ABOUT 1,000 protesters, among them trade unionists from Greater Manchester, marched on Sunday to the I-Gas site at Barton Moss, Salford, to demonstrate their opposition to extraction both of coal bed methane and shale gas. Fracking has unacceptable environmental impacts and Governmental and company bribes to local communities will prove of no avail as community opposition intensifies.
On this issue of government fracking 'bribes' to local councils Barbara Keeley, MP for Worsley and Eccles South, which includes the Barton Moss site that is a focus of these fracking protests, told the Guardian:
'To me, it [100% business rates] muddies the water to give councils two contradictory roles. One is a protective role, to check companies have safeguards. On the other hand, you have a cash strapped authority that's lost £100m off its budget, like ours, that gets offered this cash incentive in business rates. The public involved in this, who live near the site, how can they trust the local council will make the right decision on this?'
Report by Barry Woodling
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