March 18th, 2012 | | No Comments

 

What Can You Do?

Below are a list of suggested Actions for you to take. In many cases we provide links to documents for you to copy and paste. However, it is always preferable to personalise any letter/email, etc as much as possible as it is more likely to get noticed.

Following the list of actions, you can find Resources that will help you conduct your own research. Amongst other resources, this section contains a number of important health-related research papers.

A list of other UK and Irish Anti-fracking groups is available below the Resources section.

 

 Boots on the ground count – please come along to Preston New Road

We need a daily presence at the Preston New Road site. Numbers matter. The police cannot cope with large numbers and your presence will make an impact. Protectors behave in a peaceful lawful fashion. You will be safe – you won’t be asked to do anything – your presence is all that is required.

 

Come and visit or help out at the Preston New Road Community Action Hub

The Community Hub is located at Maple Farm on Preston New Road, PR4 3PE. The Hub is a safe family friendly space, offering hot food, toilets, information, merchandise, events and training. It’s a place where you can get involved with your community. It is also the place to visit if you wish to find out more about fracking. If you can offer some time, we are always looking for people to help out in the kitchen, assist with gardening and help in the general running of the Hub.

Solidarity Saturdays 10.00 am – 2.00 pm – chat with your neighbours over tea and cake, and find out about fracking.

Directions: By car – the Hub is located on the main road – A585, at Maple Farm (a Nursery), about a 5-8 minute walk from the fracking site. Please use PR4 3PE in your SatNav. Free parking is available at the Farm.

Public transport – number 61 bus from Preston, Blackpool or Kirkham and Wesham railway station. Please get off at the Maple Farm stop.

Lend us your talents!

Are you able to help us in any way? We are always looking for people who have legal knowledge; design skills for creating leaflets, posters, brochures, etc; printing facilities; delivering leaflets; etc. If you can help please contact us at

 

to RAFF RAFF spends a lot of time applying for funding from various bodies. Our costs include hiring rooms/halls for meetings, printing leaflets, posters and brochures, travel to events and meetings, etc. If you would like to support our campaign you can via the Co-operative bank – Sort Code . .

 

 In October 2016 Sajid David,  the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, announced that the Preston New Road appeal had been overturned for both monitoring and exploration; at the same time, Roseacre was refused for exploratory development but not for monitoring. However, the Secretary of State is reserving himself on the entire judgement for Roseacre pending further information from Cuadrilla on highways. More details are available here.  A Crowdfunder has been set up under the Frack Free Lancashire umbrella with any going to both groups. You can  here. Thank you.

 

 

Join our list of Businesses Against Fracking

Hundreds of Lancashire-based businesses, community groups, and trade union groups wrote to Lancashire County Councillors to call on the council to reject plans for fracking and support clean energy alternatives. This list is growing daily. If you are a business and are against fracking please do contact us and we will add your business to our list

Display a poster in your window or garden

Frack Free Lancashire posters are a wonderful way of showing solidarity with the anti-fracking movement. If you would like to display a poster please get in touch and we’ll arrange delivery. Mail us at

 

 

Current Actions

 

*  Keep an eye on our Events page and join us in our legal peaceful actions

*  Short-term action following news that Secretary of State has gone against the wishes of Lancashire County Council and overturned their decision Write to Fylde MP Mark Menzies about his stance on localism.and the fact that democracy has been overturned.

*  Write to your MP and tell them why you think fracking is a bad idea. The website www.writetothem.com provides details of all MPs, how they voted, what they have spoken on and other information.

*  Find your local anti-fracking group.  Each of the campaign groups regularly hold events in their town centres to raise public awareness about fracking. Why not go along and help them? If there isn’t a local group in your area and you would like to start one, please contact us ()  and we and we will help you sent one up.

* Make visible protests. Put up posters and other anti-fracking signs. We can supply Frack Free Lancashire A4 posters to put up in windows, car stickers, pin badges, etc.

