Balcombe residents granted permission legally to challenge West Sussex County Council on Cuadrilla's planning permission

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Press Statement, 1st August 2014

The High Court has today confirmed the grant of permission for the Frack Free Balcombe Residents Association (FFBRA) to challenge the decision by West Sussex County Council to grant planning permission to Cuadrilla, to undertake works at Lower Stumble in Balcombe.

The judicial review will now take place in the High Court over two days later this year.

It is the latest stage of a legal battle against unconventional oil and gas in the village of Balcombe in West Sussex, by Cuadrilla Balcombe Limited.

Cuadrilla who previously had permission to frack for oil and gas at the site were granted permission from West Sussex County Council in May 2014 to return.

According to the new application, permission was sought for exploration and appraisal of the recently drilled "hydrocarbon lateral borehole" together with a new 14 metre high flare on the site.

Despite massive objection to the development, the application received 889 objections and 9 in support, permission was granted and work can now resume at the site.

Lawyers, Leigh Day, who are representing FFBRA, initiated the judicial review process citing a number of objections to the decision to grant planning permission and detailed repeated unsatisfactory communications with Cuadrilla Balcombe Limited.

In response to one letter from the law firm, asking for information about the likely timetable for the development, Cuadrilla replied: "At this stage we do not consider it appropriate for our confidential business plans and work schedules to be disclosed to you or your clients."

A pre-action letter was sent on 16 May 2014 to the Council and copied to Cuadrilla setting out the ways in which FFBRA considered the planning permission to be unlawful.

These include objections to Cuadrilla's conduct during the operation of its previous activities in Balcombe including allegations of non-compliance with conditions in the past.

The grounds of claim also consider the relevance of the scale of local opposition and alleges that the Council's' insistence that the number of
representations in opposition was 'not a material consideration' as being 'simply wrong in law'.

Charles Metcalfe, Chairman of FFBRA said:

"This is brilliant news for the Frack Free Balcombe Residents Association. We and our lawyers Leigh Day have worked very hard to challenge the legality of WSCC's planning permission to Cuadrilla. Unconventional Gas and Oil exploration is dangerous, dirty and the wrong path to take."

Ugo Hayter from the human rights team at law firm Leigh Day, which is representing FFBRA, said:

"We're very pleased that the High Court has agreed for this to go to a full judicial review hearing as we believe this planning permission has been granted unlawfully and flies in the face of overwhelming community opposition."

Sue Taylor, Balcombe resident and campaigner, said:

"This planning consent sets a dangerous precedent that the concerns of the local community can be ignored even though it is their health and safety that is at risk. Flaring from oil wells close to residential area poses an unacceptable threat to human health."

Fracking in National Parks to be allowed....

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Councils fail to alert locals to dangers of fracking....

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WSCC held an a drop in session at Pulborough Village Hall last month to learn about the council’s role and environmental impacts of fracking. Award winning environmentalist and Pulborough resident, Nicola Peel, says the event was ‘biased and pro-fracking’. “[...] the Health and Safety department talked a lot about the Risk Assessments. Well they were lost for words when I reminded them that the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill off the Gulf of Mexico had also had a Risk Assessment done and it was ‘No Risk’ (nothing would ever go wrong). It seems like the same old story, a few people will get rich from this over exploitation of the Earths resources, which actually belong to not only us but future generations."

http://www.wscountytimes.co.uk/news/local/council-accused-of-pro-fracking-stance-at-pulborough-drop-in-1-6184304

http://www.eyesofgaia.com/index.html

Watch Tuesday's planning meeting- webcast!

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The webcast of Tuesday's planning committee meeting is now online. Celtique Energie were refused their application to drill an exploratory gas / oil borehole between the villages of Kirdford and Wisborough Green. Congratulations go to the wonderful campaigners, and especially to those who made heartfelt, honest presentations on the day.... it is worth watching this webcast.

http://www.westsussex.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/142799

Scientific evidence....

