This website is not being kept up to date at the moment, due to restraints on WAF member’s time. So you can keep up to date on developments in this area by coming to our monthly meetings https://wirralagainstfracking.wordpress.com/get-involved/come-to-our-meetings/
& by looking at the following links…
Facebook –
https://www.facebook.com/Wirral-Against-Fracking-1416358148644082/
https://www.facebook.com/Frack-Free-Dee-Coalition-212828988927545/
https://www.facebook.com/frackoffuk/
Websites –
Calling residents of The Wirral, Liverpool, Cheshire, and North Wales… Lets make Sunday 11th October a National NO UCG UK day,
Please come to this event if you are not able to travel to Scotland for big ‘Hands Over Our Forth’ Event (where they are attempting to gather enough people to hold hands in solidarity against UCG over the Forth Bridge)
https://www.facebook.com/events/1642166826064509/
This Northwest event is held in support and solidarity with the big event in Scotland, we will walk across the sand to Hilbre Island, where we too will hold hands to show our community united against UCG.
We hope for a good turn out and a great aerial photo.
Bring your homemade banners / signs!
Be great if you named your town on the sign e.g. ‘Frack Free Moreton’
This a family day out, so bring the kids and buckets & Spades are encouraged for fun when we get there!
Dogs are welcome on a lead.
Bring yourself food & drinks.
Tell your work mates & neighbours!
We plan to gather at West Kirby Marine lake at 12.30, and the walk will be leaving at 1pm.
We will be going whatever the weather!
Please dress for all weathers & wear boots or wellies.
This is a day to appreciate our beautiful Dee and appreciate that we all need to stand together to protect our amazing home from the short sightedness of this unnecessary industry.
12.30 – Gather together at West Kirby Marine Lake, near to the beach, opposite Morrisons. There is a large public car par there too. There will be music by local musicians and an opportunity to collect information and socalise.
1pm – Photo opportunity with your banners and signs, so we can send our picture to the Scottish event to show our solidarity.
1pm / 1.30 – We depart for the islands.
On arrival we will assemble for our picture out on the sands of the Dee. Our group will stay a while to enjoy the peace and natural beauty of this area. You can stay as long as you wish, but we advise you either leave with the group or at a time to ensure you are back before 5pm.
Read the finer details of todays victory here…
It’s not what takes place within the walls of council buildings or in the house of commons that will decide the future of the UK fracking industry
– It’s about the strength and visibility of our collective opposition.
It’s about our communities vs the industry.
Regardless of the decisions made – it will be about whether the industry can afford to go through nation-wide ultra visible, organised resistance.
Read why these applications are such a big deal here: http://frack-off.org.uk/lancashire-fracking-showdown-the-b…/
All UK applications and licences: http://frack-off.org.uk/extreme-energy-fullscreen/
See all UK community groups here: http://frack-off.org.uk/local-group-specific-pages/
New UK fracking licensing threat: http://frack-off.org.uk/frackers-close-to-getting-their-ha…/
Help us inform the communities on the other side of The Dee about the plans to build an experimental Underground Coal Gasification plant between Northwest Wales & the Wirral.
CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE
A license has been granted to allow a controversial method to extract gas from the coal bed deep under the Dee estuary.
The Point of Ayr License covers 6,953 Hectares of the Dee estuary, and was sold to Cluff Natural Resources Ltd, to allow the experimental process of Underground Coal Gasification (UCG).
There are major concerns around the safety of UCG, and is often one of the three controversial techniques referred to in the media as ‘Fracking’.
UCG is a process that is still at an experimental stage. It is an attempt at reaching the coal that is inaccessible by conventional methods. Bore holes are drilled into the coal bed, deep underground, and the coal is set alight.
Once the combustion has started, the fire is starved of oxygen in order to produce a mixture of gases, Syngas, which is extracted for processing at the surface. Also a wide variety of toxic hydrocarbons are produced, of particular concern are the known carcinogenic Benzene, Toluene and Phenols.
UCG is still an experimental process, small trials have been done in Turkey, Hungary, South Africa, USA & Australia aiming to prove its commercial viability. A number of publicised failures have followed, with contamination of ground water from Benzene, Toluene and Phenols, in one USA report groundwater was still polluted 20 years after the trial.
In 2010 Cougar Energy’s demonstration plant in Kingaroy, Australia was shut down after just 5 days when an independent scientific panel detected benzene and toluene in groundwater, as well as in the fat of grazing cattle. Benzene concentrations in groundwater were 45 times the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines.
As the UCG process is studied it becomes apparent that there are many points where it is unclear that the toxic by-products can be reliably contained and the local population’s health and safety may not be adequately protected.
Now the UCG industry brings its trails to the UK, and the Dee estuary and so the people living near by and the unique environment of the area is under threat by the potential risks.
Over on the Wirral concerned residents have formed the community group Wirral Against Fracking (WAF) and have been campaigning for the last 12 months to raise public awareness of the plans for UCG in The Dee.