*   Keep an Eye on Reclaim the Power for news of upcoming national events and actions, petitions atc. Better still, add your name to their mailing list so you won’t miss anything. This organisation has provided unlimited support for Lancashire, especially since drilling began at Preston New Road in 2017

 

 *  Contact us () if you would like us to hold a balanced meeting in your village/church hall, etc. We can usually accept invitations at relatively short notice. Maybe you’d like to set up an anti-fracking group in your area. We have helped lots of such groups and are more than happy to offer help and advice, based on our own experience. Please also get in touch if you have time to spare for delivering leaflets about upcoming events, etc.

 

Resources

 Friends of the Earth

Friends of the Earth offer a Stop Fracking Action Pack, which is a  1-stop shop of information about fracking and top tips on how to stop it near you. ​It builds on the learning of the vibrant anti-fracking movement that has successfully kept fracking out of the UK for years.

Frack Off provides access to a large number of campaign materials (leaflets etc); films; reports; and more.

 

Fracking Myths and Facts

Frack Free Ryedale have created a series of Fracking Myth & Facts. We’ve all heard that the dash for gas will create thousands of jobs, will make us energy independent and that the price of gas will drop, etc. Many of the claims by advocates of fracking do not stand up to scrutiny and can be clearly shown to be untrue.

Here are 10 of the most common myths about fracking and reasons why the aren’t true. To check any the information provided, please click on the links within the text to go to the original source material.

 

MYTH #1: “FRACKING WILL PROVIDE ENERGY SECURITY FOR THE UK.”

MYTH #2: “FRACKING WILL LOWER UK ENERGY PRICES.”

MYTH #3 “FRACKING HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR DECADES.”

MYTH #4: “FRACKING POSES NO RISK TO PUBLIC HEALTH.”

MYTH #5: “THE UK HAS GOLD STANDARD FRACKING REGULATIONS.”

MYTH #6: “FRACKING WILL NOT AFFECT HOUSE PRICES.”

MYTH #7: “FRACKING HAS NEVER CONTAMINATED DRINKING WATER.”

MYTH #8: “FRACKING IS A BRIDGE FUEL TO A LOW-CARBON ECONOMY.”

MYTH #9: “A FRACKED WELL CAN PRODUCE GAS FOR OVER 20 YEARS.”

MYTH #10: “FRACKING WILL CREATE OVER 64,000 JOBS.”

You can also download a FRACKING MYTHS AND FACTS leaflet by clicking on the link below. Please feel free to print it out and give to people next time they tell you one of these myths!

FRACKING MYTHS LEAFLET PRINTABLE VERSION

 

Start asking questions!

Do your own research and learn about what’s happening. There is lots of well sourced information on the Internet – here are a few links to get you started:

General

• This map shows which areas have a Petroleum & Development Exploration Licence (PEDL)
• Ecological survey company Arbtech has created an infographic about fracking called ‘Cracking the Fracking – Everything You Need To Know’. It’s ideal for understanding the extraction process, history, environmental concerns and more.  Click here to download it
• Drill or Drop is an excellent and very current resource that provides independent evidence-based reporting of the exploitation of onshore oil and gas and the campaign against it
• Talk Fracking is a great site for keeping up to date with UK fracking news
• Friends of the Earth and Greenpeace both provide information and resources, petitions and other useful material
• is an 18 minutes length film and is a great, short introduction to fracking
• describes  first hand the devastating consequences of hydraulic fracturing in her town of Rosebud, Alberta, Canada. Jessica was a guest of RAFF and spoke at one of our public meetings
• A from Environmental Consultant Paul Mobbs reveals the facts about hydraulic fracking in Britain
• The Sky is Pink by film maker Josh Fox looks at many issues, including PR efforts to distract the public from the real threats that fracking poses to drinking water and health. You can watch it
• Marcellus Shale Protest is an information clearing house about Marcellus Shale gas drilling and activism and related issues. It’s a US-based site, but many of the issues discussed are relevant to UK shale gas extraction.
• is a 27 minute film that looks at evidence from the USA, Canada, Australia and Lancashire  that fracking  can cause earthquakes, and pollutes the air and water supply, causing public health concerns
• Watch the programme broadcast in January 2014. It discusses the environmental implications of fracking, in particular, the disposal of radioactive waste
• A balanced overview of what fracking will mean for the Fylde was published in The Guardian on 15 January 2015

