6 September 2017
Several members of NLGP, including Councillors Caroline Jackson and Gina Dowding, took direct action this week outside Cuadrilla’s fracking site on Preston New Road, to peacefully protest against increasing extraction of fossil fuels.
We arrived at the site with a boat named 'Fracky McFrackFace’, painted with the slogans: ‘Harness the wind, waves and sun’ and ‘Bail out from fracking’. Caroline, Mollie and I then locked ourselves together outside the entrance to the fracking site, and were later arrested, hauled off to
Blackpool police station and charged with obstruction of the highway. We will be appearing in court on 25th September.
We made a video before the action, explaining our reasons for taking action, and making the link between fracking, greenhouse gas emissions and rising sea levels. The video has had over 8,000 views and hundreds of shares on Facebook, and we got some good coverage in local papers. You can view the video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ns2cwAXqLN8&feature=youtu.be
One of the women taking action was Mollie Foxall, a retired NHS manager. She said: “I am taking direct action because the Government has left me no choice. They overturned the local democratic decision to not allow fracking in this area. We are calling on the Government to put people’s lives ahead of corporate profits, and stop backing fracking.”
Several Green Party members helped behind the scenes with planning this successful action – many thanks to all of you.
Emily Heath
PS Those involved in an earlier four-person lock-on will appear in Blackpool Court on Monday 4 September.
North Lancashire Green Party RSS Feed