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**IMPORTANT NEWS** and something we think our councillors, MPs and other representatives should be made aware of. This report is an independent assessment which draws heavily on academic research. It highlights:
•Major shortcomings in regulatory oversight regarding local environmental and public health risks.
•The large potential for UK shale gas exploitation to undermine national and international efforts to tackle climate change.
•The water-intensive nature of the fracking process which could cause water shortages in many areas.

QUOTE (abstract): CIEH Chief Executive, Graham Jukes OBE said: "The CIEH has consistently made the case for a full independent environmental impact assessment to be carried out on all shale gas extraction proposals before permission to drill is given. 

"In the enthusiasm to exploit new sources of energy we must assess and ensure that there are no unacceptable adverse impacts on the environment or on the health of people in the communities surrounding extraction sites. Despite central government encouragement for the process, local authorities should resist allowing shale gas extraction in their areas until they are satisfied on that point. We believe that there is currently insufficient evidence to provide such assurance for proposals in the UK and the precautionary principle should apply."

SGR Executive Director and co-author of the report, Dr Stuart Parkinson said: "The evidence we have gathered shows that exploiting yet another new source of fossil fuels – such as UK shale gas – is likely to further undermine efforts to tackle climate change. We need to focus on low carbon energy sources, especially renewables, together with concerted efforts to save energy."

The full report can be found here:
http://www.cieh.org/WorkArea/showcontent.aspx?id=53520

http://www.cieh.org/media/media3.aspx?id=53552
http://www.sgr.org.uk/resources/shale-gas-and-fracking-examining-evidence

FANTASTIC NEWS for Kirdford & Wisborough Green

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The planning application for exploratory drilling between the villages of Kirdford and Wisborough Green, West Sussex has been unanimously REFUSED by WSCC planning committee!

Everyone at Frack Free Sussex is celebrating!

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/wisborough-green-becomes-the-first-village-in-britain-to-fight-off-fracking-9621857.html

http://www.wscountytimes.co.uk/news/local/mp-welcomes-refusal-of-exploratory-drilling-plans-near-wisborough-green-1-6194314

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jul/22/west-sussex-county-council-turns-down-shale-gas-exploration-bid

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/energy/fracking/10983250/Fracking-blow-for-hopes-of-UK-shale-energy-boom-as-council-throws-out-drilling-plans.html

Celtique Energie's boss, Geoff Davies, appears to have got confused between 'politically motivated' decisions and 'public-protection motivated' decisions.... we only have to watch the video (link below) of a single truck movement on the traffic route to see what danger and disruption would be caused if drilling happened at Wisborough Green / Kirdford.

NO to TTIP. Join the Brighton Action. Saturday July 12th.

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*****Calling all anti-fracking campaigners in the South East !*****

Frack Free Sussex and many other groups will be supporting the NO TTIP day of action on July 12th. PLEASE join this action and voice your opposition to the corporate enslavement treaty!
https://www.facebook.com/events/465773216859772/

****PLEASE SHARE THIS IMPORTANT INFORMATION****

TTIP threatens every piece of public health and environmental legislation we have. If agreed, the EU-US Trade Deal (TTIP) would grant corporations the power to sue governments that don't allow harmful industries like fracking. It threatens to lock-in the privatisation of our schools and NHS. Rules that protect workers, the environment, food safety, digital rights and privacy would be undermined.

Further reading:

http://www.nottip.org.uk/

The Transatlantic Trade Deal: a project of the 1% - http://www.opendemocracy.net/ourkingdom/nick-dearden/transatlantic-trade-deal-project-of-1#.U6gOFxMd8mp.twitter

‘What is TTIP’ – John Hillary (War on Want) - http://www.waronwant.org/attachments/HILARY_LONDON_FINAL_WEB.pdf

No fracking way: how the EU-US trade agreement risks expanding fracking (FOEE Briefing, Mar 2014 http://www.foeeurope.org/sites/default/files/publications/foee_ttip-isds-fracking-060314.pdf

The TTIP of the anti-democracy iceberg: The risks of including investor-to-state dispute settlement in transatlantic trade talks (FOEE Factsheet, Oct 2013 http://www.foeeurope.org/sites/default/files/foee_factsheet_isds_oct13.pdf

