All protesters safely removed from Euston Square
The National Eviction Team confirms that today, 26th February 2021, the final protester was safely removed from the tunnels under Euston Square Gardens.
HS2
In 2018, the National Eviction Team (NET) was appointed by HS2 Limited to manage the anticipated protests along the proposed route.
Since 2018, we have worked on numerous sites, many featuring tunnelling and at height removals. The most significant of these, which was extensively covered in the national media, were the protests and tunnels at Euston Square Gardens.
Euston Square Gardens
This protest started in January 2021. When we went on site we found protesters at height in makeshift structures in the trees, as well as in an extensive tunnel system. We quickly removed the above ground protesters from site and simultaneously began the complex operation to safely remove the protesters from the extremely hazardous tunnels and chambers that they had burrowed beneath the square.
Whilst it had not been confirmed that there were tunnels, we had thought there was a high probability, so all our risk assessment and planning beforehand had incorporated preparation for tunnels.
In February 2021, we cleared the tunnels and returned the site to HS2. You can read the press release we issued about the safe clearance of all the tunnels.
Andrew Stephenson MP, Minister of State for Transport at the time, wrote to the NET, thanking us for our “pivotal contribution” to the successful removal of protesters from Euston Square Gardens. He acknowledged that we had been “working in extremely challenging and sometimes dangerous conditions” and stated how important our work to resolve the situation in Euston was in ensuring that the work of HS2 can continue to connect people and places.
Euston Square Gardens: the court case
In February 2021, one of the protesters, Dr Ian “Larch” Maxey, brought two legal claims. The first, to cease operations, was refused. For the second, the defendant was HS2 Limited , with three interested parties: the Secretary of State for Transport, the London Fire Commissioner and High Court Enforcement Group (our parent company).
Dr Maxey’s claim, supported by the owner of a search and rescue business who had failed to win the contract to remove the protesters for HS2, covered a number of concerns about the operation.
HHJ Steyn rejected the claim, stating that there was no realistic prospect of the court finding that the defendant was breaching their duty. HHJ Steyn supported the way the National Eviction Team was approaching and managing the operation. Read more about the court case.
Cubbington Woods and Crackley Wood
Cubbington Woods and Crackley Wood form part of the Princethorpe Woods complex, which has the largest concentration of semi-natural ancient woodland in Warwickshire. Recognised as an ancient woodland, extra care and approach was required. We worked alongside a team of environmental specialists.
The Save Cubbington Woods group set up an encampment of around 20 people on a rota who maintained a constant presence at the camp. The trees had an extensive rope access system and two substantial treehouses. The treehouses had lock-on devices which the protesters would latch onto to delay their removal.
As the eviction was undertaken during the pandemic, extra precautions were introduced to the extensive risk assessments to ensure everyone's safety.
The NET climbing team, specialising in removing protesters at height, safely removed the protesters from the trees and machinery, alongside the NET ground team which dismantled the living area of the protest camp on the ground. To protect the ground, we used a crane to lower enforcement agents into the trees to work with specialised cherry pickers with rubberised tracks and matting.
Other sites with protester tunnels
- Two large protest camps and a very large tunnel complex in extremely hazardous sandy soil at Swynnerton, Staffordshire
- A huge tunnel complex 10 metres deep beneath Wendover Dean
For these sites, you can see below the videos we generated using LIDAR technology to map the extent and detail of the tunnels.
Additional HS2 protest sites
The National Eviction Team also managed the removal of protesters from all the other sites along the construction of the line, including:
- Denham Country Park, multiple large sites, including the bamboo tower erected in the river Misbourne by Daniel “Swampy” Hooper
- Harvil Road in multiple locations across the sites of the viaduct and around the tunnel portal area
- Jones’ Hill Wood, Wendover, Buckinghamshire
- Calvert Woods and Lake
- Poors Piece, Calvert
- Farm at Kenilworth Warwickshire
- Sheep farm near Lichfield
Related content
Protesters using bamboo towers
Bamboo has many great properties and wide application. A newer application for bamboo is the construction of “pop-up” protester towers to block roads/access and for protesters to lock themselves onto.
Euston Square Gardens - the court case
You may well remember the removal of protesters that the National Eviction Team undertook in January and February 2021 at Euston Square Gardens, central London.
Mapping protester tunnels
LIDAR mapping of two different protester tunnel complexes for evidential purposes.
