4.08.2008
Campaigners battling plans for an open cast mine on the edge of Telford today unfurled banners across one of Shropshire’s busiest roads. Members of Wrekin Stop War and Wrekin Anarchist Group are bidding to catch the attention of motorists travelling on the M54 past Telford and are calling for them to join their protests.
Banners were dropped from the bridge crossing the motorway at Arleston reading “Coal: Leave It in the Ground”, referring to UK Coal’s proposals to create an open cast mine in the New Works area near the Ercall.
Elsewhere, banners proclaiming Telford as “Birthplace of Industry/Womb of Climate Change” were hung from bridges crossing the motorway at the Ercall and Castle Farm Interchange.
—
It was a difficult decision for us this year as we all wanted to be at Kingsnorth but thought the week of the Climate Camp was a good time to campaign on the threat of open-cast locally.
As some of our collective also felt uneasy about the emissions generated by those travelling to the Kent, they decided to stay at home and take local direct action, whilst others are on site at Kingsnorth and fighting the good fight with the West Midlands neighbourhood.
This action was the first of a number we have planned for the week of Climate Camp and hope that others will be up on Indymedia soon. The banner drop certainly generated a lot of local interest and, along with the wider issue of climate change, has been discussed at length on local web forums. Unfortunately, some of these discussions have become a bit bogged down with discussions over the nature of anarchy but hey ho, it’s brought a variety of issues into a local forum that might not otherwise have been discussed!
For anyone not familiar with the area, ‘Birthplace of Industry’ is Telford’s tourist slogan (yes, that’s right, they use this to attract people to the town!) Ironbridge (in Telford) is seen as the home of the Industrial Revolution (although there is some debate in this regard) and has been designated a World Heritage Site. This is despite the fact that Wrekin, a nearby hill and forest (part of the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) would be a far more attractive symbol for our borough.
The proposed open-cast site is in the New Works area, which adjoins the Ercall (the Wrekin’s sister hill). This is an area of ancient woodland with a huge diversity of plant and animal life, as well as ancient burial sites.
Some of our collective recently took part in direct action on open-cast in Wales and we have recently made contact with a group in Derbyshire too.
Please make contact with us if you can offer support, advice and solidarity for our campaigns.
admin@wrekinstopwar.org
wag@riseup.net
http://www.wrekinstopwar.org