The judge at the trial of Simon Welsh, the poet arrested while singing at the Balcombe anti-fracking protests, has ruled there is a case to answer and the hearing should continue. Mr Welsh, 34, of High Street, Balcombe, denies he failed to comply with a condition on protesting […]
20th March 2014 A judge is expected to hear legal arguments this morning about the disclosure of information in the anti-fracking protest case involving the MP Caroline Lucas and four other campaigners. The full case, which is due start on Monday (24th March), was brought under Section 14 […]
19th March 2014 The judge at the trial of Simon Welsh, the Balcombe poet arrested at an anti-fracking demonstration while singing a protest song, has retired to consider whether to dismiss the case halfway through. Defence barrister, Tom Wainwright argued there was no case to answer because the […]
19th March 2014 Brighton Magistrates Court heard this morning how poet Simon Welsh was arrested at the Balcombe anti-fracking demonstrations, while leading a group of singers in the Balcombe anthem. This was a protest song written by Mr Welsh and sung to the tune of Jerusalem. Mr Walsh, 34, […]
18th March 2014 The former chief constable of Sussex explained this afternoon that he imposed restrictions on anti-fracking protesters at Balcombe because he believed the demonstrations would cause serious disruption to the life of the local community. Martin Richards, who retired from the police a week ago, was […]
18th March 2014 The former Chief Constable of Sussex went into the witness box this morning to defend a notice he signed that required people at the Balcombe anti-fracking demonstrations to use a designated protest area. Martin Richards, who retired a week ago from Sussex Police, was giving […]
18th March 2014 The trial starts today of the first Balcombe resident to be arrested at last year’s anti-fracking protests outside Cuadrilla’s oil exploration site in the village. Simon Welsh denies a charge under Section 14 of the Public Order Act of taking part in an assembly but […]
17th March 2014 Of the 900+ public responses to Cuadrilla’s planning application to flow test its exploratory oil well at Balcombe, 767 included a postcode. Of these, almost half (46%) were from the RH postcode area, which covers parts of Mid Sussex, Chichester, Horsham, Wealden and Lewes districts, […]
17th March 2014 Contamination of air and water, noise and traffic disturbance, and threats to local wildlife were the main issues raised by people objecting to Cuadrilla’s latest planning application at Balcombe. The public consultation by West Sussex County Council, which ended on March 13th, attracted 925 objections. Of […]
17th March 2014 Almost all the responses to the public consultation on Cuadrilla’s application to flow test its oil exploration well at Balcombe were objections. An analysis* of the comments by InvestigatingBalcombeAndCuadrilla.com found Key concerns were water and air pollution, traffic, noise and the impact on wildlife More […]
DRILL OR DROP? 