Dave wrote:
Well that is a newsworthy story, no entry, no result and evryone is no further than they were yesterday, how funny... this seems like Brighton alright...

Major contributor wrote:
Hi all I am reading all these comments with interest, and in particular all those angry message from people with jobs and big mortgages who believe that the squatters 'contribute nothing' and are always on the take. I guess that it's hard to see things any other way if you feel yourself tied to job, mortgage, bills and so on. However, the way I look at it is this: Most paid work is undertaken in a system which pays you less than the job is worth to line someone else's pockets. I think it's really sad that people work full time to keep a roof over their heads. It's something we should all be resisting, because it stops us from doing much more useful things for society. Having full time jobs often means we buy a whole load of consumer items which we don't really need and which subsequently break and end up in landfill, we drive cars which poison our atmosphere, we go to the supermarkets and buy a whole load of over-packaged foodstuffs. Recent research has shown that much of the food bought in supermarkets is thrown straight in the bin. Most importantly, many of us don't have time to do the things that would make us happy and fulfilled and which might help make the world a better place. When a group of squatters takes over an empty building and opens it up as a social centre, their example shows us that there's an alternative to the 9-5 grind. In no way does it show that these people are lazy, scrounging or wanting society to do everything for them. Quite the contrary in fact. The squatters in London Road have been living on a shoestring, have a minimum 'carbon footprint' through reclaiming and re-using discarded stuff, embody the ethos of Do it Yourself, and are giving their time to public-spirited community activity entirely free of charge. We have a lot to learn from them if we took the trouble to open our minds to the possibility that they are reasonable people with hopes, aspirations, a vision of a better world and the courage to try and put that into action. The Methodist Church should put its Christian principles into practice and let these people continue their important work rather than try and make a quick buck for Methodists Inc. by selling the site (nothing's selling now anyway!) All power to the squatters.

Why should a farmer who shoots a bugler be sent to prison...

One woman said: "I thought I was going to have a breakdown because of the music. We have had enough of it."

legs11 wrote:
Hadenough if you really have had enough why dont you go and live in France permanantly, freeing up a much needed house in this country, or do you stay because you also want to get something out of the system, such as housing profit and high wages. The french are very welcoming but they too are getting fed up of empty 2nd homes and English immigrants who want everything provided for such as healthcare, schooling etc. To me you are as bad as anyone you moan about, so live up to your name and do something positive.

Edward wrote:
To all who believe in the squatter\\\\'s rights (what a moronic concept). Do you have any comprehension of what is right and wrong? Would you allow someone to break into your home and camp there while you were out for a week or two on holiday? If not, then why not? It\\\\'s just simply wrong. Have there people no respect for other people\\\\'s property/possesions/ &c. Don\\\\'t tell me you actually believe they are operating a beneficial community centre. Use your logic.

splitter101 wrote:
The reason why you can’t let them stay is that it’s someone else’s property, the building may not be up to safety standards, which means they are actually risking their health and safety, as well as the kids they have attend the make shift nursery and there is always the risk of adverse possession (i.e. that they legally claim the property as their own). Although I do think it is morally challenging to leave a building empty for so long while there are homeless people, the few that take advantage spoil it for the genuinely needy. Key issues I have include that the squatters claim to have turned the building into a community centre offering free food, cinema and a children’s nursery… but for what community other than their own and are the facilities they provide legal and / or up to the Council requirements? I’m also wondering how the squatters are able to finance the free food, the equipment and licence for the cinema as well as the commercial waste licence they would require for running the cinema and nursery. There is also the question as to if staff at the nursery have been police checked, are suitably qualified and are able to ensure the building complies with basic fire and security regulations. In short, is the community centre they suggest real, or spin to gain sympathy and support. This wouldn’t be the first time this approach has been used. Does anyone recall the protesters that camped out on the site opposite Preston Park? They claimed that they were there to prevent any more trees being chopped down? Funny how these environmental campaigners begged for hand outs to carry on the protest, started selling home made sauces and progressively burned not only any wood and materials onsite but eventually set light to their own campsite and caravans. Not quite as environmentally friendly as you would expect.

dave wrote:
I live in the church in question and just wanted to make a quick response to a couple of points. Firstly, it was reported in the Argus that a woman commented "I thought I was going to have a breakdown because of the music". We have neither the capacity nor the inclination to play loud music in the building, we respect the local community (who have generally been very supportive) and have received no complaints. Secondly, over the last month we have been working hard on creating a positive, vibrant space and carrying out refurbishments where necessary, in what was a derelict and lifeless space. please don't judge us with ill-informed stereotypes about your perception of what squatters 'should' be like, we are genuinely trying to build a space that offers an alternative to the corporate monotony that engulfs most of Brighton.

bob wrote:
You may well be doing something positive but what you are doing with it, good or bad isnt really the point here..

Ask yourself whether you are happy for anyone to use or take any of your possesions without asking - are you really going to tell us the answers yes?

I'm not at all politically inclined, I happen to think politics is **** and dont care about what left or right wing views are but I know the difference between your and my possessions and what is right.

squatter's mum wrote:
I'm really puzzled at the venom directed at the squatters in some of these comments. Firstly, to the people who say 'how would you like it if squatters moved in and took over your home', this is just wrong. Your homes are perfectly safe. All the squatters are doing is making use of unused buildings which are going to ruin. Councils have been able to use Empty Dwelling Management Orders to seize empty properties and use them to rehouse homeless people since 2006, but have been slow to take up this option, presumably because homeless people don't have a lot of political clout. I don't believe it is right that rich people and corporations (the Methodist Church being one such) should have the privilege of leaving properties empty while there are people needing places to live. Quite apart from anything else, it goes right against the Methodist Church's avowed 'Christian' principles. Added to that, this is a group which is doing something positive for the community. Community is sadly lacking in Britain. Most entertainment is corporate and has to be paid for; if you don't have the cash, then you can't take part. In contrast, 88 London Road has opened its doors to provide people with something they can participate in free of charge, and has demonstrated in a very practical way that there is an alternative to profit and greed, by setting up a project that is friendly, welcoming and inclusive, and which won't cost you. To all you people who are concerned about squatters not paying taxes, money is not the only, nor indeed the best way to contribute positively to society. We offer some offenders the option to pay off their debt to society with their labour, through community service, which is generally far more effective than spending public money keeping them in prison. People who choose to live without consumer luxuries, to make do (or live like kings) on the cast-offs of a greedy and wasteful society deserve our respect, not our condemnation. If they spend the time freed up by not working 9-5 on community activity, so much the better. I look around me at my fellow parents whose grown-up children have jumped through all the academic hoops and are now mortgaged to the hilt, working hard in their chosen careers (most of which have little social benefit) always anxious that they might lose their jobs and their consumerist lifestyles. I look at them and I feel proud and happy that my daughter has chosen to be a squatter. However, I also feel profoundly sad that some of the people who have left comments here have called my daughter 'scum' and have recommended violence and other aggressive tactics to remove her from her home. Shame on you.