Regulations

• This is an excellent document from Friends of the Earth  – All that glitters… Is the regulation of unconventional gas and oil exploration in England really ‘gold standard’?  It looks at unconventional gas extraction in the UK and discusses the lack of adequate regulations
• Download independent engineer Mike Hill’s Presentation on Regulations (or lack of them) and his  Response to DECC (Department of Energy & Climate Change) report on earthquakes in Fylde caused by fracking. You can also hear him give a presentation on the lack of regulations on . Use the information to help you compile letters, emails, etc to DECC, Fylde Borough Council, Lancashire County Council, MPs and the Government.

Health  aspects

• Research shows  that there is an increased risk of hospitalisation for people living close to fracking sites. See this paper from PLOS and another from the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
• MEDACT represents health professionals who aim to educate, analyse and campaign for global health on issues related to conflict, poverty and the environment. In March 2015 it published Health & Fracking: the impacts & opportunity costs, which concludes that hydraulic fracturing for shale gas poses significant risks to public health and calls for an immediate moratorium to allow time for a full and comprehensive health and environmental impact assessment (HIA) to be completed.  In December 2014 a MEDACT letter was sent to Lancashire County Councillors, claiming that the potential health impacts of exposures to chemical and radioactive pollutants from shale gas extraction, produced by Public Health England, was inadequate and incomplete and arrived at an erroneous, unsubstantiated and misleading conclusion. The latest report supersedes this letter.
• Breast Cancer UK has concerns about the potentially adverse health effects of increased exposure to harmful chemicals that may occur as a result of its use and has issued Breast Cancer UK Fact Sheet: Fracking
• At the end of 2014, New York State banned fracking due to health concerns. The decision was based on two papers.  A new working paper analysis from the energy science organisation, PSE Healthy Energy covers a wide range of outcomes. A second new document is the release of a major update to the Compendium of scientific, medical and media findings from Concerned Health Professionals of New York. The Compendium can be downloaded here
• Shale gas regulation in the UK and health implications of fracking, Mike Hill, The Lancet, 20 June 2014
• Human health risk assessment of air emissions from development of unconventional natural gas resources, Lisa M. McKenzie, Roxana Z. Witter, Lee S. Newman, John L. Adgate. Science of the Total Environment
• List of the Harmed  is an ever-growing list of the individuals and families that have allegedly been harmed by fracking (or fracked gas and oil production) in Pennsylvania,  USA
• Dr Mariann Lloyd-Smith is  Senior Advisor to the National Toxics Network in Australia and to IPEN, an international public interest NGO, She has toured and spoken extensively on the environmental and health impacts of fracking. Here she is to an audience in Dublin in May 2013

 

Academia

• Frackademia is the study of the relationships between academia, the fossil fuels industry and public agencies. Many university departments and academics are sponsored by energy companies – their reserach is not independent. This report, Frackademics – how the fracking industry and their PR machine have infiltrated the academic community, provides research that shows that the fracking industry and their PR machine have infiltrated the academic community and skewed the scientific arguments in favour of shale gas.

Economic factors

• Many financial institutions have warned that only a fraction of the world’s known fossil fuel reserves can be safely burned and that the remainder could plummet in value, posing huge risks to investors. These include the World Bank, Bank of England, HSBC, Goldman Sachs, and Standard & Poor’s.
• The fall in oil prices is curbing the established USA shale industry and will have a knock on effect on the nascent UK shale sector

 

 

Other UK & Ireland anti-fracking groups

New groups are springing up all the time. Find a group near you and get involved. All groups are looking for volunteers to deliver leaflets, raise awareness, fund raise, etc. If there isn’t a group in your area, then why not start one? Get in touch with us and we’ll help you get established.

