West Sussex County Council has said an Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) would not be needed for Cuadrilla’s new proposals at Balcombe. The company’s planning application was published yesterday (23/1/14) on the West Sussex County Council website. The application is for temporary permission for flow testing and monitoring a lateral borehole, […]
Cuadrilla has written to Balcombe residents telling them it has no plans ever to frack its oil exploration well on the edge of village. The letter, signed by company Chief Executive, Francis Egan, says the oil-bearing rocks below the site at Lower Stumble are naturally fractured. Mr Egan […]
An environmental campaigner described this morning (23/1/14) how a police officer held him in a headlock during a struggle at the anti-fracking protests at Balcombe. Zachary Hewitt was giving evidence at his trial at Brighton Magistrates Court. Mr Hewitt, 23, of Bexhill-on-sea, is accused along with another campaigner, […]
The final cost of policing last summer’s demonstrations outside Cuadrilla’s oil exploration site at Balcombe was £3.985 million. A press release from the Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner, Katy Bourne, said the total included police salaries, overtime, rest day working and support from other police forces. Mrs Bourne has […]
A police officer monitoring the crowds at last summer’s Balcombe anti-fracking protests told a court this afternoon (22/1/14) how he was punched in the chest by a young woman demonstrator. PC Mario Ciaramella, usually based at Worthing Police Station, was giving evidence at the trial of three environmental […]
A member of a police evidence gathering team at the anti-fracking protests at Balcombe told Brighton Magistrates Court today (22/1/14) how he was hit on the lip by a placard carried by an environmental campaigner. PC Stephen Kimber, of Eastbourne Police Station, was working at the front of […]
A large number of environmental campaigners stood on top of the well pad at Cuadrilla’s oil exploration site at Balcombe this afternoon (19/1/14). The action came at the end of a rally outside the site, which attracted around 300 people. They included residents of Balcombe, members of last […]
Anti-fracking groups from across the UK, gathering in Balcombe this afternoon (19/1/14), were told they had to win the battle against shale gas. The Green MEP and French farmer, Jose Bove, told a rally outside Cuadrilla’s oil exploration site in the village: “Losing is not an option. For the […]
The Guardian reported that Britain has defeated European Union attempts to set legally binding environmental regulations for the shale gas industry. According to the paper, David Cameron has led intense lobbying against the proposals, arguing that existing rules are strict enough to keep fracking safe and that new rules would delay investment and increase […]
The cases against nearly half the people arrested at the anti-fracking protests outside Cuadrilla’s drilling site Balcombe have been dropped by police or prosecutors. The finding was revealed following a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request made by InvestigatingBalcombeAndCuadrilla.com to Sussex Police. According to the police response, a […]
DRILL OR DROP? 