Category: Nuclear

Earth First! Summer Gathering Update — programme, directions, website and more

It’s only weeks until the Earth First! Sum­mer Gath­er­ing begins.
Five days of work­shops, info shar­ing and learn­ing new skills, 1–5 August.

It’s only weeks until the Earth First! Sum­mer Gath­er­ing begins.
Five days of work­shops, info shar­ing and learn­ing new skills, 1–5 August.

The Earth First Sum­mer Gath­er­ing takes place each year to pro­vide a space in which the rad­i­cal ecol­o­gy move­ment can share skills and plan for future cam­paigns and actions.

Dis­cus­sions around the impor­tance of com­mu­ni­ty build­ing in inner cities, the state of the anar­chist move­ment and patri­archy in activism.

Skill shares includ­ing wom­en’s self-defence, research­ing cor­po­ra­tions and nav­i­ga­tion.

Cam­paign round ups from Frack Off! Smash Edo and Lud­dites 2000 amongst oth­ers.

If you have work­shops you like to run or dis­cus­sions you’d like to facil­i­tate then email us at earthfirstsummergathering@riseup.net

Full pro­gramme.

Camp­ing is on a slid­ing scale of £30 to £15, pay what is gen­uine­ly appro­pri­ate.

Food will be from Anar­chist Teapot and meal tick­ets will be £5 a day.

Kids can have sep­a­rate meals if they want for £3 a day.

There will be a cou­ple of kids spaces, and spe­cial work­shops being ran for kids. If you’d like to run any kids work­shops get in touch at earthfirstsummergathering@riseup.net.

If you want you dog to come along then you’re going to have to email us at earthfirstsummergathering@riseup.net

And of course there will be enter­tain­ment and a bar open in the evenings.

The camp is ½ mile from the Berring­ton vil­lage, and 1 mile from the larg­er vil­lage of Cross Hous­es.

We encour­age non-cycling campers to use pub­lic trans­port if pos­si­ble as Cross Hous­es is on a bus route.

BY TRAIN
The near­est train sta­tion is Shrews­bury. You can then get the bus to Cross Hous­es (see below). If com­ing from a long dis­tance it can some­times be cheap­er to get a tick­et to a large sta­tion such as Birm­ing­ham, Wolver­hamp­ton, Man­ches­ter or Crewe and then a sep­a­rate tick­et on to Shrews­bury. Check nation­al rail for train times and prices. If com­ing from the Lon­don direc­tion, it’s gen­er­al­ly cheap­er to buy a Super Off­peak Return, spec­i­fy­ing “Lon­don Mid­land & Arri­va only”.

BY BIKE
See here for direc­tions and a map to the camp from Shrews­bury for cyclists and dri­vers.

BY BUS
When you arrive at Shrews­bury train sta­tion, ask some­one to point you to the bus sta­tion. It’s only a few min­utes walk from the train sta­tion. The bus ser­vice that runs from town to with­in a mile of Crabap­ple is the 436 towards Bridg­north. It runs every hour from 7.40am to 5.40pm with a “late” one at 7.40pm. The jour­ney to Cross Hous­es is approx 15 mins. You will need to press the stop but­ton when you see the sign for Cross Hous­es. Some of the ser­vices on this route are low-floor acces­si­ble bus­es. Please note that the last bus leaves Shrews­bury at 7.40pm, Mon­day to Sat­ur­day and there are no Sun­day bus ser­vices. For the bus timetable see here http://shropshire.gov.uk/bustimes/timetable.jsc?timetable=436mfi0412.
The camp itself is about 1 mile from the bus stop. From the bus stop at Cross Hous­es, walk back towards Shrews­bury past the petrol sta­tion (on your right) and take the first left turn signed “Berring­ton”. After about ½ mile, the road forks at the edge of the vil­lage. Take the right turn sign­post­ed “Bet­ton Abbots” and we’re about ¼ mile up the road on the right.
If you intend to come by bus but need help get­ting to and from the bus stop, you can arrange a pick up with us: details will be avail­able near­er the time.

BY TAXI
There is also a taxi rank just out­side Shrews­bury train sta­tion. Acces­si­ble taxis can be got from here.- but it is MUCH cheap­er to book a cab from a local com­pa­ny – Comet Cabs 01743 344444, or Vin­cent Cabs 01743 367777. Vin­cents also have a book­ing office just across the road from the sta­tion, which is handy if you don’t have a phone to book a cab in advance.

USEFUL LINKS
See here direc­tions and a map to the camp from Shrews­bury for cyclists and dri­vers.
See a map of where the site is here
See the bus timetable
Direc­tions from places oth­er than Shrews­bury

Earth First! Sum­mer Gath­er­ing Col­lec­tive
earthfirstsummergathering@riseup.net

http://earthfirstgathering.weebly.com

Carry On Craneing: Nuclear Disarmament Banner Drop!

9.6.2012

9.6.2012

In a pub­lic dis­play to com­mence our 30 Days of Direct Action Cam­paign, three Faslane Peace Campers are cur­rent­ly drop­ping ban­ners from the Clyde­bank land­mark gantry crane in Glas­gow. “Nuclear Dis­ar­ma­ment. If Not Now, When?”!
Plan­ning to make a day of it, they have tak­en a love­ly packed lunch and some lit­er­a­ture. How­ev­er, quite a few police vans were on scene almost imme­di­ate­ly and are mak­ing efforts to remove them.

This is the first of many anti-nuclear actions planned to mark the 30th anniver­sary of the Camp. In this run up to a Scot­tish Inde­pen­dence Ref­er­en­dum cou­pled with the West­min­ster vote on Tri­dent replace­ment in wait­ing, we have a very real chance to affect the shape of the future UK nuclear defence poli­cies. Scot­land could hold the key to UK nuclear dis­ar­ma­ment.

Now is the time for a renewed anti-nuclear insur­gency. Come to the camp and join in our 30 Days of Direct Action.

faslane30@riseup.net

FASLANE 30 DAYS OF ACTION: UPDATE AND FINAL CALL OUT

As of June 12th this year, the Peace Camp will have been in exis­tence for 30  years. Whilst it is great that there has been such ded­i­ca­tion from thou­sands over the years, the radioac­tive beast still has­n’t been chased from it’s lair! A 30 Day cam­paign of anti-nuclear insub­or­di­na­tion, from June 9th to July 9th, has thus been planned.

As of June 12th this year, the Peace Camp will have been in exis­tence for 30  years. Whilst it is great that there has been such ded­i­ca­tion from thou­sands over the years, the radioac­tive beast still has­n’t been chased from it’s lair! A 30 Day cam­paign of anti-nuclear insub­or­di­na­tion, from June 9th to July 9th, has thus been planned.