Trading away our future?: a threat to Europe’s democracy and environmental, health, and social safeguards (FOEE Briefing, Oct 2013 http://www.foeeurope.org/sites/default/files/foee_briefing_ttip_oct13.pdf

Blog on the precautionary principle and TTIP - http://www.foe.co.uk/blog/asbestos-anyone-defence-precautionary-principle

An open letter from Sussex groups

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To the Editor of The Argus. July 3rd 2014
An open letter from Frack Free Sussex, Frack Free Arun, Frack Free Forest Row, Keep Kirdford and Wisborough Green, Frack Free Horsham District, The Sussex Frack Free Food Alliance, Worthing Against Fracking, Brighton Action Against Fracking, Frack Free Mayfield and Five Ashes, No Fracking in Balcombe Society, Worthing Downlanders, Broadoak Residents Against Fracking, Mid-Sussex Friends of the Earth, Hastings & Rother Says NO to fracking, Chichester Anti-fracking Forum and Frack Free Fernhurst.

The Sussex groups listed above have many thousands of supporters from all walks of life, in both the towns and rural villages of Sussex. These groups represent a vast array of concerned local people, spanning all professions and age groups, committed to defending our beautiful counties and our right to clean air and fresh drinking water.

We are appalled that the Environment Agency Chairperson, Lord Christopher Smith would “not rule out fracking in our National parks.”

The South Downs National Park Vision for 2050 aims to achieve an outcome where ‘the iconic English lowland landscapes and heritage will have been conserved and greatly enhanced. These inspirational and distinctive places, where people live, work, farm and relax, are adapting well to the impacts of climate change and other pressures;’ (1)

Approving plans to extract shale oil and gas, fossil fuels that drive climate change, directly contradicts this vision. And that’s before you assess the impacts and risks on people, communities, land and wildlife due to contamination, pollution, industrial traffic and noise.

Lord Smith should know that for shale gas and oil extraction to be economically viable it would require the construction and drilling of THOUSANDS of well pads plus supporting infrastructure. The UK uses 3 trillion cubic feet of gas per year. To meet just one year’s supply 3,000 wells per year would have to be drilled in the UK- that’s 8 per day! To meet the UK’s annual demand for 550 million barrels of oil 4,400 wells would have to be completed each year.

To call this ‘minimal visual intrusion’ is an outrage. The South Downs are ‘recognised as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty’ (1) and our National Parks exist for the purposes of conservation of flora and fauna, preservation of a way of life and protection of biodiversity and wildlife. By their own definition they ‘are protected areas because of their beautiful countryside, wildlife and cultural heritage.’ (2) If fracking is permitted in the UK our downland, meadowland, farmland and woodland would be subject to wide-scale industrialistaion. Our National Parks would be utterly destroyed.

In 2012 the guidance issued by the EA was unequivocal, potentially limiting shale gas extraction:

‘The Environment Agency would not allow hydraulic fracking to take place in an area where there are aquifers used to supply drinking water. If there were sensitive groundwaters present in an area where a company wanted to carry out hydraulic fracturing, we would object during the company’s planning application and refuse to grant an environmental permit.’

It was also recently stated in the House of Lords debate on the Water Bill that ‘the importance of protecting ground and surface water must not be under emphasised’.

As most of Sussex water comes from the chalk aquifer, we must ask WHY has the EA’s view on fracking changed so drastically? And WHY are the Government, and agencies, willfully choosing to ignore the ever-increasing number of peer reviewed scientific reports that prove fracking is not and cannot be made 'safe'.

Many doctors and scientists are now linking poor health outcomes, such as infertility, cancer and birth defects, with the high level of endocrine and hormone disrupting chemicals used in the fracking process. Just two weeks ago, New York once again voted to continue the moratorium on fracking in the state, a position supported by many health professionals, researchers and organisations including the American Lung Association, Breast Cancer Awareness and the American Academy of Paediatrics.

