Solidarity With Stop Hinkley

Submitted by Toadministrator on Sun, 01/02/2011 - 14:54

12 September 2010

Stop Hinkley

We joined a group of local campaigners in Bridgewater who blocked the Hinkley Point main gates for almost an hour this lunch-time as they demonstrated against the premature destruction of upto 435 acres of open land and wildlife habitats before major consents are approved for the two giant reactors proposed by EdF.

Solidarity with Stop Hinkley

Image (c) 2010 D. Viesnik

A large group of campaigners, together with local residents including children, held banners and placards in front of Hinkley Point, preventing any traffic movements. The Hinkley main gates were forced to shut from 11.45 to 12.45pm and no traffic entered or left during that time. Some of the protestors wore face paint images of sunflowers, the Stop Hinkley logo and anti-nuclear signs. Others dressed as nuclear 'boffins' and with a loudhailer led a march through the ear-marked greenfield site.

The 'nuclear boffins' highlighted badger setts which had been cemented over or had been covered with metal grills, beautiful old woodlands and individual trees destined to be bulldozed and they walked down some of the scores of sunken lanes criss-crossing the fields lined by ancient hedgerows brimming with wildlife.

At the coast the tour-guides showed where the so-called 'temporary' jetty will be built over the 200 million year old fossil-filled rocky beach.

At the beach destination of the march, one campaigner read aloud a poem on the need to respect nature and its part in global ecology.

Crispin Aubrey, spokesman for Stop Hinkley who marshalled the demonstration, said: "There is obvious strong feeling against destroying this beautiful area. Despite being close to the existing power stations there are large expanses of beauty and tranquility. It's wrong for EdF to jump the gun by trashing the area such a long time before it receives major consents for the two reactors."

The protest was part of a two day action Weekend by Stop Hinkley. Yesterday a series of talks and workshops took place in Bridgwater for campaigners around the region.


Image (c) 2010 D. Viesnik
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