David Cameron announced this morning that councils would be able to keep 100% of business rates they collect from shale gas sites, up from the current figure of 50%. Speaking in Lincolnshire, he said this could be worth up to £1.7 million a year for a typical fracking […]
The Crown Prosecution Service refused to comment on the acquittal of the first people arrested at the Balcombe anti-fracking protest last summer. Yesterday, a group of 11 environmental campaigners were found not guilty after a three-day trial of obstructing the highway outside Cuadrilla’s oil exploration site, (See below […]
The Times reports (9/1/14) the Government is prepared to give communities near fracking sites a bigger share of the proceeds, following pressure from backbench Conservative MPs. The paper said ministers are willing to reconsider the present proposals for community benefits which would give local groups 1 per cent […]
There were cheers and shouts of thank you from the packed public gallery of Brighton Magistrates Court this afternoon (9/1/14) as the first group of anti-fracking campaigners arrested at the Balcombe protest last summer were found not guilty of all charges. Eleven protestors* had been charged with obstructing […]
There were cheers in the public gallery as protestors in the Balcombe fracking trial were found not guilty of all charges.
An environmental campaigner arrested on the second day of the Balcombe protests accused the police of unreasonably and disproportionately aggressive and intimidatory action. Richard Millar, 30, from Brighton, told the city’s magistrates court this morning the police used pressure point tactics on him when he was arrested. Pictures […]