The British Government is desperately trying to persuade the public that the rules and regulations here in the UK will be better than those in other countries, yet they are not. For example, in December last year Dallas ruled that fracking should not to take place within 1,500 feet of homes, schools, hospitals and other protected areas, yet no such restrictions exist here, even though we are far more densely populated (430 people per sq mile in Sussex as opposed to 22 per sq mile in Texas)

David Smythe, Emeritus Professor of Geophysics at University of Glasgow states: ‘The UK shale basins are heavily faulted, from the shale layer right to the surface, in contrast to those of the USA’ and further warns ‘We have 400 times the amount of faulting as in the US, we are completely different’
This dramatically increases the risk of chemicals, naturally occurring radioactive materials, gas and oil leaking into water sources or to the surface. In other words, shale gas/oil extraction would be even more dangerous in the UK than in the USA.

The Environment Agency's stated purpose is ‘to protect or enhance the environment, taken as a whole’ so as to promote ‘the objective of achieving sustainable development.’ The vision of the Agency is of ‘a rich, healthy and diverse environment for present and future generations’. The South Downs National Park Authority state that: ‘We all have a shared responsibility to care for the National Park and the South Downs.’
If Celtique Energy’s drilling applications are permitted at Wisborough Green and Fernhurst, we believe the South Downs National Park Authority and the Environment Agency will have completely betrayed their purpose.

To allow unconventional onshore gas or oil exploration and extraction in ANY part of Britain is reckless. To allow it in a NATIONAL PARK is unthinkable.

1. http://www.southdowns.gov.uk/about-us/vision
2. http://www.nationalparks.gov.uk/learningabout/whatisanationalpark

South Downs fracking objections flood in...

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On Tuesday, West Sussex County Council Highways OBJECTED to Celtique Energie's planning application to drill an exploratory borehole at Fernhurst, within the South Downs National Park.

"The Local Highways Authority raise an objection on the following grounds; it has not been satisfactorily demonstrated that safe and suitable access to the site can be achieved, contrary to paragraph 32 of the National Planning Policy Framework and objective 4 of the WSCC Local Transport Plan. The application has failed to;
* Submit and address problems raised in Stage 1 Road Safety Audit in accordance with Highways Directive 19/03
* Demonstrate that the required visibility splays at the site access and its junction with Vann Road are in control of the Applicant and can be implemented and maintained throughout the operational period
* Demonstrate that large vehicles are able to execute a right turn out of the access and its junction with Vann Road
* Identify appropriate means of mitigating internal access road conflicts and ensure access congestion does not occur as a consequence of the narrow access road which may cause the subsequent obstruction of Vann Road
* Submit an accurate assessment of the likely traffic impacts of the proposed development and establish an accurate and realistic baseline position
* Demonstrate that Vann Road is suitable to accommodate the additional traffic generated by the development and, in particular, large vehicles and two-way traffic flows given width constraints"

The objection then goes on to say....
[When accessing the site] "it is evident that vehicles will be required to cross the centre line of the carriageway [of Vann Road] into the opposing side of the carriageway for approximately 40m"

And......
"the Local Highways Authority do not consider the traffic assessment....to be a realistic or accurate representation of the existing or anticipated impact of the proposed development."

http://www.midhurstandpetworth.co.uk/news/local/fracking-fears-rise-in-the-national-park-1-6155001

http://www.frackfreefernhurst.com/

https://www.facebook.com/FernhurstAgainstFracking

Victory in New York's highest court

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DRYDEN VICTORY: A PHOTO ESSAY - We're still brimming with joy and relief over Monday's epic court victory over fracking in New York's highest court. This historic victory would not have been possible without the brave, dedicated citizens of Dryden who stood up for themselves when the oil and gas industry told them to roll over. http://ow.ly/ysvJF

Check out our victory photo essay featuring Marie McRae, Joanne Cipolla-Dennis and all the other real-life heroes who made this victory possible. It's a wonderful, inspiring story worth sharing so click SHARE or LIKE to spread this to all your friends and family!
 

Climate change minister says green groups are 'foolish'

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Climate change minister Greg Barker gave a keynote speech at a meeting on shale gas at Westminster. He stated that UK had one of the strongest regulatory systems in the world. Mr Barker was forced to rein back some of his comments later in the meeting when he was asked a question from Balcombe resident and anti-fracking campaigner Kathryn McWhirter, who was in the audience.

