8/14/2019 FFS Survey
1/8
Overview
Any land based design would begin with a survey - that
is gathering all of the site i nformation, drawing a base
map and interviewing users of the land to learn their
needs and desires. For this non land-based design the
survey process is just as important. Surveying work
that I have undertaken has included:
* Researching What is fracking?
* Collating data relevant to Somerset* Researching the potential risks if fracking was
actualised in Somerset
* Undertaking a campaign design questionnaire
* Researching resistance to fracking in general to look
at patterns of effective organising and points of
leverage
Gathering Information
The whole technological process of fracking was new to me understanding the technical language has been a
challenge and communicating this to others even more so. Fortunately there are many useful
resources developed by campaign groups and scientists concerned about fracking.
In order to observe the potential points of intervention, it was necessary to illustrate the process. As is seen in the
diagrams below which show how fracking itself works. The ow chart titled How the process works illustrates the
steps to gain permission to frack in a UK context.
SURVEY
Frack Free Somerset Campaign Design
8/14/2019 FFS Survey
2/8
Overview
After surveying and researching fracking as a process,
the second survey task was to explore how fracking
could affect Somerset. This involved:
* Looking at the Petroleum Exploration and
Development Licenses and which areas they cover in
the county.
* Contacting the local environment agency and talkingto a local water consultant, who provided the map
below showing areas of groundwater protection in
Somerset.
* Listening to the head of Bath & North East Somerset
Council deliver a presentation about fracking and the
risks to Bath. This allowed me to l earn of the local
economic importance of Bath to the South Wests
regional economy and the ecological fragiliy of Baths
hot springs, which themselves are a natural fracture.
* Researching local geology to understand the fossil
fuel interests in the county and also to help identify
which areas may be most likely areas for planning
applications in the near future.
On the following page there is a map of the licenses
covering Somerset. It is worth noting however that the
next series of PEDL licenses due to be sold by the
Government cover the whole of Somerset as well as
Bristol and other parts of the South West.
* A further research task was to look at the companies
that wish to prot from these operations in Somerset.
Geology
0
1
2
3km
Making Bath & North East Somerset an even better place to live, work & visit
These include:
- UK Methane own PEDL licenses 226, 227 and 228.
This covers Keynsham, Midsomer Norton, Peasedown
and Chew Magna. They are partnered with Adamo
Energy, the UK branch of Eden Energy, an Australian
multinational.
- Fairfax Shelfco 320 Ltd own PEDL 225, covering
Wells, Shepton Mallet and Bruton. This appears to be
a front company for Reservoir Resources, who were
bought out by American Energy Development (AED) in
March.
Frack Free Somerset Campaign Design
SURVEY
8/14/2019 FFS Survey
3/8
Overview
For companies to
be able to frack,
three things need to
be in place:
1. The Government
needs to sell a
PEDL license
(PetroleumExploration and
Development
License) to the
company (s)
wishing to frack.
2. The land needs
to be leased by a
public or private
landowner.
3. The council have
to award planning
permission.
In Somerset four
PEDL licenses
have already beengranted, which can
be seen in the map
to the right. Towns
they cover include:
Keynsham,
Whitchurch,
Saltford, Chew
Magna, Pensford,
Marksbury, Clutton,
West Harptree,
Chewton Mendip,
Midsomer Norton,
Radstock,
Shepton Mallet,
Wells, Wookey,
Pilton and
Evercreech.
This area also
includes a large
number of villages,
farms and water
catchments for
several areas,
including the city of
Bristol.
Frack Free Somerset Campaign Design
SURVEY
8/14/2019 FFS Survey
4/8
Overview
In land-based designs, a main element at the start of
the process is the client interview. In order to gain
information about fracking, I conducted a design
questionnaire with National Group, Frack Off, who are
one of the leading groups organising against fracking
and extreme energy in the UK.
Please note opinions expressed of an individual
nature from the interviewee, which may not havegroup consensus are italicised.
What do you want? What are your goals?
To raise awareness of shale gas and all forms of
extreme energy in the UK.
To prevent the development of unconventional gas &
all forms of extreme energy in the UK. This includes
shale gas, coal bed methane (which both require
fracking) and underground coal gasication.
To stop these forms of energy from ever starting and to
not continue testing in the UK.
To use the imminent threat of unconventional gas
development as a gateway to raising awareness about
peak oil & the unsustainable nature of the global
economic system.
Who has the power to meet these demands?
The fracking process needs three things to be in place
- the Government needs to sell a PEDL license, the
land needs to be leased by a public or private
landowner, and thirdly the council have to award
planning permission.
