Manchester Ecology

Northern Climate Rush

13-01-2009 13:59

On Monday 12th Jan 2009 between 1830 and 2100, free expression occurred
at terminal three of Manchester International Airport. A protest was held by Climate Rush in a designated zone away from all passengers and prying eyes with a cordon for the press and some police horses.

Approximately one hundred protesters descended decorously to make their
views on airport expansion known. Edwardian dress was the order of the day,and we didn't disappoint. Top hats and tails, corsets, shawls and a street urchin all made an appearance. Read more >>

Manchester Ecology Feature Archive >>

Resistance escalates with Airport 'Green' Light

12-01-2009 13:13

Both Heathrow and Manchester airports were targeted Monday with the domestic departure lounges of both airports simultaneously occupied by protesters. In London over 500 people defied airport bylaws by staging a sit-down dinner forcing airport operator BAA to close 18 check-in desks. In Manchester police used powers under Section 14 of the Public Order Act to contain up to 100 protesters on the ground floor of Terminal 3 and there was one arrest.

The Climate Rush actions were timed to coincide with MPs return to the house of commons with the government expected to announce the decision on the Heathrows airport expansion during week. Meanwhile, Greenpeace revealed that a plot of land within the proposed expansion site had been purchased in an attempt to delay the construction.

Despite media speculation that the announcement would be delayed, by Wednesday nght the media were reporting that the expanision plans have been given the green light. After the official announcement on Thursday, 'climate suffragettes' smashed the windows of the Department of Transport and on Saturday 500 flash mobbed at Heathrows terminal 5.

Two Days of Action Target Climate Criminals

06-02-2007 03:37

Over the weekend of 3-4 Feb 2007, actions up and down the country and beyond targeted dangerous 'greenwash' being desperately pushed by corporations and politicians. The actions came in the wake of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report released on Friday, which warned of world temperature rises of over 6C by the end of the century. The report indicated that a 4 degree rise would mean a 10% loss in global food production due to draught, flooding, water shortages. While the world slowly wakes up to the magnitude of climate chaos, Shell and Exxon Mobil last week announced record breaking profits. With the figures laid out so clearly, the nauseating hypocrisy spouted by corporations and politicians has spurred action from Paris to Aberdeen.

Manchester Ecology Feature Archive >>

Bypass Hard to Swallow

12-02-2006 22:38

On Sunday 5th February, over 40 people gathered on Lumb Lane, Hollingworth, to decorate the trees and hedges overlooking the line of the proposed A628 Mottram-Tintwistle bypass. Longdendale was, until recently, an historic farming community, where ancient customs survived and were respected.

The scheme proposed in 2004 comprises the construction of a 6km by-pass for the villages of Mottram, Hollingworth and Tintwistle, and modifications to the A628 and A616 corridor between Tintwistle and junctions 35a and 36 of the M1. The road building plans, as they stand at the moment, threaten the unique landscape around this area, more specifically the beautiful Longdendale valley, the nature reserve of Swallow's Woods, open moorland, and as some have argued, ultimately the whole of the northern Peak District by laying the groundwork a future major M1/M67 link road.

Protesters meet for Tree Dressing event | Road Alert: New Road Building Proposed for the Peak District

Manchester Ecology Feature Archive >>

Nine Ladies - Protest Not Over Yet

22-06-2005 10:38

"Our protest site must and will continue to exist in order to protect our beautiful hillside" Nine Ladies Protest Site

Last week the High Court gave its verdict regarding the classification of the quarries at Lees Cross and Endcliffe in the Derbyshire Peaks. The quarries are now (or still) officially dormant. However according to the Nine Ladies protest site this does not mean that victory in the fight to protect the woodland and the stone circle has been secured.

Under the ruling the quarries cannot reopen until the peak park have agreed a set of working conditions for them. Stancliffe Stone still have the permission to quarry from 1952, and the peak park still have the power to revoke the permission, or to impose such restrictions that the re opening of the quarries would be financially unviable. So until there is no possibility that Stancliffe can quarry the protest appears set to continue.

Article from the 9 Ladies Collective — nine ladies no real victory.

