In Perth this Saturday afternoon, there was a fun filled reclaim the streets to mark the WTO meeting in Cancun...

In Perth this Saturday afternoon, there was a fun filled reclaim the streets to mark the WTO meeting in Cancun...

The RTS started off rather spontaneously in the Perth cultural centre, where a colourful array of young people gathered and chilled before setting off to the the chosen site near Miss Mauds and DaDa', via the Barrack street and the Murray street mall where we made noise pied piper style to the wheely bin sound system before heading to the RTS site...

Upon arrival, the chosen road was blocked off in a fluffy green way with pot plants from the surrounding businesses (who likely called the cops!) along with webs of colourful yard. Suffice to say the street became an work of chalk art come dance floor as the hundred or so people let their hair down and had some fun...

Anyway within half an hour the cops arrived, and began scratching their head about how to deal with the situation. Their tactic was first to assertaion who the leader was, no luck there! Second tactic was to move the plants and remove the yarn, and to use their vehicles to clear the dance floor...

Necessarily then, the RTS moved on to Hay street heading for the mall with a growing amount of police hostility towards the protesters not giving up the road. Weaving down an arcade the RTS surpised the cops again taking Murray street before holding the Barrack street intersection for a few minutes and then taking over the mall much to the surprise of the Saturday shoppers and onlookers...

A trip up down the mall and up the PIccadilly arcade led bought the process to a now closed down MacDonalds, alas, after hanging in the mall for a bit it was decided that a trip to the scene of the last RTS was in order, namely King Street...

Despite the police blocking the RTS's path to King street at the end of the mall, the crew pushed on taking Hay street despite increasing police efforts to get us off the road, down King street we went holding its interesection with Murray Street for a while at the pedestrian crossing where punters had a laugh at legally reclaiming the street onmass...

: )

Anyway, as the police had on a number of occasions along the way had so kindly offered the RTS the public space we started in, how could we refuse, but we did it our way...

We headed down King street and then along Wellington street where the police were most unhelpful at allowing us to cross the street, many people did cross anyway but the bulk of the crew got across at the William street lights after the head cop changed his mind, not that he had much choice as soon as the little green man showed us the way we were gone...

So over the Horseshoe bridge and back to the cultural centre for a victory chill were many people got come fresh fruits from one of the market stall before relaxing to the sounds of the funky wheely bin and reminissing over what was a fun filled afternoon of civil disobedience that involved no arrests or injuries...

More photo's can be found at : http://perth.indymedia.org/index.php?action=newswire&parentview=1395

More photos from Reclaim The Streets: http://perth.indymedia.org/index.php?action=newswire&parentview=1403