You can find details of some of the pub­lic events list­ed chrono­log­i­cal­ly below, but for the most part, there will be art­ful insur­gency through­out of a nature we would pre­fer not to dis­close to “the pow­ers that be”… Ener­gies and cus­to­di­al time will­ing, we hope to take non-vio­lent direct action at least once a day! And not just at Faslane, oh no!

So do come along when­ev­er you can and you will find actions wait­ing to hap­pen via autonomous, inclu­sive, con­sen­sus based plan­ning and par­tic­i­pa­tion. Every­one is wel­come (except for under­cov­er police offi­cers… We have trained a dog to sniff you out. You have been warned.) Fun, frol­ics, veg­an feasts and brush­es with the law are all guar­an­teed!

With a vote on Scot­tish Inde­pen­dence and Tri­dent replace­ment in wait­ing this is the time for a renewed cam­paign of resis­tance!

There are scenic camp­ing spots and veg­an food will be pro­vid­ed for all meals (dona­tions for which will be grate­ful­ly received from those who can afford it). Car­a­vans will be allo­cat­ed on a needs basis first so do let us know in advance. We can answer ques­tions and queries by email or phone us on 01436 820901 or 07511793227.

Please pro­lif­er­ate this in any way that you can.
We love you and need your help to be very naughty through­out our 30 Day cam­paign,
Faslane Peace Camp

P.S. THIS IS NOT A PARTY. The sole inten­tion of this cam­paign is to res­ur­rect an anti nuclear cam­paign at Faslane that has long been wan­ing at a time when it is most essen­tial in con­nec­tion to the Scot­tish Inde­pen­dence debate, Tri­dent replace­ment and a poten­tial for actu­al nuclear decom­mis­sion­ing in the UK. Repeat, THIS IS NOT A PARTY. Do come if you wish to be part of a big team of love­li­ness, direct action and action sup­port. Do not come if you just want a par­ty.

EVENTS THAT WE CAN ANNOUNCE:

PEACE PICNIC JUNE 17TH: Helens­burgh CND would like to invite all local groups to a peace pic­nic at Faslane North Gate on Sun­day June 17th from noon to 4pm. Jeely Peace cafe from Stir­ling CND will pro­vide cater­ing. Please bring ban­ners, musi­cal instru­ments and your friends. The Peace Camp will be pleased to wel­come you before or after the pic­nic, or any time, ever.

PEACE MARCH FROM GLASGOW TO FASLANE 21ST-23RD JUNE: A group of enthu­si­as­tic walk­ers and con­cerned cit­i­zens will meet at George Square, Glas­gow at mid­day on Thurs 21 June to walk to Faslane in the name of peace and no nukes! They will be stop­ping to camp en route overnight. The pace will be relaxed. Every­one is wel­come, bring ban­ners and prac­ti­cal shoes!

RISE UP SINGING 1ST AND 2ND JULY: *Come and sing Tri­dent out of Faslane and out of Scot­land! *To re-invig­o­rate the diverse cre­ativ­i­ty of Faslane 365 and to keep the issue of nuclear weapons firm­ly in the pub­lic eye and on the polit­i­cal agen­da, Rise Up Singing (a Tri­dent Ploughshares affin­i­ty group) has organ­ised a two-day gath­er­ing to cel­e­brate the 30th birth­day of Faslane Peace Camp. Every­one wel­come! No singing expe­ri­ence nec­es­sary. Bring a song to share, a ban­ner and some cake, and we’ll pro­vide the tea.

ACADEMIC SEMINAR ROADBLOCK 6TH JULY:
On Fri­day July 6th aca­d­e­mics and activists from all over the world will par­tic­i­pate in a sem­i­nar block­ade as part of Faslane 30. The trans-dis­ci­pli­nary sem­i­nar block­ade fol­lows sim­i­lar actions at Faslane in 2005 and at COP15 in Copen­hagen in 2009 and is part of an emerg­ing tra­di­tion of putting social the­o­ry into per­son­al prac­tice. The theme of  the sem­i­nar is ‘secu­ri­ty’ and par­tic­i­pants are invit­ed to reflect on the com­plex issue of nuclear weapons from a range of per­spec­tives ‑gov­er­nance, secu­ri­ti­sa­tion and dis­cours­es of ‘ter­ror’, ethics, as well envi­ron­men­tal and social jus­tice. Leav­ing moral­i­ty aside for just one moment, we ask how is spend­ing on nuclear weapons jus­ti­fied strate­gi­cal­ly, eco­nom­i­cal­ly and social­ly in an era when the nature of con­flict is so changed, when much of the world is in eco­nom­ic melt­down and so many peo­ple are suf­fer­ing from poli­cies of aus­ter­i­ty? The sem­i­nar block­ade will be peace­ful but will insist on claim­ing the pub­lic space for demo­c­ra­t­ic debate on what secu­ri­ty means both geopo­lit­i­cal­ly and in people’s every­day lives. Con­tri­bu­tions will engage with broad­er themes of pol­i­tics, democ­ra­cy, gov­ern­men­tal­i­ty, con­flict res­o­lu­tion, cit­i­zen­ship, glob­al
rela­tions and anti-war. The sem­i­nar will involve cre­ative pub­lic and par­tic­i­pa­to­ry schol­ar­ship, using a vari­ety of media and forms: paper pre­sen­ta­tions are envis­aged — though Pow­er­Point is logis­ti­cal­ly unfea­si­ble! — along­side work­shops for small group debate, expe­ri­ence shar­ing and oth­er kinds of learn­ing. In par­tic­u­lar, we hope that peace  cam­paign­ers at the camp will be cen­tral­ly involved in the sem­i­nar. The tim­ing and exact loca­tions of sem­i­nar events will nec­es­sar­i­ly be deter­mined on the day, but par­tic­i­pants are invit­ed to gath­er at the Peace Camp between 8 and 9.30 am.

CIRCA 7TH JULY:
The Clan­des­tine Insur­gent Rebel Clown Army (CIRCA) will NOT be march­ing on Faslane nuclear sub­ma­rine lair on Sat­ur­day 7th of July, oh no. Even though the Tri­dent mis­siles at Faslane Naval Base could kill all the Clowns on the plan­et –and all the clowns too! – we won’t be there. Even though the Tri­dent mis­siles at Faslane are going to be replaced at an astro­nom­ic cost when all Clowns are feel­ing the pinch, we will not be roused to action. Even though none of our Clown com­rades and friends in Scot­land want Tri­dent or its replace­ment, CIRCA aren’t for turn­ing (up). Most of all, even though Rebel Clowns would defend every­one for just the price of a rub­ber dingy and load of cus­tard pies, even though Tri­dent replace­ment will take our Army jobs away, we will NOT be part of Faslane 30. Aca­d­e­mics say that CIRCA has died a death in Britain, and they are right. They must be right because they are aca­d­e­mics and aca­d­e­mics know every­thing about elites, exploita­tion, mil­i­tari­sa­tion… (Fun­ny how noth­ing changes, then, eh?) How­ev­er. A new Army of Rebel Clowns from all over Britain is trained and ready to join our inter­na­tion­al com­rades and peace camp friends to PARTY on the 30th anniver­sary of resist­ing nuclear non­sense at Faslane. If Tri­dent makes us redun­dant and aca­d­e­mics pro­nounce us dead, we will come to the par­ty as the unem­ploy­able undead, as gum­my vam­pires, veg­an zom­bies and mangy were­wolves. CIRCA will NOT be march­ing on Faslane, but a ghost army of Rebels Clowns – sea­soned corpses and the fresh­ly (sic) deceased (dis­eased?) might, just might, be there! Come on, do the  Res­ur­rec­tion-Insur­rec­tion Shuf­fle!

