Fracking Gets Closer

It is 24 June 2018.

Activists decide to take further action against the attempts of IGas Energy Company to frack at Tinker Lane, Retford, so they establish Tinker Lane Protectors Camp.

Tinker Lane protectors welcome anyone passionate about their cause to join them at the camp.

Tinker Lane protectors welcome anyone passionate about their cause to join them at the camp.

Over a dozen people live there today. Some are experienced in protesting, while others have joined just recently and are very new to activism.

Yet, they all call themselves not ‘protestors’, but ‘protectors’.

Having given up on the comfort of their homes, they fight to protect the land and the people in their community and beyond from the horrendous impact of fracking.

Tinker Lane Fracking Site

Pink protectors VS IGas

It is now 22 November.

IGas have delivered the main drilling rig at Tinker Lane the week before and resistance is getting stronger than ever.

To brighten up the gloomy day, protestors are bringing in some colour by getting ‘pinker at Tinker’ Lane gates.

Organised by women passionate about anti-fracking, the protest is open to anyone and enjoys support from passers-by.

However, just about 15 activists are at the site today. Many camp protectors are not allowed to join, as they have recently been arrested for taking direct action.

But regular faces are also to be seen.

Handmade banners and placards in pink decorated the Tinker Lane site gates on the day.

Tinker Lane protectors are not only people either - pets are also supportive of their owners' cause.

Tina English, grandma of two from Halfway, Sheffield, visits the site at least twice every week.

“The vast majority of people don’t want fracking being developed here. It is very destructive and proven to cause so many issues,” says Tina.

“To stop fracking people take direct action and do things they wouldn’t normally do. This proves how much it actually affects them.”

Deborah Gibson, 63, activist from Harthill Against Fracking, travelled 30 miles to participate in the protest. She knows how it feels to be arrested for a cause you are passionate about.

“It was quite shocking,” tells Deborah. “But in such circumstances I absolutely take on board that I have every right to be doing this.

“I wear this belief like armour to maintain as much dignity as possible. This is what gets me through. The fury comes later.”

Deborah herself got arrested a few months earlier when protesting at the fracking site near her home in Harthill. Only refusing to move from the gates got her taken to the cells by a police officer.

“He wasn’t nice about it,” she said. “I ended up covered in bruises and my dog was so frightened she pissed herself.

“But we have seen this everywhere - they are targeting people for absolutely nothing, starting all nicely, then they become much less nice, and then - distinctly unnice.”

After retirement Tina has devoted her time to the two things she is most passionate about - her grandchildren and the anti-fracking movement.

From a personally affected NIMBY, Deborah has grown to be a passionate anti-fracking activist.

Why is it happening?

What are the benefits of fracking?

Although the cause of anti-fracking activists’ has been backed up by many recent researches, communities have also had undebatable benefits from fracking.

As well as being very profitable for the industry, it has proven its efficiency in providing energy security which makes it an attractive opportunity both for private companies and the government.

At the moment fracking is being used successfully in the United States and other countries where the positive impacts include increase in economic activity and employment and contributing to the country’s energy needs.

From environmental perspective, in comparison with other fossil fuel extraction methods, fracking exhales less carbon dioxide emissions and therefore results in reduced air pollution.

On this side of the pond, the government and the energy industry promise fracking for shale gas to have similar beneficial effects on the UK.

Greenlight has been given to test fracks but its local long-term impact is yet to be seen.

In and around South Yorkshire

Fracking and some concerns

Locally, targeted arrests and everyday protests happen not only at Tinker Lane.

South Yorkshire and its surrounding counties are currently the biggest fracking battlefield in the country.

Sheffield single mum and anti-fracking campaigner Jenny Gerrans says the land we walk on can be drilled any time, as 95 per cent of South Yorkshire is licensed for fracking.

In the region, licenses have been ‘split’ between two companies - Ineos Chemicals and IGas Energy.

Ineos are currently fighting for further planning permissions to drill at Common Lane, Harthill, and Dinnington Road, Woodsetts, in Rotherham Borough, and Marsh Lane, Eckington, North-East Derbyshire.

As well as at Tinker Lane, an IGas fracking site can be found at Springs Road, Misson, Nottinghamshire.

Protestors are particularly unhappy about the actions and motives of Ineos, who own about 60 per cent of all licensed land in the UK. Activists say the company are only fracking to feed their own plastic production but not for the good of the country.

Jenny also believes investment could be spent on more sustainable energy if the industry wasn’t driven by its aim for profit. She said:

“They talk about fracking as a bridge to green energy, but we don’t have time for this anymore. We need a green revolution, and we need it yesterday.

“Instead, they could put their money into something which could save our planet.”