Investigative journalist and environmental writer. Specialising in UK onshore oil and gas, fracking and the reaction to it.
The Blackpool Gazette reports that Cuadrilla is to pull out of the only site in Britain where high pressure fracking has taken place. The paper reports a company statement that no further work would take place at Preese Hall, near Weeton, the site linked to two earth tremors […]
West Sussex County Council has apologised to Balcombe residents for mistakes made during the summer when Cuadrilla drilled an exploration oil well on the edge of the village. Louise Goldsmith, the county council leader, told a public meeting of villagers on December 5th that the summer’s drilling had […]
We asked Sussex Police and the Crown Prosecution Service to comment on the collapse of the first trial of a campaigner arrested during protests against Cuadrilla’s exploration at Balcombe. The case, heard at Brighton Magistrates, ended abruptly on Monday (25/11/13) when District Judge Peter Crabtree questioned whether an offence had […]
Investigating Balcombe and Cuadrilla received the following offer from Constance Watson, Events Marketing Co-ordinator for Press Holdings Media Group, owners of The Daily and Sunday Telegraph and The Spectator: I’m delighted to announce our complete line-up for Spectator Events’ debate ‘Let’s Get Fracking!’ on 2nd December, and as such I would like […]
The chairman of Cuadrilla Resources, Lord Browne of Madingley, told a room of 400 people last night that his company would not frack at its site at Balcombe. Lord Browne was responding to questions following a lecture about climate change and fossil fuels at the London School of […]
In a statement to the financial markets, one of Cuadrilla’s major shareholders revealed plans to start drilling in the Bowland Basin next year. The A J Lucas Group said it was working with Cuadrilla and Centrica (another shareholder) and its advisers to “expedite planning and regulatory approvals with […]
Balcombe residents who are opposed to fracking were lied to about the impact and the risks, according to a witness giving evidence to the House of Lords yesterday. Phelin McAleer, producer of FrackNation, a film supporting fracking in the US, told the Economic Affairs committee that the beliefs […]
The first trial arising from protests outside Cuadrilla’s oil exploration site at Balcombe collapsed within an hour when the judge questioned whether an offence had been committed. District Judge Peter Crabtree invited the prosecution to drop the case at Brighton Magistrates Court this morning (25/11/13) after hearing evidence […]
West Sussex County Council used bailiffs today (19/11/13) to clear the protest camp which has been outside Cuadrilla’s exploration site at Balcombe since July. A statement by the council said: “As promised during the High Court hearing we have established a new designated protest area close to the entrance […]
Bristol University has published a report on the seismic effects of Cuadrilla’s drilling at Balcombe during the summer. The report found many sources of seismic noise. One of the biggest was the London to Brighton railway line, which runs alongside the site.
DRILL OR DROP? 