Appealing...

It seems then that the strong 'No' from our Council and the people of the area, means little to this industry and they will persevere using all the legal and lobbyist powers money can buy. The further along this process goes the more absurd it gets. When do we get a say in this? Why is the decision of our Council not good enough? How many appeals and how much money and time can our cash-strapped Council spend on this? Is the hope that the industry's might will eventually wear us down?

Locally the opposition to this dangerous industry is not going away and continues to grow as more people become aware of the facts. Francis Egan said today that he is committed "to engaging with local communities to reassure them operations can and will be carried out safely" and we would absolutely welcome this. For nearly four years we have asked for an open, public debate with Cuadrilla but they never come.  Maybe I can take this opportunity through The Gazette to invite representatives of Cuadrilla to join us in a genuinely public forum at the earliest opportunity. Our deep concerns have kept us from our normal lives for years now and mumblings of reassurance are not enough. We have questions and would like them publicly answered in full.

With dire warnings of the potential effect of this industry on our health from the Medact Report, revelations in the now un-redacted DEFRA Report that herald warnings for our rural economy, increasing investor reluctance and the announcement by the Dutch government of a five year ban,  it is clear that fracking in the UK is dangerous, past it's opportunity and worthless.

The community will continue to oppose this and although we may not have the power and money of this industry, we operate from a position of protecting our young - which makes us unstoppable.


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Feeling it...

Time and again throughout the fight to halt fracking, in places where the power is held and abused, I have been reminded by stern voices that this is no place for emotion; that this is about reports and research documents (usually of dubious, influenced, financed origin)... that it is about economies not humanity, about mitigating risk not nurturing anything.

In the House of Lords when we gave evidence to the committee there... a horseshoe shape of 'Lords' with grey palour, inflated importance and soul-less eyes reminded me again, that this was no place for emotion when I dared to interrupt to correct a blatant lie.

But existence is FEELING and I cannot switch off the feelings I have about the world around us... I can no more bare the thought of toxins in the water and air here in Lancashire than I can the eradication of rainforests, the framing of 'human rights' as if we are somehow to earn entitlement, the proliferation of nuclear, the increase in arms sales, the slaughter by war, the manipulation of regimes by bigger players and corporate entities, bailouts for banks and austerity for people. ALL is connected and yet...

...we are isolated in cubicles and homogenised in behaviour; encouraged to judge each other if we do not conform or fit the mould. I have discovered through this fight to save air and water that it is ONLY when we open the space between us, remove our perceptions and judgements and allow ourselves to connect emotionally at some level... that ideas, solutions, actions and insight come. 

We need each other and in order to connect... this is going to have to be an emotional thing heart emoticon

May-be

Maybe it started with a petition
or clicking ‘like’ on a post,
by a friend
who you always think of as a bit quirky,
but fair-minded…
Maybe it was when you shared the post,
joined an online group,
said you’d attend an event
… actually attended an event?

Maybe these gateway steps brought you hesitantly to put your feet,
one in front of other onto streets,
streets now echoing with ownership.
Never having considered: whose streets?
let alone the actually true answer: OUR streets.

Maybe from there it went
in-tents,
surrounded
by unusual,
not common…
yet natural
yet familiar
sounds of humanity
stretching at its edges?
Voices calling, shouting, whispering, hissing
pleaing, preying, hoping, begging
…from personal, profound, perplexing, passionate
extremes;
tearing at seams
that once held
us all a-part.
Sections,
unsectioning.
Messy
mismatched
matchings
forming
in nonconformists shapes
of people
JUST people
…who once
signed a petition
liked a post
shared a post…
made the most of the journey to
‘out of here’

Maybe it was then that the activist broke through?