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Lake protesters lose court battle
Protesters have lost their latest fight against a ban on demonstrations over dumping of power station ash at Thrupp Lake.
A court order banning on-site protests against the plans to fill Thrupp Lake with spent fuel ash from Didcot Power Station will stay in place following a hearing at the High Court yesterday.
RWE npower, which owns the lake, secured an emergency injunction in February banning protesters from picketing, setting up camp or taking photographs of workers at the site after complaining of squatters in a house by the lake.
This week, they took the case to the High Court in London to ask Mr Justice Teare to extend and vary the court order.
Although the judge said he would not give a formal judgment until a later date, he indicated that he would grant a continuation of some form of banning order.
His decision to delay the formal ruling, to allow protesters' and npower's legal teams to agree the exact wording of the order, means the terms of the original injunction will remain in place, at least for the time-being.
Speaking after the hearing, Didcot A Power Station manager, John Rainford said: "Whilst it is a shame to have to go down this route, we are pleased with the outcome.
"This is the second High Court judge to agree an injunction is needed to protect our people from harassment, the site from trespass and our lawful work from disruption.
"We will now discuss one or two details with the protesters' legal team and look forward to a formal ruling, hopefully in the next week or so."
Tim Lawson-Cruttenden, representing the electricity giants, had earlier argued that an order was necessary to protect staff and contractors from being "harassed" and obstructed in their work.
He asked for amendments to be made to the original injunction to limit the geographical scope of the order and to allow photography and filming around the lake, as long as it did not identify workers.
However, his proposed order would still ban the protesters from entering onto the land.
Stephanie Harrison, appearing for the protesters, argued the site had long been used by the local community as recreational land and that no one should be banned from going there.
She also argued that the wording of the proposed order could have the effect of making it applicable to almost anyone in the community, effectively banning them from the site.
4:31pm Wednesday 18th April 2007
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CommentPosted by: M Jones on 7:50pm Wed 18 Apr 07
It is very worrying that the law can be used in this way. npower has provided no evidence that its staff are at any risk from Save Radley Lakes, yet are clearly determined to keep bullying local opposition until they get their way. Ironically, NPower's website pompously states:
[italic]"We are proud of our work in the community" [/italic]Sorry Mr Rainford, I don't think your treatment of this particular community is anything to be proud of at all.
It is very worrying that the law can be used in this way. npower has provided no evidence that its staff are at any risk from Save Radley Lakes, yet are clearly determined to keep bullying local opposition until they get their way. Ironically, NPower's website pompously states:
"We are proud of our work in the community" Sorry Mr Rainford, I don't think your treatment of this particular community is anything to be proud of at all.
Posted by: Lakesaver on 10:05pm Wed 18 Apr 07
Who said we have lost - the Injunction has had an extension for a further hearing. NPower failed to disclose to the Court that there was a pending Town Green Application - such is the contempt they hold the people of Radley and Abingdon - I think that they ought to be prosecuted for contempt of court for witholding information. Their evidence comprised of pages from the Radley Lakes Website and the Radley Parish Website, trying to make out that we were all in league with a few people who took the opportunity to squat at Sandles and that their poor security guards were threatened by us. They have tried to use the law to stifle legitimate protest whilst they themselves see fit to ignore the law when they cut down hundreds of trees without permission.
They also reproduced photographs from the Radley Lakes and Radley Parish Websites without first obtaining permission. This is a breach of copyright = another example of their arrogance!
Who said we have lost - the Injunction has had an extension for a further hearing. NPower failed to disclose to the Court that there was a pending Town Green Application - such is the contempt they hold the people of Radley and Abingdon - I think that they ought to be prosecuted for contempt of court for witholding information. Their evidence comprised of pages from the Radley Lakes Website and the Radley Parish Website, trying to make out that we were all in league with a few people who took the opportunity to squat at Sandles and that their poor security guards were threatened by us. They have tried to use the law to stifle legitimate protest whilst they themselves see fit to ignore the law when they cut down hundreds of trees without permission.
They also reproduced photographs from the Radley Lakes and Radley Parish Websites without first obtaining permission. This is a breach of copyright = another example of their arrogance!
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