User:Edlothian/sandbox

= The Isle of Oblivion (Squat Island) =

Background
The island of Oblivion (/əˈblɪvɪən/) is located 12 miles out from the South East Coast of England. The nearest mainland town is Clacton-on-sea, Essex. Oblivion is the loose latin translation of the word 'forgotten' as it was the last British Isle to be discovered and has been a property of her Majesty's United Kingdom since 1781. Since then it has been unused aside from a handful of failed fishing villages. Being only 5 miles in diameter it has a limited amount of arable land capable of sustaining a small community, but being located in the North Sea it suffers from cold and wet weather through a lot of the year and no official community has ever settled there long term. Wildlife consists of North Sea birds such as Gannets, Petrels and Sea-ducks. As well as some small mammals such as hedgehogs, wild-pigs and rabbits.

The Squatters of Oblivion
The latest crop of settlers on Oblivion are somewhat controversial. It is uncertain when and how exactly they got there, but in the eyes of the state they are illegally occupying or 'squatting' on the island as they have not set up any official government or accepted the support of local authorities to become a crown dependency. Litigation first commenced in 2014, when the unofficial community were first discovered by a nearby fishing trawler, bringing them to national attention. The opportunity was offered to the community by the Crown court to declare themselves a part of the United Kingdom and hence a Crown dependency, requiring them to pay sovereignty taxes to the mainland. This offer was rejected by the community.

Since this rejection, several legal attempts have been made to remove the community with the argument they are inhabiting government property without permission. In 2012, residential squatting was deemed illegal, which has been the main argument for attempting to remove the Oblitus settlers as many have claimed abandoned fisherman's homes as their own. The community argue they are well within their rights to inhabit the island, as the law dictates a squatter can claim a property as their own if they have inhabited it for 10 years or more. It is their intention to declare the island as its own state, they just need to provide evidence that at least one of their community have inhabited the island for more than 10 years.