[OccupySheffieldNews] Response to Letter from Sheffield Cathedral to Occupy Protest 5th January 2012

[Occupy Sheffield]

Hi

The following response to the latest press statement from
the Cathedral, which you can read here:

http://www.sheffieldcathedral.org/news/press/occupy-sheffield.php

Was sent to the Cathedral just over 24 hours ago and it
has also been posted to the web site:

https://occupysheffield.org/2012/01/06/the-occupation-continues/

Occupy Sheffield

----- Forwarded message from Occupy Sheffield <info at occupysheffield.org.uk> -----

From: Occupy Sheffield <info at occupysheffield.org.uk>
Date: Thu, 05 Jan 2012 23:28:13 +0000
To: Carl Hutton <Carl.Hutton at sheffield-cathedral.org.uk>,
	<peter.bradley at sheffield-cathedral.org.uk>

Dear Peter,

Happy New Year! We have big plans for 2012 and so do you.  We hope that 
those plans can co-exist peacefully.  There have been and continue to be 
headwinds, both natural and man-made, but we believe that the issues we 
are attempting to highlight are still a very real problem in our 
society.  We continue to be actively engaged in the cause and feel it 
would send the wrong message if we were to pack up and go at this point.

The situation remains the same; we will continue protesting as long as 
the financial structures which caused this economic crisis remain.  We 
cannot relent while the corporations continue to exert undue influence 
on politicians and while a tiny minority of the global population wields 
a frankly hideous proportion of wealth. It is not a love of camping 
which causes us to occupy your forecourt in the depth of winter.  We are 
here because the scale and depth of this crisis demands that we make a 
stand!

It has always been important to us to be good and responsive neighbours 
– and although on some matters we have agreed to disagree, we are proud 
that in the last 2 months, there have been no on-camp incidents with any 
serious negative consequences.  However, once the current storms have 
passed, it is our intention to rearrange the camp and create a more open 
and welcoming environment for the general public.  This will involve 
reducing the number of smaller tents and rearranging the larger marquee 
to create a more public area.

As you will be aware, we are hosting the 3rd National Occupy Conference 
on 21st/22nd January, and it is our intention to use the Citadel of Hope 
as the main conference space.  There may be a small increase in the 
number of tents on this weekend as we will be accommodating some of the 
conference delegates at the camp.  Please be in no doubt that safety of 
all our visitors, and yours, has been and remains paramount.

All the best!

Occupy Sheffield

----- End forwarded message -----