{"id":31680,"date":"2016-02-19T21:06:04","date_gmt":"2016-02-19T10:06:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nofibs.com.au\/?p=31680"},"modified":"2019-04-13T23:54:17","modified_gmt":"2019-04-13T13:54:17","slug":"lessons-from-the-fracking-front-line-how-persistence-amateur-detective-work-and-business-analysis-skills-helped-an-environmental-david-take-on-a-corporate-goliath-and-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.nofibs.com.au\/lessons-from-the-fracking-front-line-how-persistence-amateur-detective-work-and-business-analysis-skills-helped-an-environmental-david-take-on-a-corporate-goliath-and-win\/","title":{"rendered":"Lessons from the Fracking Front Line \u2013 How #protectgloucester beat AGL by @coolmccool"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Relief

Relief comes to Gloucester, NSW, as AGL pulls its CSG plans<\/p><\/div>\n

Earlier this month AGL announced that it was pulling out of the beautiful Gloucester valley in NSW and ceasing its controversial CSG (coal seam gas) operations. Although AGL maintained that it had made the decision on purely economic grounds, local environmentalists claim otherwise. The community involved in the anti-CSG campaign gathered recently in Gloucester to celebrate a momentous victory, and to reflect on their success. Many people said they had mixed emotions, as they recalled a long and bitter struggle, from the early days of the campaign when things looked desperately bleak, through disappointments, set-backs, and periods of despair when their carefully documented concerns were simply ignored by the official corporate and political channels. Now the fight was over and the \u2018Gloucester Protectors\u2019 as they had called themselves, had won.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me and for many people \u2013 we\u2019ve had a sigh of relief,\u201d admitted Gary Lyford, a local G.P. \u201cIt\u2019s such a wonderful thing, like a Wizard of Oz scenario. The witch is dead.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like a dark cloud has been lifted,\u201d commented Roger, a retired schoolteacher, who had helped organize a protest camp close to the CSG well sites. He attributed the success of the campaign down to Groundswell Gloucester, a well-organized community group, who had worked on many fronts to oppose AGL\u2019s plans.<\/p>\n

Ed, a local farmer, whose land was close to some of the proposed gasfields, had helped to provide facilities for the protest camp. Ed was sure that people-power and persistence had turned the tide. \u201cOne person couldn\u2019t have done this on their own, that\u2019s for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Rod , another stalwart supporter of the protest, the solidarity of the community was the most important factor. \u201cWe had a wide range of people with so many skills. Awesome. The good the bad and the ugly. All of us. A true community. And what a story \u2013 somebody should write a book.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Knitting

Knitting Nannas from Queensland came to support the Gloucester Protectors<\/p><\/div>\n

These were folks that would be hard to pigeon-hole as \u201cextreme greenies\u201d, a rainbow coalition of grandmothers, farmers, health professionals, pensioners, and concerned local citizens. There were also people from downstream of the Gloucester area, who worried that their precious water supplies were in danger from the toxic chemicals used in CSG operations. All expressed relief that AGL was finally giving up and moving out, and all were in agreement that it was because of community opposition and a collective effort.<\/p>\n