… And the rest is top secret! 

Hinkley Investor Centrica: Action Alert

Cen­tri­ca are hav­ing their AGM this week on Fri 11th May we want to tell Cen­tri­ca loud & clear No to new nuclear. To this end we have a bit of arm­chair activism that every­one can join in with no mat­ter what your time/energy/money com­mit­ments are.

Here’s how to stop the Cen­tri­ca swin­dle:

Cen­tri­ca are hav­ing their AGM this week on Fri 11th May we want to tell Cen­tri­ca loud & clear No to new nuclear. To this end we have a bit of arm­chair activism that every­one can join in with no mat­ter what your time/energy/money com­mit­ments are.

Here’s how to stop the Cen­tri­ca swin­dle:

Step one: Boy­cott Centrica/British Gas…

If you get any prod­ucts from cen­tri­ca or buy your ener­gy from British Gas then switch sup­pli­ers now – make sure and either phone them on 0800 107 0184 or drop them a line at  customercomplaints@britishgas.co.uk or Man­age­ment Team, British Gas, PO Box 4804, Wor­thing, BN11 9QU to let them know why you’re drop­ping them.

If you need guid­ance or advise on how to switch or who to switch to then vis­it our already exisit­ing boy­cott edf web­site for details on how/what to do.  http://boycottedf.org.uk/maketheswitch

Step Two: Spam Cen­tri­ca…

Drop them an e‑mail to pres­sure them to with­draw from nuclear new build we have com­piled an exten­sive data­base of e‑mail address­es which we have pub­lished below The e‑mails are pub­lished in 10 blocks of 25, this means that in just 10 e‑mails you can tell the whole of Cen­tri­ca from the 1% down what you think of them with­out your mails bounc­ing back or your account being sus­pend­ed!

Their office num­bers are includ­ed too why not give them a call and tell them what you think of their dab­bling in dirty nukes?

 brian.gamlin@centrica.com,  darren.miles@centrica.com,  mark.turner@centrica.com,  olga.wilson@centrica.com,  simon.henderson@centrica.com,  alejandro.urizar@centrica.com,  jonathan.press@centrica.com,  peter.pratt@centrica.com,  david.bickerton@centrica.com,  rod.carr@centrica.com,  kirk.downey@centrica.com,  bill.laughlin@centrica.com,  simon.gray@centrica.com,  usmanigbal@centrica.com„  alan.mclaughlin@centrica.com,  sophie.cole@centrica.com,  jessica.parker@centrica.com,  alistair.montgomery@centrica.com,  jan.sangedal@centrica.com,  careers@centrica.com,  cancelinstallation@centrica.com,  thornton@centrica.com,  jon.york@Centrica.com, cardiffc& mfinance@centrica.com,  ir@centrica.com,

 don.lane@centrica.com,  amie.harding1@centrica.com,  natalie.potts@centrica.com,  fred.hardinges@centrica.com,  nina.ringoen@centrica.com,  coordinator@centrica.com,  renewables@centrica.com,  kit.hawkins@centrica.com,  centrica@equiniti.com,  stavanger@centrica.com,  media@centrica.com,  matthew.berry@centrica.com,  views@centrica.com,  responsibility@centrica.com,  centrica.graduates@aonhewitt.com,  diversity.team@centrica.com,  audrey.luksicek@centrica.com,  p2p@centrica.com,  dario.ghazi@Centrica.com,  rodgers@centrica.com,  paul.smart@centrica.com,  kevin.ferrol@centrica.com,  steven.petrie@centrica.com,  martin.bruce@centrica.com,  jim.jamieson@centrica.com,

 carina.travis@centrica.com,  michael.breyaen@centrica.com,  trevor.boyce@centrica.com,  fiona.navesey@centrica.com,  ricky.hill@centrica.com,  iain.bartholomew@centrica.com,  david.byrne@centrica.com,  danny.willder@centrica.com,  ali.hussain@centrica.com,  linda.somerville1@centrica.com,  andy.kingscott@centrica.com,  aberdeen@centrica.com,  customerrelations@centrica.com,  david.holland@centrica.com,  eri@centrica.com,  brianawhitlock@centrica.com,  philip.davies@centrica.com,  alan.mclaughlin@centrica.com,  energy360@centrica.com,  gavin.ward@centrica.com,  gill.rodgers@centrica.com,  proudfoot@centrica.com,  colin.addy2@centrica.com,  hywel.james@centrica.com,  alan.neild-crabb@centrica.com

 chris.ronketti@centrica.com,  john.kimber@centrica.com,  sue.cropper@centrica.com,  richard.hemus2@centrica.com,  anna.wantling@centrica.com,  steve.gapik@centrica.com,  discount.scheme@centrica.com,  angela.needle@centrica.com,  alaister.mortlock@centrica.com,  ivan.olszak@centrica.com,  jill.shedden@centrica.com,  nick.luff@centrica.com,  christopher.bird@centrica.com,  ray.sheldon@centrica.com,  sns0056york@centrica.com,  finbarr.coghlan@centrica.com,  peter.fairhurst@centrica.com,  jon.cooper@centrica.com,  matt.thornton@centrica.com,  rebecca.mcclymont@centrica.com,  richard.cargen@centrica.com,  david.jardine@centrica.com,  cathy.aldwinckle@centrica.com,  ian.mondrow@na.centrica.com,  pjeff@na.centrica.com,

