Ko-fi

Monday 26 September 2016

Lancashire Responds...

The decision regarding fracking in Lancashire is imminent so groups here are planning how we will react and have created an EVENT for around 8th October 2016 (or possibly 1st or  15th)...

IMPORTANT - the date is NOT CONFIRMED as it will be the FIRST SATURDAY after the decision about fracking in Lancashire is announced. Whatever day that comes (on or before 6 Oct) - it will be on the very next Saturday. It could even be as soon as 1st Oct!

If they say YES to fracking Lancashire:
The residents and groups in Lancashire have met and asked that as many as who can - come to Preston New Road - Maple Farm forecourt (next toWorld of Water Blackpool. and one field from the proposed fracking site at PNR). Please come. If you can't get here to show non-violent solidarity, then please if you can, with members of your group, your family or even just yourself - please post a photo or message of solidarity with the residents of Lancashire as they stand to defend our communities. If you could include: #DontFrackLancs #WeSaidNo - it will help us gather this all together for press releases and sense of support, many thanks ♥

What we will do on the day, at the event... will be absolutely non-violent but direct action in the sense that we will gather, not on the road but perhaps moving along the verges and if needed, crossing the road will be aided by Nana-Lollypop Ladies ;) Our presence passes the landowner as well as the proposed site, it will ensure the local community knows they are not alone and that we WILL support them.

If they say NO to fracking in Lancashire:

We will likely still gather but essentially - do whatever brings you the greatest joy! :)



Lancashire Responds...

To The Grandmother Elizabeth...

Dear Editors,

Please find below, part two of an open letter to Her Majesty, The Queen, as the latest press release from Lancashire Nanas and residents against fracking from Lancashire. This press release is the second part of an action that will culminate in a peaceful presence at Buckingham Palace from 2pm on 27th September 2016.



*The Grandmother Elizabeth,

*Please note that we address you in this way, out of respect for what we consider to be your noblest role and highest obligation: to protect the young.

We recently contacted you about the plight of Lancashire residents who have used every democratic channel available to them in the fight to stop fracking coming to their communities. If you recall, our elected county councillors refused planning permission for two fracking sites in rural Fylde: Cuadrilla then appealed and the decision will now be made by the Secretary of State very soon. We appealed to you as our last democratic resource and asked you, 'What would you do Ma'am?'.

We understand how busy you are and so we thought we'd make it easier for you to meet with us by holding a tea party at the 'Grandmother's Memorial' outside Buckingham Palace. Like you, many of the Nanas are grandmothers, and are concerned for the future health and safety of their children and grandchildren should fracking go ahead. As well as being such a fitting memorial to a Queen and Grandmother, we believe that the symbolism of the Victoria Memorial represents mothers and grandmothers everywhere, who are fighting for their children's futures.

The monument represents Peace, Agriculture, Progress and Manufacture. Ours is an entirely peaceful movement; we need agricultural land for food production rather than fracking; to frack for fossil fuels is a retrospective step and we want to see progress in renewable energy, an industry that could revitalise Lancashire's proud manufacturing base. Also represented are Truth and Justice. We have been researching the truth about the shale gas industry for five years and have found it to be a dirty industry with far-reaching effects on health, the environment and the well-being of communities wherever it has been undertaken. 

Our local councils, from parish to borough to county, have all said 'No' to fracking. Yet, the government will more than likely say 'Yes'. Where is the justice in that Ma'am? To us, justice would be a ban on fracking in the UK and as we have proven that our voices are not heard in our democracy, we are beseeching you to call for the ban. 

Like you, we take our obligations very seriously and so cannot stop our course of action; we are standing between a dangerous industry and our children and it would be impossible for us to step aside and open them up to a risk like this. 

We would dearly like you to consider our plight and if you can, accept the report we have left for you. It is The Human Dimensions of Shale Gas Developments in Lancashire by Dr Anna Szolucha and it will tell you something of the impact this industry is already having on citizens here in the UK, even before it gets a foothold.

Of course, on the very top of your Great Grandmother's memorial is a bronze Winged Victory. How appropriate. Nothing less than Victory would be acceptable because we will not allow fracking to destroy our communities. As a mother and grandmother, please help us secure this victory by supporting us and ensuring a healthy future for all of our children and grandchildren.

