Investigative journalist and environmental writer. Specialising in UK onshore oil and gas, fracking and the reaction to it.
26th February 2014 Balcombe Parish Council’s Oil Working Group meets today to discuss the village’s future policy on hydrocarbon issues. But how much influence will the council – and local people – have on oil exploration or production in their area? Is there a democratic deficit in decision-making […]
25th February 2014 Yesterday, Balcombe Parish Council published the results of its poll on residents’ attitudes to drilling for oil and gas in the village and potential fracking. 59.8% of the potential 1,507 voters returned the polling card. 60% of respondents were against Cuadrilla returning to Balcombe to flow test […]
25th February 2014 For the past five months, InvestigatingBalcombeAndCuadrilla.com has been trying to find out What do the Lib Dems really think about fracking? The Department for Energy and Climate Change, under Lib Dem Ed Davey, is preparing to sell petroleum exploration and development licences (PEDL) which will […]
25th February 2014 Frack Free Balcombe Residents’ Association is one of the latest organisations to highlight the links between Britain’s onshore oil and gas industry and Chinese investment. The association’s weekly newsletter (number 18) traces the links between Balcombe and Beijing. We’ve converted this into a flow chart. […]
24th February 2014 Balcombe Parish Council today received the results of the latest poll on residents’ attitudes to drilling for oil and gas in the village and potential fracking. The poll, which asked three questions, was conducted by Electoral Reform Services and sent to every Balcombe resident on […]
24th February 2014 Anti-fracking protesters, Natalie Hynde and Simon Medhurst, were found guilty today under an obscure piece of trades union legislation after supergluing themselves around the gate to Cuadrilla’s Balcombe oil exploration site. Miss Hynde, the daughter of singers Chrissie Hynde and Ray Davies, and Mr Medhurst, […]
24th February 2014 Anti-fracking campaigner, Natalie Hynde told a court this morning she wanted to create a media spectacle to raise public awareness about fracking. She said she believed the media would pay attention to her because of her famous parents, the singers, Chrissie Hynde and Ray Davies. […]
23rd February 2014 We asked Cuadrilla questions about its planning application to flow test the oil exploration well at Balcombe and for a response to calls for it to contribute to the cost of policing the summer protests. Here are the unedited responses. Question: What is ‘acid etching’ […]
21st February 2014 The UK’s “number one shale gas conference” has moved from Manchester to Birmingham. Delegates to Shale UK received an email today telling them the original venue, Manchester Central, could no longer accommodate the event because it had another large conference taking place simultaneously. It also […]
21st February 2014 The green movement’s opposition to shale gas on climate change grounds came under attack on Wednesday (February 19th) from both the Government and the hydrocarbon industry. The Chancellor, George Osborne, and Francis Egan, the chief executive of Cuadrilla, both argued that shale gas would help […]
