Magistrates landed five protesters from Brighton with a bill for more than £10,000 for disrupting work at Britain’s biggest open-cast coal mine.
The five – under the banner of Earth First! and Reclaim the Power – blockaded the mine in Ffos-y-Fran, in South Wales, last month.
And earlier this week they were brought before magistrates in Merthyr Tydfil where all five pleaded guilty to aggravated trespass.
They were
Andrea Brock, 31, doctoral researcher and associate tutor, of The Cliff, Brighton
Crispin “Chris” Field, 22, member of a workers’ co-operative, of Balfour Road, Brighton
Kim Turner, 60, of Firle Road, Brighton
Alice Shipsea, 24, health care assistant, of King’s Road, Brighton
Rick Felgate, 24, of Buller Road, Brighton
They said: “In the early hours of (Friday) 21 April, under the banner of Earth First! and Reclaim the Power, our group of five blockaded the UK’s largest open-cast coal mine to disrupt the ecologically and socially disastrous mining operations of Miller Argent (South Wales) Ltd.
“At 5am, two of us blocked all vehicle access to the mine by using D-locks and an armtube to lock on to the cattle grids at the entrance gate.
“Before long, on-site security became aware of our presence and called the police. Meanwhile, three of us hiked over the surrounding common land and the edge of the mine – sneaking past cows and security personnel.
“We climbed down towards the bottom of the vast hole that Miller Argent’s operations have ripped into the earth to find their 300 tonne hydraulic excavators.
“These are used to extract coal from the mine – five million tonnes of coal have already been extracted from Ffos-y-fran, with another six million to go – 15 to 16 hours a day.
“Following a little exploration of the excavator, we used D-locks to attach ourselves to the machine, got books, earphones, sleeping bags and sandwiches out and prepared for a long day in the pit.
“We were locked on for a total of ten and a half hours, shutting down all coal mining and transport of coal off the site.
“After having been cut out, we were arrested for aggravated trespass, disruption of lawful activity and intimidation of mining personnel.
“Perhaps the most intimidating of us all was one who was dressed as a bright yellow canary.
“Historically, canaries were brought down into underground mines to act as warning signals: the death of the little bird indicated toxic levels of gas and told miners to get out of the pit.
“Similarly, we wanted to highlight the threat that mining poses to neighbouring communities and the global climate – coal mining is causing irreversible damage, particularly to those least responsible, especially in the global south. That’s why the climate crisis is a racist crisis.
“However, coal mining is not only a global issue. It’s also an issue of local air pollution, lack of democracy, accountability and environmental justice.
“For over a decade, campaigners from Residents Against Ffos-y-fran and the United Valleys Action Group have been fighting the mine.
“With the mine only 37 metres from the closest homes in Merthyr Tydfil, they are suffering from pollution, dust, noise and vibration every day.
“In March this year, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Toxics called for a health inquiry into cancer and asthma rates in the communities neighbouring Ffos-y-fran, criticising the lack of government response to local complaints.
“Five hundred local residents have attempted to take court action against the mine but their application was refused by the High Court as they were deemed unable to afford it.
“Ffos-y-fran illustrates the failures of environmental regulation in the UK, the dominance of corporate over human interests and the injustices associated with the system.
“The ongoing ecological and social destruction at Ffos-y-fran mine shows the failure of the current political economic system to deal with the multiple social and ecological crises and illustrates its structural dependence on fossil fuel extraction.
“Corporate fossil fuel interests have become institutionalised as state interests, to be defended at all costs through collaboration between private security personnel, corporations, state forces and police who suppress, co-opt and intimidate resistance.
“The court’s willingness to deter protesters on behalf of Miller Argent by imposing these ridiculously high compensation payments has exemplified this today.
“We need a diversity of tactics and strategies to end coal. In resistance to Ffos-y-fran, local people have fought numerous court battles and a public inquiry – and organised petitions and protests over the last decade, succeeding in having a second mine rejected.
“By disrupting operations and shutting down the mine, we hit the mine operator where it hurts most – in the first two hours of the blockade alone, we have been told, the company allegedly lost £33,000.
“Only through continued direct action, and by opposing all types of destruction, authority and oppression, can we start to build the world we want to see.”
Very good of you to publish the case for the protesters, but how about asking the local residents what they really think of the mining and the protesters deciding to cause this disruption for a perfectly legal operation.
I just wonder why these 5 activists had to travel all the way to Wales for their protest – don’t the Welsh have their own?
And if they are really worried about global coal usage, why didn’t they go to the countries who are the major users – such as China?
But I enjoy the arrogant way they want to impose their views on others via civil disobedience rather than by legal democratic means – I have no sympathy for them nor their childish actions which remind me so much of the Balcombe protests.