Previous stories: Marshalls, Hands off 9 Ladies! | Nine Ladies Possession Court Order Obtained | Nine Ladies Under Threat

Manchester Ecology Feature Archive >>

Spodden Valley: Developers Ignore Local Concerns

04-05-2005 18:34

'Dear Deputy Prime Minister, The SPODDEN VALLEY was the birthplace of the asbestos industry. Many people have been poorly or DIED from asbestos. A Planning application has been made to put 600+ homes and a CHILDREN'S NURSERY there. Please could you "call-in" the Spodden Valley plans so that SAFE decisions can be made.' Laura Livsey, age 11

Rochdale. In Rochdale’s Spodden Valley a huge quantity of asbestos may lie buried on the land where the world’s largest asbestos factory once processed the killer fibres. There are no plans to clear up this hazard, but there is a lot of interest in digging up the site. Developers Countryside Properties want to build on it. However, their controversial planning application has been put on hold.

Concern has already been raised about the way large piles of crushed rubble are being disturbed by a JCB digger and driven through Rochdale in open wagons.

Campaigners are now asking that the plans be "called-in" to the ODPM. Meanwhile, in an apparent bid to sabotage the campaign to save Spodden Valley, Countryside Properties have bought up internet domain names that include combinations of the words “save” “spodden” and “valley”.

Corporate Wreckers Trash Woodland

27-10-2004 17:30

A valuable piece of urban woodland, a former millpond in Hebden Bridge, West Yorkshire is under threat from development, ironically as a site for 10 alleged 'eco homes'. On the 19th October security guards and a chainsaw crew descended on the site, owned by a called Green Tops Ltd, in an assault which has been dubbed by locals 'Chainsaw Tuesday'.

Many trees on the site are covered by a tree preservation order. This did not prevent a chainsaw massacre taking place when the developer arrived with tree surgeons and security to take out as many trees as possible to clear the site for development. No planning application has yet been submitted.

Full report and comments

Log Off

18-07-2004 20:48

Early last week activists occupied the Australian Consular Offices in Manchester in a protest against old growth logging in Australia. After seeing the destruction caused by logging in areas such as Victoria and Tasmania activists in the UK decided to target the Australian consulate.

Australia is home to some amazing areas of “old growth” rainforest, which have remained relatively unaltered by humans for thousands of years. Now, it is being felled at an alarming rate, even in supposedly “protected” areas.

In Tasmania, 90% of native forest felled is converted into woodchip for the Asian paper industry. Thus, priceless ancient forest is trashed and sold for $15 (less than £6) per tonne to make cardboard. There are huge campaigns against this logging in Australia, involving direct action blockades, tree-sits, marches and rallies, lobbying, and more.

Report and more information

Manchester Ecology Feature Archive >>

Protestors Convicted Over BP 'Redwash'

31-03-2004 19:14

The two Manchester protesters who covered a British Petroleum stand in fake blood during the 2002 CBI conference in Manchester's G-MEX appeared at the crown court last week charged with criminal damage. Their action addressed BP's greenwash as the company sought profit from catastrophe in the impending Iraq war and the Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan pipelines project. The jury found them not guilty of 4 counts of damaging clothing but could not reach a unanimous verdict on the damage to the stand. Eventually the pair were found guilty of the charge.

The G-MEX incident proved humiliating for security organisers, coming two days after protesters successfully stormed the building. CBI chief Digby Jones told the press that he would ensure the pair received maximum punishment. The conference had been besieged by protests over corporate globalisation, equal pay for women, fire service pay and the Iraq war.

Full story

Manchester Ecology Feature Archive >>

Democracy? It's a Gas!

15-02-2004 12:52

American company Canatxx Gas Storage have submitted an application to Lancashire County Council to store two million tonnes of gas at extremely high pressures under the Wyre Estuary. In a Kafkaesque twist, Wyre Borough Councillors find that they cannot represent the views of the population who elected them.

The plan is to store the gas in caverns in the salt deposits, pumping water down bore holes to dissolve the salt and discharging it into the Irish sea 2.3 km off Rossall school. The gas will be stored in up to twenty caverns each of which will be the size of the London Eye.

According to Thornton Action Group the area is a designated SSSI and damage would be caused to the salt marsh habitat and the bird life on the mud flats. Local councillors have been told by the council they must voice no open support or objection to the proposal prior to the application hearing by Lancashire County Council in March.

Full Story | Thornton Action Group | Wyre Borough Councillors Gagged | Canatxx Scandal

Manchester Ecology Feature Archive >>

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