| OIL’S WELL? Cuadrilla’s test drilling in Balcombe has proved less than popular. But the firm won its planning permission with… no debate, no vote and no objections. |
"...Lord
Browne works at the Cabinet Office and is the lead business advisor to
the Government, despite the fact that he is Chairman of Cuadrilla as
well as many many other interests....
|
"AFTER
two weeks of protests in the village of Balcombe, West Sussex,
villagers keep asking themselves: who allowed Cuadrilla to drill on our
doorstep?
Planning
permission for the US firm’s test on the Balcombe estate – owned by
Simon Greenwood, a great grandson of the first Lord Cowdray – was
granted by West Sussex county council (WSCC) in 2010 and expires at the
end of September. If Cuadrilla had waited any longer to start work it
would have had to reapply, and this time round it could have expected
strong opposition to a revised planning application. So why was the
original one waved through? Because almost nobody knew about it.
Shome mishtake, shurely?
The WSCC planning officer wrote to Balcombe parish council in January
2010 drawing attention to the application, saying that if no comments
were received by 18 February “it will be assumed that the parish council
has no objection”. In March, after a reminder, the parish council clerk
confirmed that “the matter was discussed at the last regular meeting”
and there was “no objection”.
Shome mishtake?
There is no record of any “discussion” in the minutes of the Balcombe
parish council meeting in February 2010. The only fleeting reference
comes after a debate on an application for a carport, in a brief
sentence noting that Simon Greenwood, who is a parish councillor,
“mentioned” a recent application at a site off London Road.
Irate fellow-villagers
And, er, that’s it. No debate, no vote and no declaration of interest
from Greenwood, who stood to earn tens of thousands from Cuadrilla. WSCC
then approved the application using delegated powers, rather than
committee, precisely because of the lack of public objection. As the
exploratory drilling begins, Greenwood and parish clerk Richard Greig
have some explaining to do to irate fellow-villagers.
PS: Simon Greenwood’s
mother, Anne, was given Balcombe by the Cowdray estate as a dowry. But
his cousin Lord Cowdray is on the other side of the barricades: he
supports protesters at another West Sussex site, Fernhurst, and recently
revealed that he refused to let Cowdray land in Fernhurst be used for
drilling because of “the environmental impact”.
Another separate point to note: Lord
Browne works at the Cabinet Office and is the lead business advisor to
the Government, despite the fact that he is Chairman of Cuadrilla as
well as many many other interests....
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| the Greenwood family tree |
| Balcombe under siege, Issue 1346 |
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Where is the uproar over this "hate crime?" Why have you not heard about this trial in main stream media?
What’s that you say? You don’t know who Jonathan Foster was?
Jonathan’s badly burned body was soon discovered in a roadside ditch in Houston, not far from where he lived. Nelson admits to dumping the container which held the body—she was caught on film—but makes the ridiculous claim that she was given the container by one of Jonathan’s relatives. Police suspect that Jonathan may not have been her only victim. Houston Police Department Homicide Detective Mike Miller calls Nelson a “cold, soulless murderer who showed an absolute lack of remorse in taking the life of Jonathan Foster.” READ ON..
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