 robert.frank@na.centrica.com,  smith.day@na.centrica.com,  jessica.mahaffey@na.centrica.com,  chuck.moore@na.centrica.com,  rita.morales@na.centrica.com,  ben.lenton@na.centrica.com,  joseph.byars@na.centrica.com,  ray.debock@na.centrica.com,  michael.heselton@na.centrica.com,  anahita.minooee@na.centrica.com,  gary.newcombe@na.centrica.com,  alyce.hibben@na.centrica.com,  priscilla.tinsley@na.centrica.com,  jodi.marshall@na.centrica.com,  kristine.innes@na.centrica.com,  niall.armstrong@na.centrica.com,  michel.do@na.centrica.com,  jeff.parsons@na.centrica.com,  pjeff@na.centrica.com,  glenn.macintyre@na.centrica.com,  cynthia.cordova@na.centrica.com,  adrian.pye@na.centrica.com,  jay.hellums@na.centrica.com,  james.steffes@na.centrica.com,  patty.walton@na.centrica.com,

 juan.pardon@na.centrica.com,  dennis.benevides@na.centrica.com,  brenda.christie@na.centrica.com,  april.woodward@na.centrica.com,  david.zager@na.centrica.com,  felita.gammage@na.centrica.com,  Victor.Ward@na.centrica.com,  lyie.oiiver@na.centrica.com,  dave.purnell@na.centrica.com,  runsi.sen@na.centrica.com,  caroline.kerr@na.centrica.com,  aaron.dobson@na.centrica.com,  steve.entwistle@na.centrica.com,  jillian.conroy@na.centrica.com,  heather.brown@na.centrica.com,  dave.vandenbosch@na.centrica.com,  recruitingnorth@na.centrica.com, eric.stephens@,na.centrica.com,  brenda.pinke@na.centrica.com,  brandon.vanunen@na.centrica.com,  canada.business@na.centrica.com,  mike.visser@na.centrica.com,  vincent.law@na.centrica.com,  yannis.tzamouranis@na.centrica.com,  centricadataprotection@centrica.com,

 david.booty@na.centrica.com,  erin.cuddihey@na.centrica.com,  ben.lenton@na.centrica.com,  liam.johnston@na.centrica.com,  helen.taylor@centrica.co.uk,  contract.renewals@centrica.co.uk,  eservice@centrica.co.uk,  simon.clark@centrica.co.uk,  htam.correspondence@centrica.co.uk,  sam.laidlaw@centrica.co.uk,  media@centrica.co.uk,  barry.neville@centrica.co.uk,  david.johnson@centrica.co.uk,  jane.poxon@centrica.co.uk,  david.rizzo@centrica.co.uk,  russell.coates@centrica.co.uk,  davidm.harman@centrica.co.uk,  veronica.hinchliffe@centrica.co.uk,  emily.harman@centrica.co.uk,  rob.cullender@centrica.co.uk,  gavin.ferguson@centrica.co.uk,  catherine.mcnally@centrica.co.uk,  david.flower@centrica.co.uk,  tony.thornton@centrica.co.uk,  la.ha@centrica.co.uk,

 energy.efficiency2@centrica.co.uk,  ir@centrica.co.uk,  theenergyefficiencyteam@centrica.co.uk,  craig.lawson@centrica.co.uk,  simon.goldring@centrica.co.uk,  jeremy.lockett@centrica.co.uk,  victoria.andenaes@centrica.co.uk,  iain.taylor@centrica.co.uk,  barrie.x.caird@centrica.co.uk,  community@centrica.co.uk,  tim.boycott-brown@centrica.co.uk,  anthony.chmarny@centrica.co.uk,  ghazala.zia@centrica.co.uk,  wayne.brotherwood@centrica.co.uk,  alan.mclaughlin@centrica.co.uk,  kevin.wollard@centrica.co.uk,  tony.johnson@centrica.co.uk,  harry.metcalfe@centrica.co.uk,  mark.agnew@centrica.co.uk,  andy.chern@centrica.co.uk,  fiona.navesey@centrica.co.uk,  mark.clare@centrica.co.uk,  britishgas.prepaymentcustomerrelations@centrica.co.uk,  andrew.latham@centrica.co.uk,  simon.harrison@centrica.co.uk,

 david.viney@centrica.co.uk,  laura.jeffs@centrica.co.uk,  j.johnson@centrica.co.uk,  hqcustomerrelations@centrica.co.uk,  david.crowther@centrica.co.uk,  aan@centrica.co.uk,  linda.sullivan@centrica.co.uk,  meterreadentry@centrica.co.uk,  francis.rottenburg@centrica.co.uk,  matt.graveston@centrica.co.uk,  stephen.dickson@centrica.co.uk,  andy.malicki@centrica.co.uk,  deborah.lamb@centrica.co.uk,  ann.dale@centrica.co.uk,  pressoffice.britishgas@centrica.co.uk,  chris.foster@centrica.co.uk,  steven.briggs@centrica.co.uk,  david.thomas@centrica.co.uk,  rhvs.iones@centrica.co.uk,  eldon.pethybridge@centrica.co.uk,  clive.woodland@centrica.co.uk,  win.wearmouth@centrica.co.uk,  shann.plascott@centrica.co.uk,  jon.kimber@centrica.co.uk,  jean.doran@centrica.co.uk,

 gary.swift@centrica.co.uk,  mark.manley@centrica.co.uk,  danielle.lane@centrica.co.uk,  graham.jack@centrica.co.uk,  samantha.winship@centrica.co.uk,  roddy.mackinnon@centrica-sl.co.uk,  jacopo.vignola@centrica-sl.co.uk,  simon.wills@centrica-sl.co.uk, steve.o’ connor@centrica-sl.co.uk,  glenn.sibbick@centrica-sl.co.uk,  backup.notifications@centrica-sl.co.uk,  darren.oliver@centrica-sl.co.uk,  rebecca.sunshine@centrica-sl.co.uk, sonia.youcentrica-sl.co.uk,  terry.jackson@centrica-sl.co.uk,  bruce.walker@centrica-sl.co.uk,  david.hall@centrica-sl.co.uk, nick.parkescentrica-sl.co.uk,  roland.knight@centrica.com.au,  info@centrica.com.au,  crossmedia@centrica.com.au,

OFFICES

Cen­tri­ca plc
Mill­stream
Maid­en­head Road
Wind­sor
Berk­shire
SL4 5GD

Main switch­board
Tel: +44 (0)1753 494000
Fax: +44 (0)1753 494001

Cen­tri­ca Stor­age Lim­it­ed
Ven­ture House
42–54 Lon­don Road
Staines
Mid­dle­sex TW18 4HF

Cen­tri­ca Stor­age Lim­it­ed – reg­is­tered office and cor­po­rate head­quar­ters
Tel: +44 (0) 1784 415 300
Fax: +44 (0) 1784 415 318

Cen­tri­ca Stor­age Sales and Mar­ket­ing
Tele­phone: +44 (0) 1784 415 304

Cen­tri­ca Stor­age Com­mer­cial Oper­a­tions Desk (24 hours)
Tele­phone: +44 (0) 1784 415 304

Cen­tri­ca Media Rela­tions (on behalf of Cen­tri­ca Stor­age Lim­it­ed)
Tele­phone: +44 (0) 845 072 4649

Alan McLaugh­lin, Cen­tri­ca Media Rela­tions
Tele­phone: +44 (0) 1753 494 086 or 07789 570598

Cen­tri­ca Investor Rela­tions (on behalf of Cen­tri­ca Stor­age Lim­it­ed)
Tele­phone: +44 (0) 1753 494 900

Step Three: Protest!!!