There are over ten anti-fracking community groups formed across Merseyside, Cheshire and North Wales and together they have formed a coalition group called Frack Free Dee (FFD), to pool their resources in order to oppose the fracking industry.
Members of FFD are gravely concerned about the lack of public knowledge in Flintshire and Denbighshire about the real risks of UCG and are holding two public awareness meetings for the communities local to the Point of Ayr licence.
There will be a factual presentation of the UCG industry and the risks laid out with references and evidence from the trials elsewhere. Then the opportunity for the audience to ask questions.
FFD hope to provide the local residents of this area access to information so they can make their own informed decision on if they want UCG to take place in their own Welsh Coastal communities.
Find the FFD Information stall on
BANK HOL MONDAY 4th May, at Llanasa Village Car boot, Flintshire, CH8 9NF.
The Public Awareness Events are –
Wed 13th May (7.30pm start) – Old Tavern Inn, Coast Road, Mostyn, CH8 9DX.
Thurs 21st May (7.30pm start) – Prestatyn Constitutional Club, 15 Eden Ave, Prestatyn, LL19 9DL.
https://wirralagainstfracking.wordpress.com/
http://www.cluffnaturalresources.com/images/DeeEstuary.jpg
http://www.abc.net.au/…/linc-energy-alleged-to-have…/6323982
Our wafwirral@aol.com email address has been hacked & lost.
WAF new email address is protectwirral@aol.com
If there is ever a problem in the future you can also message us via
Cheers, WAF Admin
WAF’s monthly meeting is on tonight, 7pm...
Please note the venue change!
MONTE CARLO HOYLAKE
22-24 Market Street,
Hoylake, Wirral, CH47 2AE
Come to get together & share information on the present situation on The Wirral & UK.
Looking forward to seeing everyone!
The election is just weeks away. With MP candidates going all out to win our votes, this is a huge opportunity to push fracking up the political agenda.
Can you ask your local candidates to promise to oppose fracking if they’re elected? Click the link and enter your postcode to get started:
https://secure.greenpeace.org.uk/fracking-election
David Cameron’s plan to force fracking on us has already faced a huge political backlash. Dozens of influential politicians have spoken out against his reckless dash for shale gas. And in Scotland and Wales, ministers have blocked the industry from drilling.
But the bans in Scotland and Wales are only temporary. And in the rest of the UK, anything could happen after the general election. These next few weeks could make all the difference. If we can persuade hundreds of election candidates to declare opposition to fracking in their constituencies, it could spark a chain reaction — triggering hundreds more to take a stand too.
See who’s promised to oppose fracking, and ask your MP candidates to get involved.
Whoever’s running the country after May will have it in their power to set the UK on a different path. Instead of locking us into risky fracking, they could choose glorious green renewable energy. They could lead the way to a future where people’s health and the needs of our planet are put before the profits of the fossil fuel industry.
Let’s keep the pressure on to make it happen, so please share this!
PS. Here is an interactive map to show which local election candidates have promised to oppose fracking. Follow this link to visit the map and ask your candidate MPs to oppose fracking if they’re electedhttps://secure.greenpeace.org.uk/fracking-election
Linc Energy’s Queensland (Australia) Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) test-plant has been found to have poisoned workers, contaminated ground-water with cancer-causing chemicals and illegally released toxic gases into the atmosphere.
See footage here…
http://www.abc.net.au/…/linc-energy-alleged-to-have…/6323982
Don’t wait until you can see the UCG rig in The Dee or Liverpool Bay…
Start getting involved in your local community group now & help spread that word… THIS IS WHAT THEY HAVE PLANNED FOR HERE, VERY SOON…
…BUT TOGETHER WE CAN WAKE UP OUR COMMUNITY AND OPPOSE IT…
…BEFORE IT STARTS.
What is UCG?!
The UK is set to be a global guinea-pig for Underground Coal Gasification (UCG)
( that’s a process that invlove setting fire to coal underground to make synthetic gas.)
Have a read of this new UCG fact Sheet. It’s a very good place to start!
Download the high-res PDF here: http://frack-off.org.uk/…/UndergroundCoalGasificationFactsh…
We would love to see you tonight at our next meeting
Time – 7pm
Venue – Vanilla (Upstairs), 6 Market St, HOYLAKE, Wirral, CH47 2AE
(5mins walk from Hoylake Train Station)
Plans to generate electricity from the world’s first series of tidal lagoons have just been unveiled in the UK.
Please watch the short BBC video report –
The six lagoons – four in Wales and one each in Somerset and Cumbria – will capture incoming and outgoing tides behind giant sea walls, and use the weight of the water to power turbines.
Mr Davey told BBC News: “I can’t make a decision on this yet because discussions are ongoing. But I’m very excited by the prospect of tidal power.
“We have got some of the biggest tidal ranges in the world and it would be really useful if we could harness some of that clean energy.”
See more …. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-31682529
Wirral Against Fracking 
