Anti-fracking camp in Cheshire celebrates first anniversary
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Version 0 of 1. “They had a map of all their licenses in the area and then I thought bloody hell -there is a big ‘X’ over my house.” That’s the first time Paul Beer knew a gas exploration company had permission to carry out exploratory drilling for gas metres from his Cheshire home. For a year now Beer, a 45-year-old warehouse worker, and dozens of other “protectors” have kept camp on a strip of farmland designated for fracking on Dutton Lane in Upton, three miles north of Chester. On 11 April last year the group, Frack Free Upton, occupied the farmland. They are determined to stop energy exploration by IGas Energy, which bought the lease on the field from a local farmer, after being granted a license to drill for coal bed methane. IGas is investing heavily to expand its coal bed methane and shale gas operations across the north-west of England and East Midlands. On Saturday the group from the Upton Community Protection Camp are holding a party for the local community to celebrate the first anniversary of occupation. From 2pm there will be a BBQ, picnic and singalong, as well as a progress report on the campaign. It will also be an opportunity for curious locals to look around the site, where the occupiers have erected wooden shacks across the field used as a kitchen, guest rooms for visitors, a common room and even a library. “The shower’s not that bad,” according to one occupier, a veteran of the Barton Moss fracking camp, as she strolled past the makeshift shower on Friday afternoon. “We grow potatoes, lettuce, peas, runner beans, parsnip. We are self-sufficient. Even my children live here and go to school from here.” Among the seasoned ecowarriors are local residents who stay at the camp from time to time. “The local politicians have sold us down the river, said Phil Coombe, 64, a smartly dressed and well-spoken retired engineer. He claims the drilling licence was given to IGas without fully informing locals about the plans. “I’m fully supportive of the protectors here. They’re our eyes and ears and quite honestly without them the drilling company would have been here a long time ago,” he said. Even fashion designer Vivienne Westwood has given her support to the camp, visiting protestors at the camp in June last year. A year on, the protestors insist they will occupy the camp for however long it takes. At stake lies the aquifer, an underground layer of water from which drinking water is extracted. Frack-Free Upton believe the toxic chemicals, methane gas and other pollutants produced during exploration drilling will contaminate the water supply. Large drilling machines, heavy traffic and noise pollution are also among their concerns. The group surveyed 1059 householders and claim 88% are against any form of development, with only 5% in agreement. The protestors blame their Conservative MP Stephen Mosley and local councillors for allowing IGas to obtain the planning permission in 2010, extended for a further three years in May 2013. The Labour group on Cheshire West and Cheshire council have called for a moratorium on fracking until the long term effects have been addressed. Labour party parliamentary candidate for Chester Chris Matheson has also said he was opposed to fracking in densely populated areas. But Coombe is sceptical about Matheson’s support, saying: “He may have to tow the party line because Labour have not categorically come out against fracking.” The anniversary party comes the day after it was announced there could be up to 100 billion barrels of oil onshore beneath the south of England. Exploration firm UK Oil & Gas Investments (UKOG) last year drilled a well at Horse Hill, near Gatwick Airport. Results suggested there may be as much as 158 million barrels of oil per square mile, causing consternation for critics of extreme energy extraction. “It industrialises our countryside and the whole political process around this stamps across any community feeling and it threatens our water supply,” said Beer, vowing to occupy the land in Upton for “as long as it takes.” |