Archive
Activists temporarily halt work
On Tuesday 5th July activists from the Telford no new coal (aka Defend Huntington Lane) protest site halted early morning operations by storming the open cast mine. Two protesters dead locked on to heavy plant machinery, disrupting the destruction caused by them. Activists have been on the site for 15 months and are awaiting eviction papers. The camp is situated in what would be the road between the current mine site to another, and in an area of natural beauty
First Birthday & Gathering
The protest camp at Huntington Lane is now a year old and will be having a gathering from the 25-28 February. The camp was set up after it was discovered that UK Coal had started work by clearing part of the forest. In October the actual mining work began on the southern part of the site.
The weekend gathering will include skill-sharing, site skills, action and defense building, information sharing and networking with activists from other campaigns.
For more information go to the camps website http://defendhuntingtonlane.wordpress.com/
Huntington Lane Site A “Eviction”
At around 8:30am Wednesday 13th the National Eviction Team with police backup arrived on Site A to find the tree houses unoccupied. Site A is where work on the mine will start. The tree houses have now been removed and branches lopped off the trees so they can’t go back up.
The main Huntington Lane camp is located between Site A and Site B on what will become a link road between the two sites. Although there were tree houses on Site A it was never really seriously defended hence the Eviction team finding them empty. It has however proved to be an effective early warning system as the main camp is now on full alert as it prepares for eviction. For anyone waiting for the eviction call out, this is it. As many people as possible are needed to help defend the site.
Protesters have been threatened with arrest should they trespass upon Site A. An eviction notice is yet to be served but this chain of events would appear to suggest its imminent arrival. Heavy machinery is now on site and breaking ground. We would encourage any concerned individuals to pay a visit to camp whether it be to stay on, help out with defenses, leave a donation or lend their moral support.
Please call 07503 583419 for info or to get involved.
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2010/10/465751.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-shropshire-11532708
The best way to keep up to date with latest news is by checking the Huntington lane blog
UK Coal set to “dry mine” Huntington Lane
As part of the original agreement UK Coal were supposed to wash the coal to dampen it which prevents too much dust from being produced. Severn Trent the local water supplier are now saying that the local pipeline won’t provide enough pressure for UK Coal to use as well as local residents. They will therefore have to pay for a new pipeline, however as we reported earlier UK Coal are massively in debt and cannot afford extra expenses like this. They decided instead that they will “dry mine” Huntington Lane, going against the original terms of the agreement. Dry mining will cause a lot more dust to be created and could have a negative impact on the health of local residents. It also raises concerns over other promises UK Coal have made such as restoring the mine after they have finished.
