Protesters kicked out of town park
Saturday 9th August 2008, 12:00PM BST.
Two campaigners dressed as penguins were removed from Telford Town Park after being told they would need a criminal record check and risk assessment to hand out leaflets.
Rachel Whittaker and Neil Donaldson, from the Wrekin Stop War campaign group, were furious after being told they could not hand out information on climate change yesterday lunchtime.
Rachel, 34, from Wellington, said: “We were handing out leaflets entitled Why Care about Climate Change?
“We were only doing it for about 15 minutes before we got removed.
“It was only a fun thing. I was saying to people ‘Hello I’m a penguin and my ice cap has melted so I’ve ended up in Telford – can I give you a leaflet’. People were loving it.”
Rachel said three members of park staff then approached her and Neil and told them they would need permission for what they were doing.
“I was told we had to go to the manager’s office to speak to the manager,” she said. “We were told we couldn’t do it without a Criminal Records Bureau check and a risk assessment.”
Rachel said she believed they should be free to hand out leaflets in a public space.
“I showed them a leaflet and I said if you want to talk about risks, let’s talk about climate change,” she said.
“I’m not disputing the importance of safety of children, but we were not there to put anybody at risk.
“We were simply dressed up as penguins handing out leaflets.”
Rachel said the pair left peacefully, not wanting to disturb people’s enjoyment of the park, but vowed to take the issue up with park management.
Telford & Wrekin Council, which manages the park, said anyone wanting to hand out information there had to give advance notice of who they were and what they were distributing.
Spokesman David Morgan said: “They have to be CRB checked and risk assessed under the Child Protection Act. There are a lot of children playing in the park at this time of year and we have a duty of care to them and our adult visitors.
“The people asked to leave had given no notice or information. We did not know who they were or what they were doing.
“Organisations and individuals should always plan ahead and get permission from the council before doing anything in the town park to avoid any problems or misunderstandings.”
By Lizzie Yates
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Where exactly is the KGB office in Telford???
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They apply these rules, but they are nowhere in the public domain for people to know in advance, or if they are, they are well hidden Yet people can take photo’s right by the childrens area and this very rarely policed. The Council might manage the Town Park, but it does belong to the tax Payer.
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Spokesman David Morgan said: “They have to be CRB checked and risk assessed under the Child Protection Act. There are a lot of children playing in the park at this time of year and we have a duty of care to them and our adult visitors.
“The people asked to leave had given no notice or information. We did not know who they were or what they were doing.
“Organisations and individuals should always plan ahead and get permission from the council before doing anything in the town park to avoid any problems or misunderstandings.”
So before an individual “does anything” in the park they’ve got to plan ahead and get permission from the council?
I’ve got news for you sonny, I’ll continue to use the Park as I’ve always done – legally, and it’ll be a cold day in hell before I ask some PR man for permission to use public open space
If you don’t like it – tough. I pay for the Park via my council tax.
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How ridiculous! when people have been mugged in Hollinswood and Wellington……… that’s what we need to be monitoring, not innocent people in penguin suits .
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“Hi. I am a VERY important person. I am SO important that *I* can do what I want! And furthermore, I can do what I want, anywhere!”
Well, no, as it happens, you can’t. There are reasons why owners of parks want to know what people want to do in their park and who they are. For example, there was a case in the USA where a man would dress up as a jolly clown and mingle with crowds in parks. Turned out he was a serial killer.
Rachel and Neil are both old enough to know better.
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Maybe this needs taking a step further. All people wanting to enter the park should have to undergo a risk assessment and CRB check. Might keep the yobs and unruly brats out!
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Too right – I mean when your taking your child to the town park you DO NOT want to be cornered by people handing out leaflets.
Its bad enough in the town centre with the RAC and Big Issue people pouncing on you before you enter the centre – the last thing you want is the same thing happening in open spaces.
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Good grief what were they doing, snaring people in a net and subjecting them to ten minutes of lecturing. I don’t want councillors knocking on my door telling me a pack of lies about what they will or won’t do when they are elected but I have to have them, are they risk assesed before entering my property?
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Sounds like a good thing to me. When visiting a park it is for recreation, not to have the misguided and one-sided opinions of a few people rammed down my throat.