National

Anti-fracking Network  BIFF (Britian and Ireland Frack Free)  British Anti-Fracking Action Network  Conservatives Against Fracking
Druids Against Fracking  Expats support Anti-Fracking in the UK 
Frack Free Families Frack Off(UK) website
Fracking Hell (UK) is a busy  Fracking Nightmare  Gardeners Against Fracking Forever Mothers Against Fracking No Fracking UK Students Against Fracking 
The Warrior’s Call – 

North West England

 

Frack Free North West  FRACK OFF! North West against Fracking 

Cheshire and North Wales:

Anti Fracking Warrington  Cheshire and Wirral Action on Fracking – CAWAF   Congleton and Macclesfield Against Fracking  Elton,Ince,Helsby and Frodsham local Fracking info!  Frack Free Dee  Frack Free Deeside  Frack Free East Cheshire  Frack Free Farndon (West Cheshire and Chester)  Frack Free Malpas  Frack Free Mickle Trafford (Chester)  Frack Free Upton (Chester)  I’m Against Fracking at Ince Marshes 

Lancashire:

Bowland Fracking Forum  Bury Against Fracking  Defend Lytham  Fleetwood Folk Say No Fracking (FFS No Fracking)  Frack Free Blackpool  Frack Free Burnley  Frack Free Creators – Knitting Nannas Lancashire  Frack Off Elswick   Frack Free Freck (Freckleton)    Website
Frack Free Fylde    Website
Frack Free Kirkham and Wesham   Frack Free Lancashire   Frack Free Lancashire – The Campaign  Frack Free Pendle   Frack Off Rossendale   Frack Free Skelmersdale Website
Garstang Against Fracking  
HAF – Halsall Against Fracking Email: Hyndburn anti fracking group   Inskip Against Fracking   Keep East Lancashire Frack Free KELFF  Lancaster Against Fracking   Lancaster Fights Fracking   Longridge Against Fracking   Preston Frack Off  Preston New Road Action Group (Westby, Little Plumpton, Gt Plumpton) Website  RAFF – Residents Action on Fylde Fracking    Website
Ramsbottom Against Fracking   REAF – Ribble Estuary Against Fracking     Website
Refracktion     Website
Roseacre Awareness Group  Website   Singleton Against a Fracked Environment (SAFE)
Thornton Unites against Fylde Fracking – TUFF 
Westby With Plumptons Frack-Free Community (See Preston New Road Action Group)

FOE (Lancashire)

Central Lancashire Friends of the Earth Website 
Hyndburn & Ribble Valley Friends of the Earth Website
North Lancashire Friends of the Earth Website
Ormskirk & District Friends of the Earth Website

Greater Manchester:

Barton Moss and Beyond  Barton Moss Community Protection Camp  Barton Moss Community Protection Camp Wishlist  Bolton Against Fracking 
Frack Free Chorlton 
Frack Free Greater Manchester Website
Frack Free Levenshulme 
Frack Free Salford & Manchester  Frack Free Stockport  Frack Free Tameside  Website
Frack Free Walkden Website Frack Free Wigan, Leigh and Makerfield  IGas Barton Moss Drilling Site  Irlam and Cadishead Frack Free  Keep the Fracking Hell out of Rochdale  Say No to Fracking on Barton Moss Facebook Group

North, North East and Yorkshire

North East Extreme Energy Awareness 

Cleveland:

Frack Free Cleveland 

Tyne & Wear:

Frack Free Tyne & Wear  

Yorkshire:

The Battle for Crawberry Hill  Crawberry Hill Community Protection Camp 
East Yorkshire Frack Free  Frack Free Doncaster  Frack Free Harrogate and Knaresborough  Frack Free Hebden Bridge 
FRACK FREE HULL & HOLDERNESS  Frack Free Leeds  Frack Free North Yorkshire  Frack Free Scarborough  Frack Free Skipton and Craven  Frack Free (S. Yorks) Facebook Group Website  Frack Free York – Our Clean Energy Future  Hull & East Yorkshire Against Fracking  Keep your fracking hands off Calderdale (West Yorks) 

Birmingham and Midlands

Say no to Fracking Shrewsbury,Oswestry,Wrexham and Chester 

Birmingham:

Gasfield Free Birmingham 

Derbyshire:

Frack Free Derbyshire  Frack Free Glossop 

Lincolnshire:

Frack Free Lincolnshire 

Nottinghamshire:

Bassetlaw Against Fracking  Daneshill Community Protection Camp Website
Frack Free Nottinghamshire   

Shropshire:

Shropshire Anti-Fracking – Expect Resistance (SAFER) – Frack Off! 

