Protester removed and charged after 24 hours in tree at community garden
A woman who spent nearly 24 hours up a tree was whisked away with a cherry picker as she tried to stop an inner Brisbane community garden from being closed and sold for housing.
Sharai Lancaster spent the night clinging to a branch in Kurilpa Commons – at the corner of Boundary and Dudley streets, near the border of the West End and Highgate Hill – after a riot squad was sent to help government representatives surround the fence on Monday. Six people were arrested.
A cherry picker arrived late Tuesday morning to remove it. Dozens of officers, paramedics, fire crews and contractors attended the scene. Protesters and television crews were moved into a taped-off area.
An exhausted Lancaster was persuaded to come down around 1 p.m. Supporters applauded police and accused them of acting inappropriately as officers carried them, wrapped in blankets, to a waiting ambulance.
“Peaceful protesters are allowed to protest,” local Green councilor Trina Massey wrote on this tag from the back of a nearby fire truck.
“This is shocking to me – a state government can make decisions and then… put them into effect without talking to anyone or even understanding what is happening on the ground.
“This is a pattern we see consistently across state government, whether it is in the House of Commons or in Victoria Park.”
Police confirmed that Lancaster was arrested and charged with trespassing and obstructing police. A court date has not been set yet.
Kurilpa Commons is a collective where a wide variety of fruits and vegetables are grown by volunteers. The project was launched on state-owned land during the COVID pandemic and is also used for community events such as movie screenings, catering and working bees.
“This is such an area that [members have] They built friendships, they built communities… it’s not just a garden,” Massey said.
“They’re so passionate about it, they want to preserve it, and there’s something really incredible about that.”
Lancaster’s arrest was the result of more than 24 hours of protests. More than a dozen riot police were called in on Monday and six people were arrested while the field was barricaded.
Officials and contractors arrived at around 7am on Monday, without notice, to put up concrete fences and erect signs announcing the land would be transferred to Economic Development Queensland, a state-run development agency.
Shortly after the arrests, Lancaster climbed a fence and emerged onto the nearby branch.
“Destroying a community garden that grows food for people in the local community in the middle of a cost of living crisis and arresting people for trying to grow their own food is ridiculous,” community member Shane Cucow said in a statement Monday.
“And also the police presence… it’s just crazy.”
Lancaster’s sister Jemika said the garden played an important role in binding the community together and her friend Zoe’s ashes were scattered in the area.
“It’s a place to gather, a place to celebrate and commemorate who we are… and also what kind of world we want to live in… a place to really come together in a world where there are so few third spaces.”
A representative from Queensland Economic Development confirmed the land would be sold for development.
“The site, owned by Queensland taxpayers, is poised to meet a community need: more housing,” the statement said.
“The land is owned by Queenslanders and has never been approved for continuing occupation or as a community garden and users were made well aware of this some time ago.”
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