Attend Centrica’s AGM this com­ing Fri­day May 11th. Their AGM starts at 2pm but envi­ron­men­tal and social jus­tice cam­paign­ers will be there from 12:30 onwards. The address is Queen Eliz­a­beth II Con­fer­ence Cen­tre, Lon­don SW1.

Why say no to Cen­tri­ca?

After being advised last year to pull out of nuclear Cen­tri­ca are now demand­ing more mon­ey from the cash-strapped British pub­lic via cor­po­rate owned UK plc. The advice came from cit­i­group and util­i­ties ana­lyst Lakis Athana­siou who said that Cen­tri­ca ‘shouldn’t touch nuclear with a barge pole’.

Near­ly one year on and against the back­drop of the nuclear cat­a­stro­phe in Japan spi­ral­ing fur­ther out of con­trol, Cen­tri­ca is now threat­en­ing to ‘pull out’ if their demands aren’t met. They claim to have doubts over the gov­ern­ments ener­gy pol­i­cy, Cen­tri­ca said “the company’s posi­tion on nuclear new build has not changed and it was still work­ing towards tak­ing a final invest­ment deci­sion on Hink­ley Point by the end of the year. It added “There are a num­ber of areas where we still need absolute clar­i­ty, such as cost, mar­ket frame­work and plan­ning approval and per­mits”

Sub­si­dies already promised by gov­ern­ment to the nuclear indus­try already include -

elec­tric­i­ty reform act, fixed price on car­bon per tonne and fixed price on elec­tric­i­ty pro­duced from nuclear tax­pay­er fund­ed lia­bil­i­ty in the event of an acci­dent (yes folks these guys can nuke you fukushi­ma style then make you pay for the clean up) fixed price of con­tri­bu­tion of the utlilty for the cost of future attempts to manage/clear up the waste (yeah right like that’s gonna hap­pen!)

Part of the elec­tric­i­ty reform acts pack­age of pro­pos­als are the con­tracts for dif­fer­ence that will be announced in the Queens speech this month.

Con­tracts for dif­fer­ence or CFD’s as they are known are noth­ing more than a way of ensur­ing that cen­tri­ca makes pri­vate prof­it whilst social­is­ing the loss­es, or should we say enrich­es the 1% at a cost to the 99%

In this con­text these pro­pos­als are like the banks ask­ing for a bailout in advance of them doing the dodgy deals that made them fail. CFDs are ‘trad­ing on the mar­gins’ or to put it anoth­er way turn­ing shit into sug­ar and are there­fore high­ly risky.

One of the ways CFD’s will like­ly ben­e­fit Cen­tri­ca is by allow­ing them to put up a tiny ‘deposit’ on the con­struc­tion of new nuclear plants whilst we the tax­pay­er loan them the rest, of course they get to keep their prof­its which ever way you slice the pie, they can even make mon­ey out of the project fail­ing with CFDs. It is clear to see that being able to prof­it out of falling mar­kets in this way is a clev­er­ly dis­guised way of social­is­ing the costs of bad invest­ment choic­es giv­ing investors a win-win sit­u­a­tion at an extreme cost to civ­il soci­ety & the envi­ron­ment.

We believe that centrica’s pres­sure on the UK gov­ern­ment to take more tax­pay­ers mon­ey to pay for a project that they them­selves believe will fail in order that their share­hold­ers can prof­it out of us twice (once when they build the plant then again when they bill us for ener­gy) is immoral and uneth­i­cal.

The elec­tric­i­ty mar­ket reform act already promised to these greedy util­i­ties is a pub­lic sub­sidy by the back door. Nuclear pow­er plants nev­er have been and nev­er will be prof­itable endeav­ours which is why in 2006 when the gov­ern­ment tried to cre­ate the nuclear renais­sance they knew it wouldn’t go down well with the pub­lic. Now after a six year cam­paign of lob­by­ing and expen­sive PR cam­paigns to get the pub­lic to swal­low nuclear as a ‘nec­es­sary evil’ they want to dump respon­si­bil­i­ty for financ­ing back on the already skint pub­lic.

South West Against Nulear (SWAN)

Anti-nuclear activists claim double record at Hinkley Point demo

11 March 2012

On the first anniver­sary of the Fukushi­ma dis­as­ter, anti-nuclear cam­paign­ers claimed two records in two days. The mass protest at Hink­ley Point nuclear pow­er sta­tion on Sat­ur­day attract­ed more than 1,000 peo­ple from all over the UK – the largest protests against a the con­struc­tion of a nuclear pow­er sta­tion in four decades.

11 March 2012

On the first anniver­sary of the Fukushi­ma dis­as­ter, anti-nuclear cam­paign­ers claimed two records in two days. The mass protest at Hink­ley Point nuclear pow­er sta­tion on Sat­ur­day attract­ed more than 1,000 peo­ple from all over the UK – the largest protests against a the con­struc­tion of a nuclear pow­er sta­tion in four decades.

And today (Sun­day) the Stop New Nuclear alliance suc­cess­ful­ly con­clud­ed the first ever 24-hour block­ade of a UK nuclear pow­er sta­tion. Nan­cy Birch, spokesper­son for the alliance said: “This is a major vic­to­ry for the anti-nuclear move­ment and a sign that the tide is turn­ing against the government’s nuclear renais­sance.”

On Sat­ur­day, lead­ing envi­ron­men­tal­ists Jonathon Por­ritt and Car­o­line Lucas MP joined over 1000 demon­stra­tors at Hink­ley Point to mark the first anniver­sary of Fukushi­ma and to call for a halt to the government’s bid to build eight new nuclear pow­er sta­tions. Pro­test­ers came from as far away as Ire­land, France and Tai­wan.

A mini tent city then emerged as over 100 peo­ple remained out­side the main gate at Hink­ley overnight — camp­ing on the tar­mac in makeshift tents. The block­ade for­mal­ly end­ed at 2pm today when Japan­ese bhud­dist monks per­formed a prayer for the vic­tims of the Tsuna­mi that pre­cip­i­tat­ed the Fukushi­ma dis­as­ter and to urge the UK gov­ern­ment to take a more enlight­ened view on ener­gy pro­vi­sion.