Technically the Government has the power to not sell
licenses, which are managed by the DECC and the
Coal Authority manage the off shore assets. Howeverthis is extremely unlikely!
The councils have the ability to reject planning
permission in response to complaints from their
constituents & for technical reasons. Examples of this
being a successful tactic include:
- Vale of Glamorgan where the local water company
couldnt guarantee water wouldnt be totally safe (this
is under appeal).
- South Lanarkshire - Planning application rejected in
response to hundreds of letters of complaint (this was
just from concern of individuals, there was no
organised letter writing local campaign).
Companies in themselves have the power to withdraw,this would only happen with concerted pressure from
regular people. They can be challenged economically
and psychologically.
Water companies also have the power to not sell water
resources to companies, however are torn between
consumers and customers - fracking is a large
potential customer, and this is a nancial decision.
What do they need to hear?
Companies will need to hear and witness widespread
local resistance. However this can often mean that
as an activity, fracking will be re-located to where it is
tactically advantageous (areas with little resistance or
local resources).
Therefore companies will need to either be stopped by
legislation or be driven out of business/ understand it is
not a nancially benecial descision to frack.
Examples of these include:
Economic pressure
- Lock the Gate campaign in Austraila, have a large
grassroots campaigns with regular blockades and the
company have literally left. They were legally ready to
go but physically prevented.
- In Canada, resistance from local groups & indigenous
peoples, with rolling regular blockades, effectively sent
Shell packing.
Economically, investors of companies would needto hear from their own kind that this was not a wise
economic decision. This is a challenge when there are
major spokespersons for the industry, for example Lord
Browne.
Legal pressure
- France has outlawed fracking. However they do not
have similar natural resources as the UK or the US and
have a larger nuclear program.
- Bulgaria has outlawed fracking for cultural reasons
e.g. aesthetics, a different relationship to the land.
Councils need to hear concern & dissent. They have a
fear of not being re-elected and therefore at such large
numbers it would be foolish for them to not listen to
constituents.
The Government also fears non re-election and local
MPs may feel more vulnerable in areas where fracking
is widely contested.
Who do they need to hear it from?
Councils - need to hear from constituents, but they also
need to witness it kicking off all over the country, to
understand the effects of local resistance.
Companies - need to see it all e.g. local campaigns,
direct actions. The idea of a coordinated, widespread
and relentless campaign is intimidating.
Investors also need to witness the picture of
resistance, ideally in the mainstream media as it shits
up investors & therefore the company.
The Government do need to hear what voters think in
their concern for re-election. They also have little idea
about what fracking actually involves and therefore
have to listen to information from contacts they trust
e.g. boys club, industry leaders and so forth.
How should we present ourselves to the public and
powerholders?
A well networked campaign of genuine grassroots
resistance alongside a convinced mainstream media &
activist network.
We want to be portrayed as - a coming together of
radical environmentalists & regular people who have
their landbases threatened. Threatened vulnerable
local people & powerful privileged people (e.g.
activists) - we need both.
Feel it is important to have identication as radical to
inspire some radical activity.
What resources do we have?
Frack Off
- popular website
- email accounts
- Fracking is a hot topic of interest.
- Good skill bank: web developer, experienced
organisers, research skills, public speakers, graphic
design, DA skills, writing
Financial
- Capacity to access funding.
- Now capacity to take donations via website.
Human resources:
- 10ish in size. 4ish full timers.
- Relatively experienced activists
- US economist available
- Independent energy consultant available
- Inhouse web developer
What resources do we have as a movement?
* Opportunities for lots of local campaigns due to the
vast area of land that fracking would cover - a massive
amount of people who will be local & very near sites.
* The UK used to have one of europes most visible
environmental movements e.g. climate camp.
* Radical organisers in the UK:
- Have knowledge of effective ways to take action
- Experience of using media
- Passion
- DA skills
- General organising abilities
* Local people
- All groups will have different resources & skills e.g.
some with masses of campaign experience, others
with none
- Will be connected to effected community
What are our weaknesses that we need to
strengthen? What are our limiting factors?
Frack Off
- Main limiting factors are time & energy which involve:
- Feeling of time & energy being wasted
- Lack of space to pause & reect about this
energy usage
- Not having fully formed discussions about
where time & energy goes
- Group communication & personality clashes
which may lead to bad decisions about where to put
energy e.g. teach in event
Frack Free Somerset Campaign Design
DESIGN QUESTIONNAIRE
8/14/2019 FFS Survey
5/8
What has been going well?