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next time i have a cup of tea at the spout farm tea shop i expect the staff there to be either crb checked or, for the safety of the children removed from the park..
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I always thourght people who preyed on children looked like your average person, and didn’t make an effort to stand out in any way.
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Matt: That is totaly idiotic…. For example, there was a case in Belgium where a man would dress up as a normal bloke and mingle with crowds in parks. Turned out he was a serial killer. We best do a crb and backgound check on all the normal blokes!
And even more sinister here was a case in Italy where a man with black hair would mingle with crowds in parks. Turned out he was also a serial killer. We best do a crb and backgound check on all the men with black hair!
I don’t have a problem with the photographers with their great big cameras taking pictures – its all those creepy people with their hidden cameras – I see them using them in malls and around the parks where there are young kids – i have even seen kids with these hidden cameras – but they dont fool me.
Yet the useless council will crack down on people with cameras out in the open yet they ignore those with sneaky cameraphones taking perverted pictures.
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Why is it such a bad thing that someone working in a position where they may come into contact with children should be CRB checked?
And in this day and age where people live by the motto “where there’s a blame, there’s a claim” I don’t blame the park owners for wanting a risk assessment done.
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Agree with you 100% Lucy
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Lucy said:
Why is it such a bad thing that someone working in a position where they may come into contact with children should be CRB checked?
And in this day and age where people live by the motto “where there’s a blame, there’s a claim” I don’t blame the park owners for wanting a risk assessment done.
Lucy – they’re not talking about “people working with children” – if they were I’d be the first person to agree with them – they’re on about a couple of people handing out leaflets in a public park.
And what sort of risk is there to be assessed – perhaps making sure that the leaflets don’t give people paper cuts?
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Rob, telford – people handing out leaflets in a park owned by T & C.
The leaflets could have contained anything and had not been vetoed by T & C so surely you can see that is why they were banned from the park
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Yep the Telford KGB really ought to scrutinise all leaflets….I get some awful ones through my door…usually off councillors
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What ever next? CRB checks for Ice Cream Vendors, sweet shop workers, toy shop workers, card shops,gift shops, book shops….. It will be a case of your kids can’t go anywhere without minders next.
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buskers in the high street, are they CRB checked?
the owner of the sweet shop into which all the kids take their pocket money, are they CRB checked?
people who live near a school. perhaps they should be CRB checked?
prospective parents, should they be checked and then given authority to conceive?
to what lengths do the idiots in authority want to take this?
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Firstly, we weren’t ramming our opinions down anybody’s throat. If people wanted to engage with us they could, if they didn’t we left them alone. We were standing at the side of the path on the grass, giving people plenty of room to avoid us if they wanted to and we certainly weren’t cornering anybody. As it happens, in the short time we were there we had some really good discussions with people who both agreed and disagreed with our point of view.
We willingly showed the staff and the manager our leaflets, which did not contain anything provocative or offensive. In any case, how many people with sinister motives towards the children in the park would stand dressed and penguins handing out leaflets with their own email address on them?
Okay, most people probably visited the park just to have a good day out but we didn’t stop them doing that.
As I said in the original interview with the Shropshire Star, I certainly don’t dispute the need for some level of vigilance in areas where there are lots of children but even though we hadn’t got permission to be there, we clearly weren’t putting anyone at risk.
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that is facist state gone mad
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cOME TO wHITCHURCH THE ONLY THING NOT ALLOWED IN THE PARK HERE ARE PLAY FACILITIES FOR CHILDREN AND YOUTHS.
WE WOULDNT WANT TO SPOIL PEOPLES BORROWED VIEW
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Just a thourght: are all the people connected with the Town Park CRB checked? The staff in wonderland? The park wardens? The gardeners in the Maxell gardens? The staff in the Spout Farm house? The people who removed the penguins from the park? The litter pickers? What about the people who operate the fun fair right next to the play area? I would have thourght that most young children ( say under 10 s ) would be visiting the park with their parents or a responsible adult anyway. I can understand people who work with children and vunerable adults to be checked and vetted thouroughly, but if it means CRB checking everyone who might come into contact with a child, well surely that includes shop staff, (especially in toy/game shops,) staff who work at farm parks, zoo’s……..
