A woman who spent about 24 hours up a tree has been removed with a cherry picker, as she tried to prevent a community garden in inner-Brisbane from being shut down and sold for housing.
Sharai Lancaster spent the night clinging to a branch at Kurilpa Commons – on the corner of Boundary and Dudley streets, near the border of West End and Highgate Hill – after the riot squad was sent in on Monday to help government representatives fence it off. Six people were arrested.
A cherry picker arrived late on Tuesday morning to remove her. It joined dozens of officers, paramedics, fire crews and contractors on the scene. Protesters and television crews were moved to a taped-off area.
An exhausted Lancaster was convinced to come down about 1pm. Supporters cheered and accused police of acting improperly as she was taken by officers to a waiting ambulance wrapped in a blanket.
“Peaceful protesters are allowed to protest,” Greens councillor for the area Trina Massey told this masthead from behind a nearby fire truck.
“It’s shocking to me; a state government can make decisions without speaking to anyone, or even understanding what’s happening on the ground, and then … send in force.
“This is a pattern that we constantly see from the state government now, whether it’s here at the Commons or whether it’s at Victoria Park.”
Police confirmed Lancaster was arrested and charged with trespassing and obstructing police. A court date has not yet been set.
Kurilpa Commons is a collective where a wide variety of fruit and vegetables are grown by volunteers. It was started during the COVID pandemic on state-owned land, and is also used for community events, including film screenings, potlucks and working bees.
“This is a space where [members have] found friendships, where they’ve built communities … it’s not just a garden,” Massey said.
“They’re so passionate about it, they want to protect it, and there’s something in that that is actually really incredible.”
Lancaster’s arrest was the culmination of well over 24 hours of protesting. On Monday, more than a dozen riot police were called and six people were arrested as the site was barricaded off.
Authorities and contractors arrived about 7am on Monday without notice to concrete in fencing and erect signs announcing the land would be transferred to Economic Development Queensland – a state-run development agency.
Lancaster climbed up a fence and onto the nearby branch not long after the arrests.
“It’s just absurd to be demolishing a community garden which is growing food for people in the local community in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, and to be arresting people for trying to grow their own food,” community member Shane Cucow said on Monday.
“And just the sheer police presence as well … it’s just crazy.”
Lancaster’s sister, Jemika, said the garden served an important role in connecting the community, and said the ashes of her friend Zoe had been spread on the site.
“It’s a place of gathering, it is a place of memorialising and commemorating who we are … and also the kind of world that we want to live in … it’s a place to actually gather in a world with so few third spaces.”
A representative for Economic Development Queensland confirmed the land would be sold for development.
“The Queensland taxpayer-owned site is being prepared to fulfil a community need – more housing,” a statement read.
“The land is owned by Queenslanders and was never approved for ongoing occupation or as a community garden, and users were made well aware of this some time ago.”
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