Nan­cy Birch added: “It is clear that the pub­lic is wak­ing up to the fact that we don’t need nuclear pow­er to keep the lights on. Ger­many is lead­ing the way in cre­at­ing a blue­print for a sus­tain­able ener­gy future that is nuclear-free, afford­able and doesn’t leave its cit­i­zens with the shad­ow of anoth­er Fukushi­ma hang­ing over their heads. The burn­ing ques­tion is, if Ger­many can do it, why can’t we?”

Mar­tyn Lowe, a vert­er­an anti-nuclear cam­paign­er said he had not seen such a large turnout since the mass protest against the con­struc­tion of the Tor­ness nuclear pow­er sta­tion in 1979.

He added, “The sim­ple fact it that that ‘new nuclear’ is dan­ger­ous, expen­sive and com­plete­ly unnec­es­sary.”

ENDS

For more infor­ma­tion con­tact Nan­cy Birch on: 07980 509986

Notes to the edi­tor:
Jonathon Por­ritt is launch­ing a new book which pro­vides a warts and all overview of nuclear giant EDF Energy’s influ­ence on White­hall and West­min­ster.

Hinkley Barnstormers Eviction Imminent ! Help Needed !

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 JOIN THE HINKLEY BARNSTORMERS BEFORE THEIR EVICTION !

On 27th Feb­ru­ary at the Roy­al Courts of Jus­tice, Lon­don, EDF won a pos­s­e­sion order against anti-nuclear activists who are occu­py­ing a barn on the pro­posed new site for a nuclear reac­tor at Hink­ley Point.

The barn has been suc­cess­ful­ly occu­pied for over two weeks now but the evic­tion could come at any time in the next few days.

The occu­piers are wel­com­ing any one who wants to come and help dis­man­tle the camp. There is lots of food avail­able and a cosy and con­vivial atmos­phere to be enjoyed ! Please come !

PHONE : 0793 392 0425  or 0753 094 7554

The activists will be cel­e­brat­ing  what the camp had achieved in terms of rais­ing aware­ness of Hink­ley to the nation­al lev­el , as many peo­ple do not know that the gov­ern­ment is plan­ning to build new nuclear reac­tors, they want to slip these plans in “under the radar” to avoid a prop­er pub­lic debate tak­ing place, like there has been in Italy and Ger­many, in the wake of Fukushi­ma.

Nuclear pow­er is a cat­a­stroph­ic choice for Britain’s ener­gy future. A part from the fact that nuclear pow­er is still very fos­sil fuel reliant and won’t make much of a dent in the car­bon emmis­sions: If Hink­ley C is built, it won’t be in oper­a­tion until 2023 at the ear­li­est ! Also, nuclear is a bot­tom­less pit of expense to the tax pay­er, all that mon­ey will be divert­ed away from invest­ment in safe and sus­tain­able alter­na­tives.

There is no such thing as safe nuclear pow­er, prob­lems occur in the reac­tors for inu­mer­able rea­sons, includ­ing human error, and once every 12 years or so there is a major dis­as­ter. There is also the ever loom­ing prob­lem of nuclear waste, Britain already has enough to fill 5 Albert Halls and no where long term to put it. Only an insane government/industry would want to make more.

After Fukushi­ma, many coun­tries are say­ing enough is enough, Nuclear pow­er is fin­ished. It’s a dinosaur of the 20th cen­tu­ry and leads to the pro­lif­er­a­tion of nuclear weapons. It’s time we said the same !

Please show your sol­i­dar­i­ty and go to the camp for some fun !

If you can’t make it to the camp, there’s anoth­er chance for you to show your oppo­si­tion to new nuclear on 10- 11 March at Hink­ley Point for the Sur­round and Block­ade action. Details below :

Coach tick­ets are avail­able to take you to the Sur­round action on 10 March  from Bris­tol CND:

secretarybristolcnd@gmail.com

For more infor­ma­tion about the 10–11 March see:

www.stopnewnuclear.org.uk

Sizewell Camp 2012

Skill Share, Net­work­ing and Protest
Pow­er for the Peo­ple — Not Prof­its for the Few

Fri­day 20th (from 6pm) – Sun­day 22nd April

Skill Share, Net­work­ing and Protest
Pow­er for the Peo­ple — Not Prof­its for the Few

Fri­day 20th (from 6pm) – Sun­day 22nd April

Spend a sun­ny week­end camp­ing on the beach at Sizewell and learn­ing about the wor­ry­ing plans for a new nuclear pow­er sta­tion at the site. Come and show your oppo­si­tion to nuclear pow­er and your sup­port for alter­na­tive, sus­tain­able ener­gy solu­tions. The week­end includes a protest at the nuclear pow­er sta­tion entrance, work­shops and skill shares, wood­land and beach walks, deli­cious veg­an grub, and net­work­ing. Now is the time to take action against nuclear new build – come join us to say ‘Nuclear Pow­er? –
No Thanks!’

The Camp — Fri­day 20th — Sun­day 22nd April 2012

Demon­stra­tion, Sat­ur­day 21st April, 12noon, at the entrance to Sizewell A and B
A demon­stra­tion out­side the gates of Sizewell, oppos­ing nuclear pow­er and nuclear new build, and sup­port­ing sus­tain­able alter­na­tives.

Work­shops and Walks
Sat­ur­day and Sun­day, at the Camp

A num­ber of work­shops have been pro­posed, includ­ing: ‘Nuclear Pow­er — A Ratio­nal Response to Cli­mate Change and Ener­gy Secu­ri­ty?’, ‘Nuclear Physics for Begin­ners’, ‘Extreme Ener­gy — Scrap­ing the Bot­tom of the Bar­rel’, ‘Alter­na­tive Ener­gy’, as well as guid­ed walks along the beach and into the woods EdF intends to destroy.

Cher­nobyl Remem­brance
Sun­day 22nd, 1pm at the Camp

Please let us know (con­tact details below) if you are think­ing of com­ing, so we have an idea of num­bers for cater­ing, etc.

Peo­ple are also need­ed to help with camp set up on Fri­day, and ‘tat down’ — tak­ing down the camp — on Mon­day morn­ing, so please let us know if you are able to help out with either of those.

Email: camp [at] sizewellcamp.org.uk
Web: http://sizewellcamp.org.uk
Phone: 07894467356

Hinkley Point Barnstormers — Occupiers aim to stop EDF land trash — video and flyer

“This film gives an account of the first few days of the occu­pa­tion of Lang­bor­ough Farm on the site of one of the pro­posed ‘new wave’ of Nuclear Reac­tors, at Hink­ley point in Som­er­set. The activists took occu­pan­cy in the ear­ly hours of Sun­day the 12th of Feb­ru­ary and are set­tling in to their new home and com­mu­ni­ty.”

“This film gives an account of the first few days of the occu­pa­tion of Lang­bor­ough Farm on the site of one of the pro­posed ‘new wave’ of Nuclear Reac­tors, at Hink­ley point in Som­er­set. The activists took occu­pan­cy in the ear­ly hours of Sun­day the 12th of Feb­ru­ary and are set­tling in to their new home and com­mu­ni­ty.”

