January 2014 fracking timeline
31/1/14 The Crown Prosecution Service reveals that 35 charges arising from the Balcombe anti-fracking protests have been dropped before reaching trial. More
Balcombe residents challenge parish council chair on Cuadrilla exploration
18/2/14 Frack Free Balcombe Residents’ Association has responded to an interview (reported here last week) by Shale World with the village’s parish council chair Alison Stevenson. The full response is posted below from FFBRA’s latest newsletter. Community benefit FFBRA challenged Alison’s Stevenson’s suggestion that Balcombe could receive £80,000 from […]
Dramatic action needed to make media pay attention to climate change, campaigner tells court
13/2/14 A climate change campaigner locked himself to the top of a water tanker leaving Cuadrilla’s oil exploration site at Balcombe to persuade the media that the anti-fracking protests were not petering out. 66-year old Robert Basto, who has a PhD in physics, told Brighton Magistrates Court that […]
Trades union charges dropped against two anti-fracking campaigners
13/2/14 Charges brought under trades union legislation against two anti-fracking campaigners were dropped this morning before they gave evidence in court. Robert Basto, 66, of Reigate, and Jamie Spiers, 29, of no fixed address, had denied besetting Cuadrilla’s staff, contractors and suppliers at its oil exploration site at […]
Judge reviews trades union case against anti-fracking campaigners
12/2/14 The use of trades union legislation to prosecute a group of anti-fracking campaigners is under review tonight. District Judge William Ashwort, is considering whether there is a case to answer against five people who took part in the Balcombe protests and were charged under Section 241 of […]
Padlock protest at Balcombe because government wasn’t listening – court hears
12\2\14 An anti-fracking campaigner padlocked herself to the gate into Cuadrilla’s oil exploration site at Balcombe because “the government wasn’t listening”. Nichola Sanger, on trial for an alleged offence arising from last summer’s Balcombe protests, told the independent video company, You and I Films, that fracking was wrong […]
Balcombe anti-fracking protests cost Cuadrilla £2,500 an hour, court told
11/2/14 Cuadrilla’s drilling supervisor at its site at Balcombe told Brighton Magistrates Court this afternoon that delays caused by last summer’s protests cost the oil exploration company £2,500 an hour. James Whitham was giving evidence on the first day of the trial of five environmental campaigners, including Natalie […]
Anti-fracking campaigners face trial on trades union charges
11/2/14 A group of environmental campaigners who used locks or superglue to block the entrance to Cuadrilla’s oil exploration site at Balcombe have gone on trial charged under an obscure piece of legislation designed to prevent secondary picketing. Natalie Hynde, 31, of St Leonards-on-Sea, Simon Medhurst, 55, of […]
Balcombe parish council chair talks to Shale World
10/2/14 Alison Stevenson, chair Balcombe Parish Council, is attending the 2014 Shale Gas World conference in Manchester in May. The website http://www.shale-world.com/ asked her about Balcombe’s experience, public attitudes to drilling and how well the operating companies had engaged with people. The interview was published last week but […]
Where’s the open debate on shale gas?
10/2/14 The onshore oil and gas industry appears to be shying away from public debate, despite making promises to engage with local communities. Member companies of the UK Onshore Operators Group (UKOOG) have signed up to a Community Engagement Charter, which pledges “openness and transparency in everything we […]
DRILL OR DROP? 