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balcombe
The People Take on Fracking Corporation in UK-Wide Actions
Balcombe fracking protests spread nationwide as demonstrators shut down corporate headquarters, PR firm and drilling site
Aug 19, 2013
In a rapid-fire succession of civil disobedience actions across the United Kingdom, anti-fracking protesters came out in force Monday against drilling company Cuadrilla, shutting down their headquarters, their PR company and their drill site in Balcombe.
In an effort to suspend the "sustained campaign of corporate misinformation" being peddled by Bell Pottinger, beginning at 8 AM local time, six activists using superglue and reinforced arm tubes blocked the entrance company headquarters in London. Bell Pottinger is the PR company behind Cuadrilla's operation in Sussex where fracking already occurs.
Reporting on the action, the group No Dash for Gas writes:
Another activist climbed the building and unfurled a banner reading: 'BELL POTTINGER - FRACKING LIARS'. The campaigners used a sound system to play an undercover recording in which a Bell Pottinger spin doctor admits the company's pro-fracking PR offensive 'sounds like utter fucking bullshit.'
By 9 AM, 20 activists in Lichfield--two hours north of London--shut down Cuadrilla's headquarters by blockading it with their bodies. According to No Dash for Gas, three people entered the building and successfully occupied eight work stations using D-locks forcing the company to clear the entire floor of staff.
"We need to reclaim our energy system from the hands of corporations that will frack our countryside, crash our climate targets and send fuel bills through the roof," declared protester Debby Petersen.
And in Balcombe, where Cuadrilla's test drilling site set off the nationwide protests, hundreds of protesters faced off with police as they locked arms around five activists who blocked the main gates by securing themselves with D-locks and superglue to a wheelchair. A larger group of activists reportedly blocked the surrounding road.
Meanwhile, No Dash for Gas reports, a double-decker bus with children from the camp toured the area with the slogan "Don't frack with our future" emblazoned on the side of the vehicle.
Elsewhere, activists placed a wind turbine blade on the roof of the constituency office of Balcombe MP and Cabinet member Francis Maude, who was targeted for his pro-fracking views.
Reports of aggressive police tactics being used at the Balcombe protest have already drawn criticism and a formally filed complaint after a video surfaced of officers arresting a peaceful protester by "kneeling on his head and pushing his face into the ground as other officers restrain him." Other police had reportedly charged, pushed and shoved protesters and forced "one protester's head down with a bicycle wheel."
BBC had this video of the police violence in Balcombe:
Police violence at peaceful fracking protest in Balcombe captured on BBC NewsPolice violence caught on camera as protesters peacefully blockade the site of the controversial drilling site in Balcombe, West ...
Among the six demonstrators arrested by the Balcombe gates was Green Party MP, Dr. Caroline Lucas, who--along with her son--was forcibly removed from outside the test drilling site where she sat with her arms linked with other protesters.
"I'm proud of the people around me who have put their bodies where the police are," Lucas said. "They have tried to use the democratic processes, tried to raise the issue through those democratic panels. The government isn't listening. Climate change is the greatest threat that we face and I think that people are right to try and take action against fracking."
The actions follow three weeks of protests by the people of Balcombe against test drilling in the area which, protesters say, could lead to fracking to extract shale gas.
As others have taken up the local fight, a growing 'climate camp' in Balcombe housed and fed roughly 800 people over the weekend as they prepared for their multi-front battle against Cuadrilla and the gas drilling industry.
Reclaim the Power posted a number of images on their Flickr page from Monday's demonstrations.
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Community Uprising Puts Fracking Company on Its Heels in the UK
'No Dash for Gas' and direct action by local residents prove powerful force as they try to drive frackers out of West Sussex
Aug 16, 2013
What does it take to drive an unwanted gas drilling operation out a town?
Whether it's ultimately successful or not, campaigners and residents in one village in the UK are coursing a path towards victory and showing others what it might look like.
On Friday, over 1,000 anti-fracking campaigners are expected to join a protest camp near one of the U.K.'s most hotly-contested proposed fracking sites, promising more direct actions in an ongoing battle in a small West Sussex town.
These campaigners are cautiously celebrating a recent announcement by energy firm Cuadrilla that they have suspended exploratory drilling operations in the town of Balcombe due to the loud public backlash against the operation.
Cuadrilla said it had paused its operations following the advice of Sussex police who cited local outrage as a growing concern. Protesters, however, say their campiagn against Cuadrilla's drillling efforts in the area will continue.
Thursday was not the first time Cuadrilla has been forced to halt operations in the town of Balcombe. The site has seen ongoing protests since its first day of exploratory operations earlier this summer, when over 200 anti-fracking activists and community members in Balcombe blockaded the company's trucks containing the initial fracking equipment from entering the town.
Cuadrilla recently took several of the activists to court over the protests. Those charged in the suit have pleaded not guilty to charges of "disruption." Roughly 40 people have been arrested since the protests began.
No Dash for Gas, the group organizing this week's six-day "Reclaim the Power" camp, promised there be would "direct actions" in the coming days. In addition the camp will host other activities, including skills-sharing, campaign-building and direct action workshops.
"Cuadrilla's announcement that they'll halt drilling is already a victory for us," said activist Luke Johnson, but added that there was still more to be done. "We would like to make sure they don't frack in Balcombe, or anywhere else at all."
A protest march is also expected on Sunday.
"We are expecting quite a few more people to arrive from London," said campaigner James Basin, "and obviously we will be visiting the site to see what a mess Cuadrilla has made of it."
What seems to be clear, at least so far, is that the stream of community and activist opposition has taken its toll on the gas company.
"The public pressure is clearly getting to Cuadrilla," said Leila Deen, an energy campaigner for Greenpeace Energy Campaigner who said the residents of Balcombe and surrounding communities deserve clarity about the drilling plans. "If the company is not going to extract shale there," she said, "it owes local residents an assurance and should give details of when it will leave the village, where it's clearly not wanted."
Reclaim The Power has arrived in Balcombe | Come and join us!On Thursday evening, Reclaim The Power arrived in Balcombe. We immediately began work creating our base for the next five ...
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