Staffordshire:

Gas Free Stoke  No3Nooks Gas  Tamworth Against Fracking 

Warwickshire:

Gasfield Free Leamington  Gasfield Free Rugby 

 West and South West

Devon:

Frack Free Devon 

Dorset:

Frack Free Dorset  Protect Swanage and the Isle of Purbeck Website
Protect our Purbecks  

Gloucestershire:

Frack Free Five Valleys (Gloucestershire) 

Herefordshire:

Ban Fracking in Herefordshire

Somerset:

Bruton Gasfield Free Community  FAB – Fracking Awareness Backwell (Somerset)  Frack Free Bristol  Frack Free Chew Valley (Somerset)  Frack Free Somerset Website
Frack Free Yeovil and surrounding areas  Gas Field Free Mendip Website  Get the Frack out of The Mendips 

Wiltshire:

KWIFF – Keep Wiltshire Frack Free p

London, East and South East

East Anglia:

Frack Free East Anglia 

Essex:

Frack Free Essex 

Kent:

Frack Free Darenth Valley  Frack Free Sandwich  No Fracking in East Kent  No Fracking in Shepherdswell 

Hampshire:

Frack Free Solent Web site 
Solent Fracking Awareness  Southampton Fracking Awareness 

Isle of Wight:

Frack Free Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight – Fight Against Fracking! 

London:

Frack Off London

Oxfordshire:

Oxon Against Fracking 

Surrey:

Frack Free Surrey 

Sussex:

Balcombe and Beyond  Brighton Action Against Fracking  Chichester Anti-fracking Forum  Frack Free Arun  Frack Free Balcombe Website
Frack Free Billingshurst  Frack Free FRow (Forest Row)  Frack Free Horsham and District  Frack Free Markwells Wood (near Havant – Hampshire border)  Frack Free Sussex   Frack Free Sussex Food Alliance  Gas Drilling in Balcombe Website
Gasfield Free Sussex Website  Horsham Against Fracking  Keep Kirdford and Wisborough ‘Green’.  No Drilling  SEER – Sussex Extreme Energy Resistance  Sussex Hampshire Awareness Fracking Trust  S.H.A.F.T.  Wealden Against Fracking  Worthing Against Fracking p

Channel Islands:

No Fracking Jersey 

Wales

Anti-fracking West and Mid-Wales 
Frack Free Llantrisant Website  Frack Free Newport  Frack (UCG) Free Swansea Frack Free Wales   Frack Off Llanelli  Keep your Fracking Hands off Neath Port Talbot  Llantrithyd Villagers Against Fracking Website  N.E. Wales Anti-Fracking Network  S.A.F.E. Swansea Against Fracked Energy  Say No to Fracking in South Wales  The Vale says NO! (Glamorgan) 

 Ireland

Ballinlea Residents Group / Protect our North Coast (Antrim) Website
Belfast not for $hale Website
Carrick Against Fracking  Fermanagh Fracking Awareness Network (FFAN) Website
Frack Free Kerry  Fracking Free Clare  Fracking Free Ireland Website
NO FRACKING IRELAND  No Fracking Leitrim  No Fracking Northern Ireland  No Fracking Sligo  No Fracking Tyrone p
North West Network Against Fracking (Ireland)  Rathlin Bay Residents Say no to Fracking (Antrim) Website
Stop Fracking Fermanagh e

Scotland

FAUG – Forth valley Against Unconventional Gas Website  Frack Free Forth Valley  Frack Off Glasgow  Frack Off Peeblesshire  Frack Off Scotland  

 

Underground Coal Gasification (UCG)

There are a few groups dedicated to fighting Underground Coal Gasification (UCG)

No UCG Warks  (Warwickshire)  Wirral Residents’ Underground Coal Gasification Awareness  Wirral & Cheshire Awareness Group on UCG, Fracking & CBM 

 

Come and join us!

RAFF holds regular meetings to educate and update residents on the current situation and to spread the message. See our Events page for details.