Aug 212013
DISABLED ACTIVISTS BLOCKADE THE MAIN GATE OF CUADRILLA DRILL SITE
Contact:
At the action: 07508 983610
Reclaim the Power Camp: 07447027112 or 07746339931
@nodashforgas
Photo Opportunities available
Three disabled and two able bodied activists have just blocked the main gate of Cuadrilla’s drill site in Balcombe. Four of the activists used d-locks and super-glue to attach themselves to the other activist’s wheel chair. They are surrounded by a human chain of 16 people and a further four large groups of activists blocked the surrounding road. The action is organised by Disabled People Against the Cuts.
Despite Cuadrilla announcing that they would halt drilling for the duration of the Reclaim the Power camp, work at the site had continued with trucks still going in and out of the front gate.
Andy Greene from Disabled People Against the Cuts said: “We are standing with the community rejecting the government’s energy policy which is devastating many different communities in many different ways. This policy is driving many poor and disabled people into fuel poverty. It punishes them for the mistakes of others and gives them a free hand on the tiller of public money”
At yesterday’s march for a Frack Free Future an estimated two thousand people marched to the drill site in Balcombe. Earlier in the week Balcombe resident Douglas Wragg said, “Because we have here a travesty of democracy and we’ve tried every democratic path to use, the only choice we have left is direct action. I’ve been living here for 20 years and I would never have imagined myself being involved in protest. But you either lie down and let Cuadrilla ride roughshod over you, or take direct action.”
Photos from this morning’s actions at Cuadrilla’s HQ, the Bell Pottinger office (Cuadrilla’s PR company) and the DPAC (Disabled People Against the Cuts) blockade of the Balcombe rig gate can now all be seen here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/reclaimthepower/sets/72157635133325383/
A short piece of footage from the Bell Pottinger action can be seen here: https://youtu.be/1ctT3_Om18M
More footage will be posted on our YouTube account NoDashForGasUK as and when we recieve it!
Reports can be read at www.nodashforgas.org.uk, and follow @nodashforgas for the latest updates.