We’ll be outside on 27 September 2016 from 2pm for a tea party and invite you to join us or send a message, although most will go home later in the day, some of us will linger for longer in case you get the chance to meet with us.

Yours faithfully,

Nanas & Residents from Lancashire

ENDS



Monday 19 September 2016

What would you do Ma'am?

Dear Editors,

Please find below, an open letter to Her Majesty, The Queen, as the latest press release from Lancashire Nanas and residents against fracking, from Lancashire. The letter has also been sent by post to Buckingham Palace. This press release is part one of a two-part action that will culminate in a peaceful presence at Buckingham Palace on 27th September 2016.








PRESS RELEASE                         19th September 2016


Your Royal Highness,

An important note before you read on: I am writing this as a fellow grandmother and would ask that you consider my question from your obligation to defend your young and with your heart, rather than your crown.

We are a group of UK citizens who feel increasingly shut out of the decision that is soon to be made on shale gas extraction in Lancashire. It is a basic tenet of democracy that power should remain as close as possible to the people and not be concentrated in the hands of a few.

We have seen democracy in action in Lancashire, where the people said 'No' to fracking and both their borough and county councils agreed with them, and in their turn said 'No' to Cuadrilla's planning applications to frack two sites in rural Fylde, Lancashire [1].

Cuadrilla appealed and a public inquiry was held earlier this year at which we – the residents – spent three weeks giving evidence. The planning inspector's report has subsequently been submitted to Sajid Javid MP, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, who will make a decision at the beginning of October.

The decision to refuse planning permission for fracking in Lancashire was local democracy in action. However, the government’s support for shale means that the power has been passed from Lancashire's elected representatives to the hands of a few, who are interested in aiding the interests of big business, rather than the interests and health of the residents of Lancashire [2].

This is not democracy.

During the last five years we have spent a considerable amount of time, energy and money pursuing every democratic opening available to us. We have:

  • Held public meetings to gauge opinion & share information                              
  • Helped create groups to discuss the hundreds of peer-reviewed studies           
  • Provided residents’ feedback to councillors                                                                     
  • Engaged with and provided MPs with feedback on residents' concerns about the effects of fracking so close to residential areas                                                   
  • Engaged with government ministers over residents' concerns                           
  • Attended industry information events in order to discover/understand their plans and what they might mean for residents                                                                        
  • Created petitions and obtained thousands of signatures which were delivered to County Halls and Downing Street                                                                         
  • Organised and attended peaceful demonstrations locally and nationally                      
  • Took peaceful, direct and non-violent direct action                                
  • Co-operated with NGOs to put pressure on central government                                                
  • Given evidence at the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee on the Economic Impact on UK Energy Policy of Shale Gas and Oil                                                             
  • Attended and gave evidence at Lancashire County Council Development and Control meetings on planning                                                                                                   
  • Attended and gave evidence at the three-week long Public Inquiry                     
  • Contacted Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government with an invitation to visit proposed sites and meet residents (not accepted)               
  • Sought help from our Monarch (this action)                                            

We have exhausted every democratic channel. We are desperate.

What would you do, Ma'am?


Yours sincerely,

Nanas & Residents

ENDS



For immediate release.

Notes to Editors:





Thursday 1 September 2016

Thank you Natalie x





Personally I will miss Natalie Bennett being in this role - she has been a strong support for the frack-free movement, a boots-on-the-ground activist and also become someone I'm honoured to call friend. Of course, succeeding in politics in the UK has been about the right school, the right accent, the right suit, the right professional-polish that erases the humanity of the soul... Natalie didn't play that game, she just got on with the important stuff 
Whoever becomes leader of Green Party of England and Wales tomorrow, I hope they can call on their own stamina, determination, genuine intent and warmth to make an impact in the political arena as well as that of the people x





Disobedience - when giving up is NOT an option...


There are so many ways individuals tackle the problems our world faces and I love this event set for tomorrow night in Mystery Tea House, Preston... it's an opportunity to get together as members of our community, away from meetings & minutes, away from demos & protest - to just sit in a lovely little venue, watch some films about the ways others tackle their issues and discuss, what it means when you become active.
The conversation after the films will flow I would think around things like the types of activism being undertaken, what we could each personally face, how we learn tolerance, patience and acceptance of each other's different approaches - whilst reaching for the same goals. Important conversations to be nurtured amongst people of good intent, from all walks of life and types of activism.
Hope to see you there x


 

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