Check out this great vid of the open­ing days of the occu­pa­tion

 

Thurs­day, 16 Feb­ru­ary 2012, South West Against Nuclear:

Activists who have occu­pied a farm to oppose ground clear­ance for a new nuclear site in West Som­er­set today entered the fifth day of their stand-off with the French ener­gy com­pa­ny EDF.

The pro­test­ers entered Lang­bor­ough Farm at Hink­ley Point on Sat­ur­day night and estab­lished a camp around derelict build­ings which are believed to house hiber­nat­ing bats. They want the “Pre­lim­i­nary Works”, which will clear and lev­el sev­er­al hun­dred acres of Som­er­set coastal land to be halt­ed for 12 months until EDF know if they actu­al­ly have per­mis­sion to build their pro­posed reac­tors.

“Cur­rent­ly EDF have no per­mis­sion to build here, but aston­ish­ing­ly they DO have per­mis­sion to destroy this pre­cious part of our com­mon nat­ur­al her­itage” said farm occu­pant Theo Simon. “If this land and these habi­tats are lost and then they don’t get plan­ning per­mis­sion, EDF will have com­mit­ted an act of unprece­dent­ed eco­log­i­cal van­dal­ism. If on the oth­er hand, as many locals now sus­pect, the plan­ning per­mis­sion is already a “done deal” then that means the cur­rent IPC pub­lic con­sul­ta­tion is an expen­sive sham.”

Mr Simon (53) said that their camp has now been strength­ened with food and water and oth­er sup­plies brought in by local well-wish­ers. Yes­ter­day campers were vis­it­ed by West Som­er­set Dis­trict Coun­cil­lor Jon Free­man, who told them how he thought the plan­ning process had been cor­rupt­ed by pres­sure from cen­tral gov­ern­ment and the edf. today they were advised by a retired Hink­ley B engi­neer who explained his tech­ni­cal reser­va­tions about flaws in the EDF’s reac­tor and waste stor­age plans.

Anoth­er occu­pi­er, Nik­ki Clark, said, “Already our sup­port is grow­ing here, peo­ple who had begun to give up hope, have been empow­ered by our occu­pa­tion, and they are free to walk up the foot­paths to vis­it us. There is a lot of resent­ment in this are at the way this project has been steam-rollered through, but we’re here to draw a line on the ground. The wan­ton destruc­tion of this beau­ti­ful land must be halt­ed until there has been a gen­uine demo­c­ra­t­ic process the begin­ning of which must be Par­lia­ment deem­ing the Nation­al State­ments as fraud­u­lent in the light if the cor­rup­tion of gov­er­nance report.”

The new res­i­dents are all look­ing for­ward to the stop new nuclear sur­round & block­ade of Hink­ley Point on March 10th & 11th to mark the first anniver­sary of the begin­ning of the Fukushi­ma cat­a­stro­phe. Around 400 peo­ple descend­ed on the sta­tion last Octo­ber to dis­rupt EDFs oper­a­tions & voice their dis­sent at the so-called Nuclear Renais­sance.

ENDS

Site Con­tact: 07933920425

OR: 07530947554

Notes:

Details of the Stop New Nuclear sur­round & block­ade avail­able here:  http://stopnewnuclear.org.uk

South West Against Nuclear:
http://southwestagainstnuclear.wordpress.com

Stop Nuclear Pow­er Net­work:
http://stopnuclearpoweruk.net

Boy­cott EDF Ener­gy:
 http://boycottedf.org.uk

Twit­ter: @StopNukePower @NoNewNuclear @StopNewNuclear @BoycottEDF #Occu­py­Hink­ley

‘Join the Hink­ley Barn­stomers’ fly­er avail­able for down­load here:  https://we.riseup.net/assets/83705/barnstormer.pdf

 

Hinkley Occupied Again — directions to camp

13th Feb­ru­ary 2012

13th Feb­ru­ary 2012

Pro­test­ers have for the sec­ond time in a week occu­pied the devel­op­ment site at Hink­ley Point nuclear pow­er sta­tion in Som­er­set.

In the ear­ly hours of this morn­ing anti-nuclear activists took pos­ses­sion of an aban­doned farm on the site which is pro­tect­ed under Inter­na­tion­al Envi­ron­men­tal law. The site con­tains a Site of Spe­cial Sci­en­tif­ic inter­est (SSSI) and a pro­tect­ed wet­land (R.A.M.S.A.R site) but it is due to be cleared by pow­er com­pa­ny EDF in the com­ing months. Pro­test­ers are angry that per­mis­sion has been giv­en for this work to begin before the com­pa­ny have won per­mis­sion to build their con­tro­ver­sial new nuclear plant.

Som­er­set born Theo Simon said “We want to reclaim this land and make sure that the wildlife that inhab­its it and for­ages here is pro­tect­ed. Giv­ing per­mis­sion to clear the land before Plan­ning Per­mis­sion has even been grant­ed clear­ly gives the mes­sage to EDF that per­mis­sion is a done deal. I, and many oth­ers like me, want prop­er pub­lic con­sul­ta­tion and debate before we com­mit to a tech­nol­o­gy whose tox­ic lega­cy will remain for gen­er­a­tions.”

Local media report­ed this week that EDF will begin site clear­ance in the com­ing weeks, although EDF claimed the oppo­site when pro­test­ers occu­pied the trees on Tues­day.
The first phase of the prepa­ra­tion works will include removal of hedgerows and all trees, before strip­ping all top­soil and lev­el­ling the land­scape, all this despite the fact that plan­ning per­mis­sion has not been grant­ed for a new nuclear pow­er sta­tion at the site.

Nik­ki Clark of SWAN said “Bat ecol­o­gists have explained to us that 86% of Bat crime is caused by the destruc­tion of roosts car­ried out by devel­op­ers. We have been told that the so-called ‘mit­i­ga­tion’, which involves build­ing alter­na­tive roosts, that has been pro­posed by EDF has nev­er been sci­en­tif­i­cal­ly test­ed to prove that it actu­al­ly works.”

Ques­tions have been raised about the Gov­ern­men­t’s process of devel­op­ing ener­gy pol­i­cy.
In the cor­rup­tion of gov­er­nance report last week it was revealed that the ‘Nuclear Renais­sance’ was insti­gat­ed against the advice of sci­en­tists, and is indica­tive of wider cor­rup­tion with­in the Depart­ment of Ener­gy and Cli­mate Change.

The new min­is­ter brought into replace Chris Huhne, who stood down last week to face crim­i­nal charges, is Lib Dem — Ed Dav­ey. Despite hav­ing pro­duced the par­ty’s anti-nuclear pol­i­cy in 2006, he has now made a com­plete U‑turn and is sup­port­ing the coali­tion in pro­mot­ing new nuclear build in the UK.

