26 April 2010
Ffos y Fran is one of the largest opencast coal mines in Europe. The local community in Merthyr have led a long-running campaign against it. One day last April we shut down the rail link to nearby Aberthaw power station.
(All cameras were seized by police - instead sketches have been drawn to document the action.)
See you on May 15th!
When: Saturday, 15th May
Meet: 1PM at Oxford Circus
Bring: a zone 1-2 tube pass, noisemakers, your friends & family and your dancing shoes.
Oxford Circus meeting point map
18 People from Bristol and Bath, have been charged under the Malicious Damages Act of 1861 after they blockaded the railtrack which carries coal between the controversial Open cast Mine at Fros y Fran, near Merthyr Tydfil and Aberthaw Power Station on Monday, 26th April.
The 18, who are part of the Rising Tide (UK) Network, were held for over 24 hours, and were only allowed a phone call after 11.00 am yesterday (Tuesday). The house of one of those involved was raided by 8 police officers who spent 3 hours searching their home.
See previous story here.
Today, people involved in the Rising Tide Network have literally puts their necks on the line by chaining themselves to the rails in order to block the rail link to the Ffoss y Fran Open Cast Coal mine near Merthyr Tydfil. They are currently blocking the movement of coal trains from the mine to Aberthaw Power Station.
UPDATE - as 6 people are arrested, a second team lock on under the noses of police.
Guardian article about the action - click here.
PRESS RELEASE
(Action report and photos to follow ASAP)
Bristol and Bath Rising Tide Stop Coal Train – Happening Now !
MASS ACTION CALL OUT
When: Saturday, 15th May
Meet: 1PM at Oxford Circus
Bring: a zone 1-2 tube pass, noisemakers, your friends & family and your dancing shoes. Oxford Circus meeting point map
Shutting down a petrol station for 5 hours on a sunny Saturday afternoon was so much fun we’re going to do it again. Shell’s Hell – in the tar sands and beyond - is next in the firing line.
http://kernowaction.wordpress.com/2010/04/09/bp-shut-down-in-plymouth-over-tar-sands-oil
On Thursday 8 April, Plymouth Rising Tide and Kernow Anarchist Network blockaded the BP garage in Ridgeway, Plymouth, to highlight the environmental destruction caused by the Tar Sands project in Alberta, Canada. The garage was closed for more than 2 hours and two activists who were locked onto petrol pumps were arrested.
Rising Tide-Plymouth & Art Not Oil-Plymouth took the Plymouth city centre streets to bring you the big “Fossil Fools Farce”, a street theatre to remind us there are facts and names behind the Climate drama. Citizens and cops, all they took leaflets and showed their interest...!
The Oil-ympics saw activists from London Rising Tide and the London Tar Sands Network divided into three teams: BP, Shell and RBS, all ready to ‘Race to the Tar Sands’. Traditional winter sports were subverted to illustrate the irony of Canada portraying the Vancouver Winter Olympics as an event which celebrates Canadian indigenous culture and environmental sustainability, while in the neighbouring province of Alberta, Canadian First Nations are finding that their lands, communities and health are being devastated by the Tar Sands.
