redred
12-28-2011, 12:25 PM
ONLY two of the tents pitched on College Green as part of the Occupy Bristol protest are being slept in at night.
Pictures taken on a thermal imaging camera – which detects body heat – show most of the 30 tents on the makeshift campsite lie empty.
day
http://i.imgur.com/wFjiB.jpg (http://imgur.com/wFjiB)
night
http://i.imgur.com/jHvX1.jpg (http://imgur.com/jHvX1)
Protesters deny that the revelation weakens the credibility of their anti-capitalist campaign, which began in mid-October.
They say demonstrators are continuing to occupy the site overnight – but have moved to larger communal tents as temperatures have dropped.
According to one protester, most of the small tents could even be removed by the end of the month to allow campaigners to "consolidate" their camp and "maintain a symbolic presence" on the green.
The Evening Post used thermal imaging equipment to capture photo- graphs of the camp on Wednesday evening and the early hours of Friday morning.
The pictures reveal that just one tent was occupied on Wednesday while two were being slept in on Friday.
In the images, the presence of body heat from humans is represented by the colours white and red inside the tents.
The tents that appear black indicate they are colder and therefore empty. Bristol Cathedral, which can be seen behind the camp, appears coloured due to the higher temperature inside the building.
City councillor Peter Abraham (Conservative, Stoke Bishop) said he was not surprised that so few tents were being occupied at night.
He said: "I've monitored the camp at 11.30 to 11.45 at night and I've never seen lights on in the tents. To my eyes, it was unoccupied.
"It (the thermal imaging pictures) confirms what has been suspected for quite a long time.
"I have spoken to the Dean of Bristol Cathedral and we are agreed that as soon as possible legal proceedings should be taken to allow the eviction of the site.
"Agree with the campaign or whatever, the campsite is an eyesore in the middle of the city and people are being robbed of the chance to go on the site.
"At Christmas it's a beautiful place to be, but that has been ruined."
The councillor added: "The people who were the original protesters are hardly there. Now, others have turned up and have taken advantage of the situation."
The protesters, who want a fairer society, have been on the land – which is owned by Bristol Cathedral but leased and maintained by the local authority – outside the Council House since October 15.
Andrew Phillips, Bristol Cathedral's chapter clerk, said the revelation that only a handful of demonstrators were staying overnight at the camp would not alter the cathedral's approach over the occupation.
The Dean of the cathedral, the Very Reverend David Hoyle, has been negotiating with the group in an attempt to move them off the site but he told the Post last week that he would have no choice but to evict them if they planned to stay "for the long haul".
Mr Phillips said: "It's right on our doorstep and we know few of the tents are occupied of an evening.
"A lot of protesters have jobs to go to and we understand that with an encampment the number sometimes swells and goes down. A lot of them have moved into bigger structures so they have numbers together to keep warm.
"It doesn't matter if it's one or 500 tents – it still means the same to us."
Luther Blissett, one of the protesters, said the number of demonstrators sleeping in small tents had dwindled because they had recently moved into larger structures on the site.
He said: "As you probably know if you've slept in a tent in winter, it's not very warm. People have been moving into the bigger structures and there are a number living in each of them. They are much better for sleeping in. The largest one probably sleeps 30 at a push.
"People who put their lives on hold and sleep on a camp site are a small subset of those behind the campaign. It's just a symbolic thing and it doesn't represent the extent of our support.
"It's not about College Green for us – it's broader than that and there are thousands of people who support our cause. It's about our ideas and not the camping. You could bulldoze College Green tomorrow and this movement wouldn't go away.
"The camping is symbolism and it's proved a useful tactic which has got us a lot of attention."
Pictures taken on a thermal imaging camera – which detects body heat – show most of the 30 tents on the makeshift campsite lie empty.
day
http://i.imgur.com/wFjiB.jpg (http://imgur.com/wFjiB)
night
http://i.imgur.com/jHvX1.jpg (http://imgur.com/jHvX1)
Protesters deny that the revelation weakens the credibility of their anti-capitalist campaign, which began in mid-October.
They say demonstrators are continuing to occupy the site overnight – but have moved to larger communal tents as temperatures have dropped.
According to one protester, most of the small tents could even be removed by the end of the month to allow campaigners to "consolidate" their camp and "maintain a symbolic presence" on the green.
The Evening Post used thermal imaging equipment to capture photo- graphs of the camp on Wednesday evening and the early hours of Friday morning.
The pictures reveal that just one tent was occupied on Wednesday while two were being slept in on Friday.
In the images, the presence of body heat from humans is represented by the colours white and red inside the tents.
The tents that appear black indicate they are colder and therefore empty. Bristol Cathedral, which can be seen behind the camp, appears coloured due to the higher temperature inside the building.
City councillor Peter Abraham (Conservative, Stoke Bishop) said he was not surprised that so few tents were being occupied at night.
He said: "I've monitored the camp at 11.30 to 11.45 at night and I've never seen lights on in the tents. To my eyes, it was unoccupied.
"It (the thermal imaging pictures) confirms what has been suspected for quite a long time.
"I have spoken to the Dean of Bristol Cathedral and we are agreed that as soon as possible legal proceedings should be taken to allow the eviction of the site.
"Agree with the campaign or whatever, the campsite is an eyesore in the middle of the city and people are being robbed of the chance to go on the site.
"At Christmas it's a beautiful place to be, but that has been ruined."
The councillor added: "The people who were the original protesters are hardly there. Now, others have turned up and have taken advantage of the situation."
The protesters, who want a fairer society, have been on the land – which is owned by Bristol Cathedral but leased and maintained by the local authority – outside the Council House since October 15.
Andrew Phillips, Bristol Cathedral's chapter clerk, said the revelation that only a handful of demonstrators were staying overnight at the camp would not alter the cathedral's approach over the occupation.
The Dean of the cathedral, the Very Reverend David Hoyle, has been negotiating with the group in an attempt to move them off the site but he told the Post last week that he would have no choice but to evict them if they planned to stay "for the long haul".
Mr Phillips said: "It's right on our doorstep and we know few of the tents are occupied of an evening.
"A lot of protesters have jobs to go to and we understand that with an encampment the number sometimes swells and goes down. A lot of them have moved into bigger structures so they have numbers together to keep warm.
"It doesn't matter if it's one or 500 tents – it still means the same to us."
Luther Blissett, one of the protesters, said the number of demonstrators sleeping in small tents had dwindled because they had recently moved into larger structures on the site.
He said: "As you probably know if you've slept in a tent in winter, it's not very warm. People have been moving into the bigger structures and there are a number living in each of them. They are much better for sleeping in. The largest one probably sleeps 30 at a push.
"People who put their lives on hold and sleep on a camp site are a small subset of those behind the campaign. It's just a symbolic thing and it doesn't represent the extent of our support.
"It's not about College Green for us – it's broader than that and there are thousands of people who support our cause. It's about our ideas and not the camping. You could bulldoze College Green tomorrow and this movement wouldn't go away.
"The camping is symbolism and it's proved a useful tactic which has got us a lot of attention."