She said: “I was shocked by the tone of sarcasm in your voice, twice, when you talked about people campaigning in Balcombe.”

“We have read peer-reviewed science. We are not emotional. I was horrified that in one breath you are sarcastic about us and in the second breath you are saying how you should acknowledge the genuine concerns of local residents.”

Kathryn McWhirter said Balcombe’s experience of regulation was that monitoring of Cuadrilla’s well was “practically non-existent.” She said the Health and Safety Executive never came to check the integrity of the well and it never had any of the meetings it was meant to have with the Environment Agency. She said the EA relied on an email from Cuadrilla at the end of each week that it was doing what it was supposed to do.

“I could go on for an hour unpicking everything you have said”, she added.

http://investigatingbalcombeandcuadrilla.com/2014/06/30/climate-change-minister-says-green-groups-are-foolish-and-morally-disingenuous-in-opposing-to-shale-gas/

The South Downs are not for shale.

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The South Downs National Park Authority members need to fulfil their duties, and that means refusing the application for exploratory drilling at Fernhurst. The decision on this application has now been put back to 3 September, so there’s still time for you to add your voice by responding to the consultation. (The link to the SDNPA planning portal takes a long time to open, and you have to register to comment).

We need as many people as possible to stand up and make it clear: The South Downs are not for shale.

http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/blog/climate/drilling-south-downs-national-park-risk-fracking-20140626

Igas plans fracking in the East Midlands

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Search for $hale gas heads East, as IGas plans #fracking in East Midlands.

Andrew Austin, #FrackDealer, IGas chief executive, told the Telegraph it was preparing to submit planning applications to drill and frack to test the flow of gas at two new locations, one either side of the Pennines.

GDF Suez, which is part-owned by the French state, committed to spend £16m on drilling in areas spanning from Wrexham to the East Midlands, while Total committed £30m to drilling in the East Midlands. Rathlin Energy - currently threatening to devastate the East Riding of Yorkshire with their obscene fossil fuel lusts is Canadian. Cuadrilla's current association with erstwhile major Australian shareholders AJ Lucas is unclear.

Need we go on?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/10868717/Search-for-shale-gas-heads-east-as-IGas-plans-fracking-in-East-Midlands.html

No Fracking in Balcombe Society- PRESS RELEASE

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‘How predictable that the government is trying to bury its announcements today on shale oil and gas under an avalanche of news about Nigel Farage and the Euro elections!  The report revealing billions of barrels of shale oil under the Weald was ready for release back in late winter – but could not be allowed to alienate the Tory heartlands before yesterday’s election. For the same reasons the government has also chosen today to details its plans to bribe local communities to allow the oil and gas industry to drill under their land.
 
‘We’e talking about an area stetching from Kent through Sussex and Surrey into Hampshire: rural, outstandingly beautiful, quite densely populated. We are talking about fracking. It’s the only way to extract shale oil. There would be flares burning off unwanted gas, pipelines, compressor stations, thousands of wells across the South East – we estimate that they would need 3,500 wells to get just 10% of the oil announced today. That would supply the UK’s oil needs for only 290 days!  
 
‘It’s increasingly clear from the experience in North America and Australia that fracking is a danger to the environment and public health, a source of serious air pollution as well as water pollution, and a huge dilemma in terms of waste disposal – large volumes of waste that is contaminated with radioactivity and heavy metals flushed out from the depths, as well as the original fracking chemicals.
 
‘Government and industry are wrong when they say that fracking in the UK would be well regulated. The regulations are weak, and were designed for off-shore. Monitoring is inadequate. The industry is allowed largely to self-monitor. We’ve seen that in Balcombe.
 
‘For us here in Balcombe, this fight has now gone way beyond the village. We’re in close contact with communities fighting fracking across the UK, including the potential gaslands of Lancashire, Yorkshire, Ireland, the West Country, and the former coal mining areas (Yorkshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, Kent, Wales, Scotland…) who are also in line to become ‘unconventional’ gas fields. There are a lot of us, activists, campaigners, ordinary citizens up against a bullying government and industry. Imagine how many there will be once planning applications go in right around the country – two thirds of the country will soon be under licence.
 
