Camp stays put despite pleas from church to stop protest

Members of the Green Party on the city council have tabled a motion for today’s meeting of the full authority, calling on members to support the action being taken by the anti-capitalist group.

Group leader Coun Jillian Creasy, who represents the Sheffield Central ward, said the Occupy protesters should be “congratulated” on the action they were taking to highlight global issues.

In her motion, she calls on the council to note “that this occupation, together with hundreds of others worldwide, is not simply a protest, but an effort to bring to life the inclusive, equitable and sustainable systems desired”.

Coun Creasy will also call on all councillors to visit the camp for themselves, and claim that the movement and its participants in Sheffield, have “significant support in the wider population”.

The Dean of Sheffield, the Very Rev Peter Bradley, called for the protest to end earlier this week, and it is understood that he has sent an email to councillors asking them to consider a series of concerns which the cathedral has over the protest.

At the end of last month the protesters and senior clerics held a meeting in a bid to try and find some common ground, and although it was described as “positive and mutually respectful”, the camp has not moved.

On Sunday, the dean used a sermon in the cathedral to urge the protesters to go, saying the camp had “made its point”.