in the English
league. He went on to say that many would welcome more honesty from players about
their sexuality.
Only one high-level footballer has ever come out. Justin Fashanu revealed he was gay
in 1990. He committed suicide eight years later.
Fuel has been added to the debate on homophobia in football in recent months. In
February the FA postponed its anti-homophobia campaign when the accompanying
film was criticised by gay rights campaigners. Last month saw the screening of the
BBC documentary âInside Sport â The Last Tabooâ. Sports commentator Mark Chapman
said he had been called, among other things, ânaive, stupid and braveâ for making the
programme which featured out gay sports stars.
Previous studies have found that English football is rife with homophobia. A
representative of professional players was quoted as saying that he was representing
gay and bisexual footballers but had advised them to stay in the closet to avoid
ruining their careers.
Co-researcher from Staffordshire University Dr Jamie Cleland suggested that if more
players were aware of fansâ positive attitudes, they were more likely to come out. He
said: âFans encourage footballers to come out. As one fan put it, âsomeone needs to
do something heroic, and step forward before it [homophobia] can become a thing of
the pastâ.â
To participate visit www.topfan.co.ukââSource www.pinknews.co.uk
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Helen Heckler

â Well, with the election all done
and dusted, weâve been left with
David Cameron in charge. Before
being elected, he claimed that
âBritain needed changeâ. After his
cuts to education, public sector
jobs, pensions and benefits, the
people of Britain wonât need change,
weâll be begging for it.

â In other election news, fox
meat connoisseur and Heckler fan
Jesse Norman is now our MP for
Hereford. Not only is Hereford
currently ârepresentedâ by a man who
earns more than most Herefordian
businesses, and refuses to send his
children to school in the county,
but we had to see Jesseâs deeply
unsettling smile on Midlands Today.
Not that weâll see much more of him
over the next five years. âFight
the ESG you say? Sorry old chap,
too busy, those NHS jobs wonât cut
themselves!â

â Just to solidify his place
as an absolute scumbag, North
Herefordshire MP Bill Wiggin
has refused to sign a document
condemning the practice of detaining
children within the immigration
process. This barbaric feature of
our immigration system has been
condemned by everyone from Amnesty
International to David Cameron, but
apparently imprisoning children is
A-OK in Billâs book. Between his
mocking of fearful Cadbury workers,
his part in the expenses scandal,
and now this, we here at the
Heckler think he should sling his
hook. Only a few weeks back into
the job and heâs already showing
what a prat he is.
---------------------------------------------------

â Hereford Solidarity League works to build a society based on the ideas of freedom, 
equality and community â
 â Anti-fascism is an important
part of our politics, but we believe that all politicians maintain a system of inequality, 
privilege and control that divides communitiesâ
â Real
change does not happen at the ballot box and can only come about by independent working 
class action; that is, people looking out for each other
and organising themselves to deal with the problems that they experience on a day to day 
basisâ
â Our aim is to increase the fighting spirit and
self-confidence of working class people to change things for themselves.
Find us on the internetââJoin our Facebook group âHereford Hecklerâ; visit 
www.herefordheckler.wordpress.com; or email
kay.bulstreet@hotmail.co.uk
_________________________________________
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