Good point! What gives these people the right to disrupt other peoples lives. If they are that keen on having no energy they should bugger off and live naked in a cold dark cave somewhere out of normal, law abiding peoples way!
@Gerald Wiley. There is a very strong group fighting against this mine, made up of the people who live down wind of it. Here’s what someone from the local community said recently about the mine.
Hilda Williams, whose house Yglwyd overlooks Nant Llesg, said, “Those of us who live here see the black coal dust outside every day – we are breathing this in constantly. Add to that the dangerous invisible pollutants from the power stations, and it’s clear this industry is toxic for local communities, in Wales and globally. I stand in solidarity with global communities affected by UK coal-fired power – RWE must stop sourcing coal from Wales, and must not subject other communities to these impacts.”
Residents have used all the legally available courses of action, the United Nations can see the problem with this huge opencast coal mine, and the electricity generated supplies Southern England.
As @lilac comments – what do your councillors and your MP think about the situation? Why don’t they support your cause? Why do you need to get some obscure UN “Special rapporteur” involved?
Your concern about the dangers of coal for energy production, but the UK has done a lot to improve the situation with 21st April being the first day that no coal was used for electricity generation. This country has done a lot to migrate to gas, oil, biofuel, solar, and and nuclear. What sort of energy generation would you like to see close to Nant Llesg?
If your campaign is actually about the world stopping use of coal then perhaps you should do more to support the global situation rather than getting a group of publicity seeking anti-carbon activists from Brighton involved. If coal usage was stopped then the surface mining would not be needed and the restoring of the area to parkland could be brought forward.
If it is just the black coal dust that they are concerned about then that is another matter, but then why confuse the matter with spurious talk of trying to change the world. How bad is the dust situation and what have local health experts said about the observed levels?
Mrs Thatcher certainly took the lead in this sort of anti coal eco action, and so I assume these 5 will be voting Conservative in the upcoming election? Or does there inability to get the job done properly mean they’ll be voting Green.
I thought that until I just Googled it and what they say is true, the locals have stopped a second mine citing increased cancer rates and they are supported by the UN The mining company involved doesn’t seem to care about residents health. Developers are even putting up a new housing estate by it.
An interesting article at http://www.bbc.co.uk.edgesuite.net/news/uk-wales-39195066
This shows more of the history of the site, of protests since the scheme started, and how the Welsh Government is looking at air quality.
Of course these activists have a bigger agenda and always look for any chance to cause trouble and gain publicity for their causes.
@Gerald Wiley thanks for that interesting link, it answered a lot of my questions. And I tend to agree with you, but I struggle to understand politicians’ motives and agendas even though my instinct is to distrust them. Politicians tend to treat us like idiots and fail to explain their cases with depth and clarity. The noise and air pollution and higher children’s cancer rates are on a different scale of importance than the politically correct cliché issues, and should not be mixed up. I would be very curious about what the activists’ bigger agenda is, as these things are always made as clear as mud.
The funding for the local community should be met by legal aid, no one can defend themselves against a company making £16500 per hour
Thank goodness we have people willing to put themselves on the line for the greater good. Direct action is a proud British tradition against powerful interests.
Without direct action, we would all be paying the poll tax, no votes for women and we would have the rights and living standards of the average North Korean!
Climate change has not been sufficiently fashionable for years for the national media to cover in any depth. Sadly, direct action is often required to bring to the public’s attention, that fossil fuel emissions continue to be a major issue for generations to come.
It, of course, depends on whether you believe on the cause that those taking direct action are fighting for.
For some, such as myself, I was in favor of the introduction of poll tax by the democratically elected government, as I believed it more closely related the payments to the number of people living in a house and using local resource, and the move back to a council tax (aka rates) was wrong.
I also strongly believe in the value of fracking and that the misleading scaremongering used by those against it is wrong.
I also have no support for your folk hero, Tom (Big Lemon) Druitt, sitting in trees protesting about them bein cut down, nor him effectively using public money to finance move anti-fracking protesters around the country to cause even move civil disobedience.
I just hope these 5 go for a little trip to North Korea to take direct action on them burning coal and building nuclear weapons.
I want to know what the local residents feel, how their lives are affected. Mixing up their valid health and safety concerns with “climate change” and the other politically correct cliché issues might not be helping their very valid case and might be harming it.
I think if you stood in North St 24/7 you might end up with a severe lung disease but these people chose to go to Wales.Surely the local community could do something about it if they had the willpower why leave it to others to protest on their behalf.
Isn’t that their MP’s job? MP’s have a lot of power. As somebody said, ordinary people are powerless against big wealthy organisations, but a bunch of “climate change” campaigners…. just doesn’t feel like it is the most helpful thing for them, they have real and urgent grievances.