Shana Deal, one of the occu­piers in Lang­bor­ough Farm, said today: “If EDF’s activ­i­ties con­tin­ue, this nature reserve will be lost for­ev­er. Not even EDF are will­ing to guar­an­tee that a new nuclear pow­er sta­tion will be eco­nom­i­cal­ly viable, and I for one do not want to see this beau­ti­ful land turned into a Tox­ic Waste dump.”

The farm premis­es is acces­si­ble by pub­lic foot­paths and vis­i­tors are being wel­comed by the pro­test­ers.

For back­ground and fur­ther infor­ma­tion phone: 07530 947554

www.stophinkley.org

http://stopnuclearpoweruk.net/content/nuclear-reactor-site-occupied

Directions/practical info:

In the ear­ly hours of Sun­day morn­ing a group of us moved into and occu­pied the premis­es of Lang­bor­ough Farm near Hink­ley Point nuclear pow­er sta­tion. The old farm­house premis­es, on a site that EDF has ear­marked for it’s pro­posed new nuclear reac­tor, is now a legal squat. To help them set­tle into their new home with­out any has­sle the occu­piers would wel­come friend­ly vis­i­tors today and in the days ahead.

To find your way by Pub­lic Foot­path to Lang­bor­ough Farm, see map below, or go to half-way through the youtube film “West Coun­try Walks” at
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWp_ut-Uya4

Friends of mine went to vis­it the new­ly squat­ted site next to Hink­ley Point pow­er sta­tion in Som­er­set this week­end. Lang­bor­ough Farm (ST 201 456) is in the mid­dle of the area on which EDF ener­gy pro­pose to build a new nuclear pow­er sta­tion. They said that although work to clear the site is like­ly to begin in the com­ing weeks, it is crossed by pub­lic foot­paths and bridal ways that are still open. They said that although they saw lots of G4S secu­ri­ty, get­ting access to the site was easy. The secu­ri­ty were very inter­est­ed in them and took lots of pho­tos but did­n’t stop them so long as they stuck to the foot­paths.

They parked in the lay-by on the main approach road to the pow­er sta­tion (Point 1 on the map) and then walked along the pub­lic foot­path which starts at a stile imme­di­ate­ly to the left of the main gates to the pow­er sta­tion (Point 2). The foot­path fol­lows the south­ern perime­ter fence of Hink­ley B pow­er sta­tion and then fol­lows a hedge line west to Lang­bor­ough Farm. They said it took about 15 — 20 min­utes to get there. Access is very mud­dy and there are a cou­ple of gates and stiles.

Remem­ber that access to the farm is by Pub­lic Right Of Way, and if any­one tries to obstruct you they will be com­mit­ting an offence under sec­tion 137 of the High­ways Act 1980, pun­ish­able by a fine of up to £1000.There are many paths across the site, but your best bet may be Wick Drove Lane, where there is a lay-by for park­ing. Walk down to the Pow­er Sta­tion entrance then turn left up the pub­lic foot­path.

One of the occu­piers said “We real­ly want you to come and vis­it and  spread the word. We are fight­ing against a cor­rupt plan­ning deci­sion, made at the high­est lev­els, which favours the nuclear cor­po­ra­tions over the demo­c­ra­t­ic process, and we will feel much safer here if we have vis­i­ble sup­port.”

(It’s cold out there so please take warm food, water, any spare tents, blan­kets or bed­ding you may have and any­thing use­ful you can think of when you go!)

If you’ve got time come and stay!

Hinkley Tree Protesters Evicted

8th Feb -

Pro­test­ers occu­py­ing trees at Hink­ley Point in Som­er­set were evict­ed today by police and a 5‑man climb­ing team hired by the French com­pa­ny EDF.   The mature oak wood­land is due to be cleared this month so that pre­lim­i­nary work can begin on build­ing 2 new nuclear reac­tors and a radioac­tive waste dump at the site.

8th Feb -

Pro­test­ers occu­py­ing trees at Hink­ley Point in Som­er­set were evict­ed today by police and a 5‑man climb­ing team hired by the French com­pa­ny EDF.   The mature oak wood­land is due to be cleared this month so that pre­lim­i­nary work can begin on build­ing 2 new nuclear reac­tors and a radioac­tive waste dump at the site.

The evic­tion came around 11am, after the occu­piers had spent a sleep­less night in sub-zero tem­per­a­tures. One of the occu­piers, Michael, said “Secu­ri­ty guards and dog-han­dlers  kept us awake all night with taunts and intim­i­da­tion from bark­ing dogs.” 

 How­ev­er, the occu­piers had been rein­forced by sup­plies  deliv­ered overnight by well-wish­ers from the local area. Can­ning­ton res­i­dent, Roy Pum­frey, vis­it­ed the site three times over the last cou­ple of days, try­ing to deliv­er sup­plies to the pro­test­ers. On his final vis­it to the site this morn­ing, Mr. Pum­frey said ” I have con­cerns about Group 4 Security’s inter­pre­ta­tion of the law and ordi­nary people’s civ­il right’s. Their guard’s told me that I was tres­pass­ing when I was in fact using pub­lic rights of way . “

In the morn­ing a climb­ing  team, with 5 police offi­cers in atten­dance, climbed into the trees and began remov­ing belongs and climb­ing gear, before telling the remain­ing occu­pi­er, Taunton man, David Jesse  that he was tres­pass­ing and would be forcibly removed if he did not come down.  After leav­ing the tree peace­ful­ly, Jesse was searched and then released by police, who warned him that he could have been charged with Aggra­vat­ed Tres­pass, as his pres­ence in the trees was pre­vent­ing the chain­saw crew from going about their law­ful work.

Speak­ing for the South West Against Nuclear net­work, Theo Simon of Shep­ton Mal­let said,  “It appears that EDF have act­ed ruth­less­ly and prob­a­bly ille­gal­ly,   to end a legit­i­mate peace­ful protest.  Clear­ly, if  the cur­rent work is only to clear dead elms as EDF claim, then the pro­test­ers in the oak trees were not in any way pre­vent­ing this work.  In the light of this company’s record how­ev­er, we do not expect them to play clean.  This is a com­pa­ny who last Novem­ber had 2 employ­ees jailed and were fined 500,000 euros (£428,000) in France for spy­ing on anti-nuclear cam­paign­ers.  Aston­ish­ing­ly,  this is a com­pa­ny who have also been giv­en the green light to destroy a beau­ti­ful part of our Som­er­set her­itage, before they have even won plan­ning per­mis­sion for their pro­posed Nuclear project”.

http://southwestagainstnuclear.wordpress.com/