Press Release: Igas told ‘if you return, we’ll be back here’ as rig is taken down at Barton Moss

Site 12 janThe much delayed test drilling by Igas at Barton Moss has come to an end and the rig is coming down ready to be removed from the site.

Frack Free Greater Manchester hopes that the continued presence of a protest camp at Barton Moss since November 2013, the three large rallies in opposition to the drilling at the site and the UK’s largest ever march against fracking in Manchester City Centre on 9th March 2014 has convinced Igas that they have no social license to frack in Greater Manchester.

Barton Moss Protection camp and local supporters will continue with the daily ‘slow walks’ in front of the Igas vehicles in order to delay the movement of the rig to a new site.

Sasha Conway, one of the Protectors who camped through the winter at Barton Moss said “This has been a long and hard first part of this campaign. If Igas return, we will be back here.”

Martin Porter of Frack Free Greater Manchester said “Our message to Igas is good riddance and don’t come back. The daily slow walks have delayed Igas’s operation by up to a month, and during that time public opinion on fracking has gone from 43% in favour (1) to 73% against (2) and their share price has collapsed wiping £80 million off the value of the company (3)

This shows that direct action is effective both on a practical and a political level and also that the more people know about fracking the more they fear it. I don’t know where this rig is going next, but I do know that when it gets there it will find exactly the same opposition it found on Barton Moss. Igas have no social license to frack here or anywhere.”

ENDS

1. BBC poll on fracking 3 December 2013

2. Manchester Evening News poll 6 March 2014

3. Igas share price 160p on 18/01/2014 and 121p today

4 comments

1 ping

Skip to comment form

    • Bernard Cromarty on March 30, 2014 at 21:00
    • Reply

    On the face of it, this seems a very welcome result. Let’s hope that’s an end to it.

    A pity Greater Manchester Police were shown in such a poor light, though. More than a few bad apples, it would appear.

    • Pamela on March 31, 2014 at 06:54
    • Reply

    Unfortunately they will probably turning up next at the proposed Davyhulme site? I just hope the amazing Protectors who have braved the awful Winter at Barton Moss and the constant bullying, aggressive GMP will be prepared to do it all again.

  1. Yes, make sure you object to Davyhulme before 10th April.

    https://frackfreegtrmanchester.org.uk/object-to-igas-site-in-davyhulme-before-10th-april-template-letter/

    • Alison Ball on March 31, 2014 at 08:17
    • Reply

    Thank you to everybody involved in protecting against this atrocity. Alison X

  1. […] the UK. On the 13th it was a Happy Monday as Bez joined the Protectors for the daily slow walk and IGas operations finally finished at the end of the month and FFGM helped return the site to it’s original state, minus the weeds and the trees that […]

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.