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Rachel – The point is you did not have permission from the council to hand out leaflets on council land.
So the council are right to ban you
It does’nt matter what your intentions or motives were.
If I were to come over to your house and stand in your garden handing out leaflets you would expect me to ask permission of yourself first and you would want prior notice of what the leaflets were saying.
I hope you understand now.
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Meter readers, sales reps, local politicians and representatives of local religious groups all come into my front garden without permission AND (in the case of the latter two) put leaflets through my door without even giving me a choice. Are they CRB checked and risk assessed? I’d object to children being exposed to some of the stuff they say more than a leaflet which just asked people to think about the issue of climate change.
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The point is that the Town Park is PUBLIC OPEN SPACE.
Unless I’m very much mistaken Rachel’s garden is private property, so anyone doing anything there without her permission is possibly guilty of trespassing.
I hope you understand now…..
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If the council is going to use these laws for purposes they were not intended for – I think and would like to see a campaign for compulsary provision of public ‘speakers corner’ when anyone can hand-out leaflets and make speaches – also imporatantly it should have the equal value in its location to shops and cafes and money making places. Then, maybe they can excuse harrasing people attempting to hgave free speach and lacking anywhere else (the security soon move people on in the private-land called Telford Town centre where we’re ‘allowed’ to go and spend money (‘no spending money, move on please’).
I might not like what’s said or handed out – but lets have a facility in every city, town and yes village. People used to fight for such freedoms, remember!
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Rachel and Neil’s actions sound completely harmless, and in my opinion highly commendable.
Surely actions like this are to be expected -and encouraged- in public spaces in a democratic country.
Big Matty (Comment #9) says they were distributing misguided and one-sided opinions.
Without seeing the leaflet, it would be impossible to judge this.
Could Rachel perhaps put the text of the leaflet into her next contribution, so that we could discuss it here?
Thanks for getting this vital debate going, Rachel and Neil.
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The town park is not public space. It may be a space which the public is allowed to use.
but the Town park is owned by T & C hence they have the right to determine who may use it.
In the same case your gardens are owned by yourselves and you have the right to say who may use it.
AND you can stop people posting leaflets on your property – simply board up your letter box
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Y Mab Darogan said:
“The town park is not public space. It may be a space which the public is allowed to use.
but the Town park is owned by T & C hence they have the right to determine who may use it.
In the same case your gardens are owned by yourselves and you have the right to say who may use it.
AND you can stop people posting leaflets on your property – simply board up your letter box”
The Park IS public open space, under the terms of the deeds when it was handed over to the council by the Commission for New Towns.
As such “access must remain open and free at all times for its recognised use as a public park”. The council only “own” the Park on behalf of local residents.
Your proposal that people board up their letterboxes is an interesting one, but I would suggest one that may have one or two awkward consequences.
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No argument that the town park is public space but you need council permission to use it for any other purpose than a town park ie
if you wanted to do the following
1) Camp in the town park
2) Hold a wedding reception
3) Hold a Political rally
4) Hand out leaflets
You would need council permission before you started said activity
Hope you understand now
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Happy to oblige Huw. This is the text from the front:
How do you feel about climate change? We see our polar ice caps melting and hear about rising sea levels but how many of us really consider what the implications of global warming might be for us hear in lovely, leafy, landlocked Shropshire.
Does it fill you with fear about the future, do you think it’s not really happening or would you rather just not think about it? One thing is for certain, after years of denial by governments, it seems like climate change is hardly off the political agenda or out of the news these days.
No-one can deny that the Earth’s climate has warmed and cooled naturally for millions of years but there is compelling evidence that this cycle has been accelerated and become more unpredictable since the Industrial Revolution. In releasing the carbon stored beneath the ground via widespread burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas), human activity has disrupted the natural carbon cycle by releasing too much carbon dioxide, a ‘greenhouse gas’, into the atmosphere.
It may not be possible to reverse the damage we have already done but we can decide that enough is enough before we send our own species and thousands of others to an early extinction. It is easy to sit back and think that melting glaciers, scorched earth and disappearing rainforests are nothing to do with us but the truth is that those problems and many more are a result of the global capitalist culture of which we are all part, whether we participate willingly or not.