‘Communities, people power, that’s who will win this battle. Our environment and our health are not for sale. They can keep their bribe money!
 
‘Our climate is not for sale either. The British government has committed us to be on our way out of fossil fuels by the time this ‘unconventional’ oil and gas would come on tap. This oil and gas must quite simply stay in the ground.
 
 ‘Latest opinion polls show that support for fracking is falling steadily in Britain and is now under 50%, despite government and industry propoganda.
 
‘The politicians who continue to mis-judge the country’s mood over fracking will be looking for jobs after the next election.’  
 

MORE bribery...

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Vanessa Vine, of Frack Free Sussex, said yesterday's announcement was deliberately timed to be delivered after the European and local elections to avoid public backlash.

“The annual reports of the British Geological Survey show it is not averse to receiving funding from the oil and gas industry.

“Similar wild claims of recoverable shale reserves in California were this week exposed as being 96% overhyped and the Monterey shale boom is now bust.

“Why does an industry that purports to be an innocuous employment panacea and silver bullet for everybody's economy, feel the need - via invested government - to bribe councils not to oppose its operations?

“Does anybody need to ask themselves why industry and government waited until the day after the elections to announce 'huge shale oil reserves' in the Weald and £800,000 bribes to councils to accept fracking in communities?”

http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/11234088.Billions_of_barrels_of_oil_sitting_under_Sussex/

WOMEN of Sussex Unite!

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This is very very darkly funny. He is so close .. and yet is several, cynical, unbridgeable worlds away.

"One of the biggest areas is getting the confidence of the women of Britain. They are the ones that regulate the sustainable side of things of any nation. It is in their DNA.”

- Andrew Austin, #FrackDealer, CEO of IGas (the UK's current largest potential unconventional fossil fuel exploiter) in a presentation to the $hale Gas World Conference in Birmingham (for which tickets were £1,750) sponsored by Halliburton.

According to polling data, he said, negative views of fracking were very heavily represented by women. “We have to give them confidence”, he said.

By patronising us Mr Austin? Good luck with that.

For once Andrew, you have an accurate point - about the intrinsic importance of women in the movement (that, incidentally, will stop you and your obscene investments) - well done Sherlock. But you are shamefully misusing your intelligence and making a huge mistake in reducing us to a demographic to be patronised and mollified. Your reprehensible underhand plan will fail .. as will $hale.
--------
Have long been saying that he was carefully chosen for his open face, big blue eyes, easy accent and tall - if slightly chubby - good looks. Thanks for my confirming my hunch Andrew Austin, but you don't do it for me. You are deceit and poison personified.

-Vanessa Vine

#InvestorRemovalTeam #IdleNoMore

Oh and at the Lords The Select Committee on Economic Affairs Inquiry on THE ECONOMIC IMPACT ON UK ENERGY POLICY OF SHALE GAS AND OIL last November he said:

"Anywhere we choose to drill or would look to drill would have to be with the acquiescence of the local community and in working with it. Frankly, if you do not have the social licence to operate with the acquiescence of the people you are with, when you are dealing with your neighbours that is going to be the constraint. It goes back to Lord Lawson’s question earlier about what the barriers are right now. They are getting local acceptance where we are trying to drill. We need to work with those communities, and it is the inability to manage that that would rule out any particular area."

That's you stuffed then innit

Was the police operation at the Balcombe anti-fracking protests designed to deter protesters or test new techniques for the future?

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Every treasured greenspace is under threat....

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Every place you treasure, parks near schools and hospitals, the places you take the family for picnics, dog walks, cycle rides... urban or countryside ARE UNDER THREAT. The insanity of the frack dealers means nowhere is safe. This will affect everyone.

QUOTE: "CITIES, national parks and even urban commons will be opened up for fracking and other forms of oil and gas exploration, ministers are to announce."

http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/uk_news/fracking/article1409365.ece?CMP=OTH-gnws-standard-2014_05_10