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Our meeting last week has certainly given a kick start to opposition to fracking and coal bed methane extraction in Cheshire West! The front page of the Chester Chronicle is given over to the issue - http://www.chesterchronicle.co.uk/ - andcovers our meeting in some detail (without mentioning Left Unity) while a companion article features opposition from Paula Dixon, headmistress of Upton High School, near which exploratory drilling is taking place.

The council meanwhile has been forced onto the back foot. In the Chronicle they deny 'cheerleading' for fracking - untrue: Tory Council leader Mike Jones is on record as supporting it, as is his party nationally - while on the front page of the Leader -http://www.chesterfirst.co.uk/ - the council denies having received any planning applications for 'fracking' around Chester.

This last denial needs careful treatment. It is strictly true that there have been no applications involving the particular technique of fracking around Chester. There have however been a slew of applications for exploratory drilling and two licences granted - in Ellesmere Port - for the equally environmentally destructive techniques involved in coal bed methane extraction. The process of opening up the whole of Cheshire West to these 'extreme energy' techniques is well under way.

The next stage agreed at the meeting was to get together and produce a general leaflet explaining the dangers of all these techniques and, armed with this, to build a broad based campaign - especially in Ellesmere Port - against the threat posed by all these techniques, which will at best make a few oil companies rich, while leaving the rest of us to pay the price in compromised water supplies and other environmental damage.

GOOD START FOR ANTI-FRACKING CAMPAIGN

Twenty-seven people CAME TO our open meeting to start a local anti-fracking campaign on Thursday 23rd January, twenty-eight if you count the local press - excellent turnout and a good, productive meeting.

This a vital local issue with eight exploration licences already issued and two sites (Ince Marshes and North Road, Ellesmere Port) already approved for coal bed methane production. The meeting heard from:
- a local farmer concerned about drilling below his land (which he is legally powerless to stop)
- a geologist who explained that the porous sandstone below most of Cheshire, source of much of our water, made the area entirely unsuitable for these methods of extraction
- an accountant who detailed how Dart Energy, the main local concessionaire, conducted its operations through shell companies with very little capital, which could easily be made bankrupt in the event of any environmental liabilities arising, with no loss to the parent company
- a Barton Moss campaigner about the ongoing fight there and how to build the campaign
and a wide range of other local voices, all in agreement in opposing the oil industry's spoliation of our environment.

The meeting agreed to prepare a detailed leaflet for mass local distribution, dealing with all the arguments around fracking and coal bed methane - including the bogus economic arguments promising jobs and cheap fuel whereas the truth is it will mean bonanza for a few and environmental disaster for the rest of us. We challenged Dart Energy and the local council,who are cheerleading and covering up for Dart Energy, to debate these issues openly instead of making secret deals.

However we expect a long hard fight given the financial interests involved and the support of government and the council (and Labour's silence on the issue). So it was good to have pledges of support from the Green Party and Socialist Students. Watch this space for further developments, which will included a dedicated webpage and Facebook presence.

NO FRACKING - OPEN MEETING THURSDAY 23RD JANUARY

Left Unity is a new party, a socialist, environmentalist and feminist party, for everyone who wants to fight the coalition government's neo-liberal attacks but is appalled by Labour's adaptation to them. We are trying to establish a radically democratic, activist, campaigning organisation in Chester and Cheshire West.

For our first action we have invited Left Unity founding member Stephen Hall to lead the discussion and organisation at an Open Meeting to decide how we can stop the use of fracking and similar dangerous, polluting and futile techniques in our area. Stephen Hall has played a leading role in the militant and effective actions taking place against fracking at Barton Moss, west of Manchester.

Cheshire West is  a prime target for companies wanting to use fracking and other extreme energy recovery methods because we live over old coal beds stretching from Ellesmere Port down to Wrexham. Extensive test drilling has already begun. Stephen Hall explains that: 

Gas companies like iGas, Cuadrilla & Dart Energy only need a piece of land the size of a football pitch to potentially start exploratory drilling, and if they find what they're after, to begin fracking near you. It needn't be in a field and could even be at an old factory site. Don't say you haven't been warned!

The meeting is on Thursday 23rd January, at 7pm, in the Quaker Meeting House, Frodsham Streeet, Chester. It is an open meeting for anyone who wants to oppose fracking, whether or not you sympathise with Left Unity - the Green Party have been invited to join the meeting as well - with the sole aim of getting a local anti-fracking campaign started. Please come of you can.

WATCH THIS SPACE FOR FURTHER LEFT UNITY ACTIVITIES OF FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK AT https://www.facebook.com/LeftUnityCheshireWest.

LEAFLET FOR THIS MEETING NOW AVAILABLE TO DOWNLOAD AND PRINT AT:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vUqh3OZO1GK7lmi8QIbdr7-SQaGOz28jsgOg-cOxu9U/edit?usp=sharing

(pdf)