As our climate changes, we may have to more to worry about here in the UK than the odd rainy summer. Global warming could render many currently occupied areas uninhabitable, where are these displaced people going go? What’s more, a study by the World Health Organisation in 2003 linked climate change (specifically global warming), widening social inequality, loss of biodiversity and rising rates of infectious disease.
This is a global problem and we can be sure that if the worst does happen, our leaders won’t give a damn about us. Whether we’re in Telford or Timbuktu, black or white, male or female, we all need food, water and clean air to breathe.
If you would like to know more about our group and campaigns, contact admin@wrekinstopwar.org or wag@riseup.net
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And here is the text from the back:
Climate change is a scary prospect, so it’s understandable that people might not want to admit it’s happening. But what of those who accept the reality but make excuses so they don’t have to do anything about it? Here are some of the classic excuses and our response.
‘Why should we do anything about climate change when China isn’t?’
The Chinese economy has been going through a period of massive growth but this isn’t for the benefit of the Chinese people – most of China’s emissions can be linked to the production of consumer goods for the Western market. That’s why so much of what you buy will have ‘made in China’ stamped on it and why as well as having to deal with massive pollution, many Chinese are still oppressed and living in poverty.
Climate change isn’t some else’s problem, it’s a threat to us all and it’s time for those of us all too often referred to as ‘ordinary people’ to prove how extraordinary we are in working together for change.
‘It’s too late, we can’t do anything to stop climate change now.’
We may not be able to do anything to stop climate change but we can stop speeding it up and making it more extreme.
This isn’t about ‘saving the planet’; if we wipe ourselves out the planet will survive and eventually regenerate without us. It’s about saving the world as we know it and as we have been privileged enough to live at a time when the planet is home to such an amazing diversity of animal and planet life, surely this isn’t too much to ask?
‘The Government is doing something about it.’
Whatever mainstream politicians may claim or, indeed, whatever their personal feelings on the issue, they are committed to protecting the interests of the wealthy elites who keep them in power.
Even if they could break their ties with the fossil fuel industry, it’s unlikely that they will. Meanwhile, they’re lining the pockets of yet more corporate fat cats in the new ‘green’ industries like carbon off-setting, which is nothing more than a white elephant. In fact, one scientist went as far as to say that,
“…asking people to planet trees to off-set carbon emissions is like asking people to drink more water to combat rising sea levels.”
The current political system cannot deal with the problem of climate change because it is itself part of the problem. Change is scary but the consequences of doing nothing may be scarier still.
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concerned
turn your caps lock off
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Rachel – and may I ask how much “research” you have done on climate change?
Or are you going by research issued by parties who have a climate change agenda and as such are very biased?
I would think the latter.
My point is Rachel climate change has been occuring on this planet for the last billion years
Climate change is a cycle and unless you know of a way to keep our rotation around the sun constant it is always going to happen.
Unfortunately world governments have latched onto climate change and decided it is a VERY easy way to raise taxes
and certain gullible members of the public have been taken in as well
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whats your issue y mab darogan, is it the fact they were protesting or what they were protesting about.
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Y Mab Darogan said:
“No argument that the town park is public space but you need council permission to use it for any other purpose than a town park ie
if you wanted to do the following
1) Camp in the town park
2) Hold a wedding reception
3) Hold a Political rally
4) Hand out leaflets
You would need council permission before you started said activity
Hope you understand now”
…and you got this list from where? I’m sure most people wouldn’t expect the first two activities to be allowed, but political rallies have been held in public parks in this country for the last couple of hundred years, and surely handing out leaflets (as long as they are not in themselves illegal) is part of the democratic process.
Sorry, I forgot, you don’t believe in democracy. Presumabably I will be deemed to “understand” when I agree with you?
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…as per your comment in the “Cheap booze leaves pubs dry” thread:
Y Mab Darogan said: Aug 11th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
And would a dictorship be that bad if it ensured that everyone was safe on the streets, energy companies would be nationized so no huge energy bills
I think that perhaps this democratic system we have at the moment has failed
so why not try something new.
Do you know, I’ll bet people like you were saying things like that in Germany back in the early thirties!
