A CAMPAIGN group have set up camp at the Blitzed Charles Church in protest of government spending on nuclear submarines.
But despite using the bombed out shell for symbolic reasons, the peaceful group have been met with fierce opposition.
Edmund Shillabeer, a city vet and Conservative councillor candidate, said the church is a “sacred” place and a “memorial to those who died during the Blitz”.
“Having lived through the Blitz I think it is completely disrespectful,” he said. “No one should be in there.”
The Trident Ploughshares group hope their protest will highlight the amount of tax payers’ money spent on the Trident submarine.
The campaigners told The Herald they planned to occupy the church to increase awareness of the city’s role in “perpetuating these immoral weapons and risks to our environment”.
Mary, from the Trident Ploughshares group, said: “Trident is an incredibly expensive thing and there’s so many cuts to necessary public services that it seems like an extensive luxury to waste money on weapons of mass destruction.
“We’re outside the bombed out church to raise awareness to people and get them to talk to their parliamentary candidates and ask them about their opinions on Trident.”
Â
The group said they specifically chose to hold their protest at Charles Church as they think it is particularly symbolic in what they’re fighting against.
“This bombed out church is a memorial to those who died during World War Two,” said Mary.
“It connects quite nicely as we’re demonstrating against nuclear weapons and if they are used a lot more people would die. It is an incredibly damaging weapon to use.”
But Mr Shillabeer, who has gone to both the police and the council in protest, said it is a “desecration issue”.
He said: “I spoke to a lady and explained my problem and asked if they could take the posters down.
“This is personal thing; I could have been injured during the Blitz but my mother threw herself on me to save me.”
But Michal, from the Tamarian group, said: “In these times of austerity we really need to divert this funding into health, education and sustainable energy.”
He explained that each submarine is armed with four nuclear warheads, and each warhead is eight times the power of the one used at Hiroshima.
Earlier efforts involved the group reporting to the Charles Cross Police station in May last year.
But today’s (27/04) action was to make this concern visible to Plymouth residents as well.
Mary said: “They’re also looking at the decommissioning and commissioning of new ones and if they do so within Plymouth it’s an experimental decommissioning method.
“Storing that waste in Plymouth would be a particularly dangerous way to do things.”
Oliver Colvile, the Conservative candidate for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport, said: “I respect people’s right to protest peacefully, however I totally disagree with the use of Charles Church for this kind of purpose.
“People gave so much for the freedom of this country and many paid the ultimate sacrifice.
“To me, and to a lot of people here in Plymouth, Charles Church is symbolic of those sacrifices and I object to it being politicised in this way.
“I would urge the City Council to act quickly and remove this from publicly owned land.”
Read more:Â http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/Plymouth-group-warn-nuclear-submarines-city/story-26394811-detail/story.html#ixzz3YbkcokXH
Follow us: @heraldnewslive on Twitter | theplymouthherald on Facebook