“eh Helga, them Brownshirts are reet polite and helpful, I’ve just watched them helping that nice Mr and Mrs Goldberg from next door into the back of a lorry. All this and the trains are running on time, thank God we voted for that nice Mr Hitler, and the uniforms are so smart…..”
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Y Mab Darogan,
I attended a workshop at the climate camp given by Dr Simon Lewis,he was able to dispel many climate change denial myths with well researched peer reviewed reports and his own research working in the Amazon and Congo studying the ecology related to C02 emissions. If as you claim the sun and our orbit around it is responsible for the recent changes in climate then global temperatures should be decreasing.
Governments are dominated my markets, big business and financial institutions, they do not have a realistic response to climate change, it’s business as usual for them and they will raise our taxes off the back of the on-coming ecological crisis, that’s the nature of capitalism.
I fully support Rachel and Neil in this protest and will join them for more, as any socially conscious individual should.
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Y Mab Darogan – Firstly, I’m not a scientist but I am capable of making decisions based on the evidence in front of me and I have done extensive research into both sides of the debate. How much research have you done that makes you think this isn’t an issue to be concerned about?
Yes, there are biased opinions involved in some sectors of the ‘green’ lobby and there is an element of Government cashing in, as acknowledged in our leaflet, but the same applies to those denying that there is a problem.
Of the scientists who have signed the Oregon Petition denying a scientific consensus on this issue, a number have asked for their names to be removed because of differences between the petition they were originally asked to sign and the website giving the results. Many others are in the employ of the oil industry and some names have appeared quite mysteriously given that the people are dead!
Once again, our leaflet clearly states that climate change is a natural process but you are ignoring the compelling evidence that these changes have accelerated and become more extreme/difficult to predict since the Industrial Revolution.
Whether or not CO2 emissions are speeding up climate change, the burning of fossil fuels IS damaging our environment – just take a look at the pictures from Beijing or look at the figures regarding respiratory diseases in areas where there is open-cast mining.
I don’t think anyone can say 100% either way but I believe that at the moment the most compelling evidence points towards the fact that the burning of fossil fuels is affecting the natural climate cycle. If I can possibly do anything about making things easier for future generations by doing what I can in the here and now, then I’m prepared to do it.
And just one final point, fossil fuels are finite resources and the cost of nuclear energy will make current fuel prices look like small change. If we just carry on without reducing our consumption and thinking of alternatives, what are we going to do when they run out? Or is that too far in the future for your to care?
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Thanks for showing us your leaflet, Rachel, and good luck to you and your fellow penguins!
Stretton Climate Care are working to reduce emissions in South Shropshire.
Bishop’s Castle has its own Wasteless Society project.
We need more small-scale projects like this to show that ordinary people acting together can create something extraordinary, which puts the efforts of our leaders to shame.
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I recommend that Y Mab Darogan re-reads Rachel’s leaflet (comment #32 paragraph 4) where she deals with his point about naturally-occurring climate change and anthropogenic (man-made) climate change.
If this does not answer his point, he might want to look at the website of the Royal Society.
The WrekinStopWar leaflet reflects the science published by Britain’s foremost scientific institution, even if the latter is not calling for the end of capitalism!
The Royal Society deals with Y Mab Darogan’s point under the rubric MISLEADING ARGUMENT NUMBER 1.
Just put the words ‘Royal Society climate change’ into Google to find out, Y Mab Darogan.
If the Royal Society’s website doesn’t satisfy you, then you should read the reports of the Nobel-prize-winning IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on climate Change), which has reported on climate change since the late 1980s.
Failing that, the science academies of Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, India, Japan, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, the UK and the USA have made unequivocal statements on anthropogenic climate change.
Would you call these scientific institutions ‘gullible’, Y Mab Darogan?
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Will the council leaders apply the same rules when they’re knocking on my door come polling time?? Can I employ the same tactics because I have two small children? Maybe I’ll have to send them to my house ‘managers’ office for a severe talking to, she’d love that! lol
What a farce Telford council is for even creating these rules, never mind enforcing them. I visit the park with my kids almost weekly and would be far happier to give a kind ‘no thanks’ to some climate change penguin instead of shutting down public speaking at all.
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