- We have been producing high quality research &
commentary pieces
- Local groups are launching all over & we are
supporting them
- People know we exist
- We are more in tune with situation on the ground in
the UK
- There is lots of energy for taking things forward - Got
a good infrastructure in place
- Funding opportunities are in the pipeline
What has been challenging?
- Making new resources for each event/things are
being lost e.g. yers, printing
- Presentation material isnt stored in accessible place,
having to re-do work
- Basic stuff can be hard to nd
- To sustain intensity of campaigning that we started off
with
- Would like to have done more stuff e.g. on the groundactions
What are your long term goals & visions?
For this question, Frack Off returned to some original
strategy documents which were formulated at the
beginning of the campaign:
Four overarching general aims:
- To disrupt and dismantle power structures
- To empower & equip communities to create a society
without exploitation
- To halt the destruction of the natural world
- Something about consciousness, responsibility &
changing the system in your head
They identied ve strategy areas and a short term
(ST), medium term (MT) and long term (LT) for each
area.
1. Building groups: ST = to catalyse the formation of
local groups. MT = to support & train those groups. LT=
to provide those groups with the skills to be sustainable
& autonomous
2. Awareness raising: ST = just about fracking. MT =
extreme energy. LT = total system
What are our weaknesses that we need to
strengthen? What are our limiting factors? Cont.
- Doesnt feel like the man hours are available to
escalate the campaign e.g. not enough people for each
job in terms of fullling ambitions
- For example opportunities are presented constantly
which cannot be fullled due to people based
limitations e.g. organising events, speaking requests,
participating in actions
*Radical organisers- Not enough of them! Many people are already
embedded in lots of other campaigns. Many are yet to
be convinced that fracking is a campaign worth
committing some time to. There have not yet been
many sexy opportunities to not get stuck in e.g.
blockades, DAs
- Many are still not aware of fracking & its potential
affects
*Local people
- May have other commitments e.g. work, family
- May not have campaigning experience
- May fear contestation as controversial issues could
threaten existing relationships within community e.g.
loosing their own privilege, local reputations, positions
of power & the need to be neutral and so forth
- Many are starting from scratch in building local
networks & groups
- Group processes e.g. communication, decision
making
- Lack of support e.g. from other groups, nancially
- Majority of people dont know what fracking/extreme
energy is.
What is your niche? What role do you play that
others cannot or will not?
We exist in peoples minds as a national group with
all knowledge/information. However in reality we are
not actually a national group. We are the best known
anti-fracking group and are currently the only peopletalking about extreme energy in UK.
What is your role in movement building (the wider
ecosystem)?
One of our main aims is to catalyse local group
formation & support them to the point in which they can
be sustainable & autonomous. Tangibly this
commonly means supporting a local to do a public
meeting & support the setting up of a DIY local group.
How can we tell if the campaign & our efforts are
working? How can we evaluate and measure our
progress?
Some tangible methods of measurement could include:
- Volume of autonomous local groups.
- Column inches/press coverage.
- People taking action outside of our knowledge of it -
escalation of independent organising.
- Number of planning applications stopped.
- Internally with Frack Off - increase in requests for
information, opportunities and so forth, number of hitson website. General escalation of workload.
What are the strategic points of intervention to
prevent fracking?
Economic: Aside from the intervention points with
inuencing the Government and local councils, as
explored above, economic affects could disable
companies to frack in the UK. This economic pressure
could only come from regular people taking action.
The companies involved in fracking are tiny, they dont
actually make any money and are using investment
capital. They are burning out investment cash with the
aim that would like to be bought out by bigger
companies (patterns of capitalism).
This was the same as with Biofuels - they were tiny
start ups formed solely for purpose for going after
brand new market. It would be possible to run them
out of business - costing so much cash that they cant
continue. Quadrilla are burning money to prove theyve
got a useable resource.
Psychological tactics could be used to inuence foreign
investors.
What are the resources fracking companies need
to frack?
- Drilling rigs - there are not the drilling rigs available
for this process in the UK (only one company makesdrilling rigs)
- Other resources needed include: the chemicals in the
fracking uid, water, sand, trucks, diesel, generators
- Everything needs to be run from generators on site
- Pipelines will need to be in place
- Drilling pads - made by Fox company
- Pads need to be turned into raised at aggregate
Logistics
- All materials need to be trucked in.
- Nearly all work will be subcontracted (needs further
research to conrm)
3. Building resistance: ST = to expose those
responsible. MT = to disrupt . LT = dismantle
4. Alternatives: ST = To promote alternatives. MT = try
alternatives. LT = build alternatives
5. Fostering communication: ST = research. MT =
critique. LT = inspire
It was clear that while these were inspiring aims, they
are not completely clear, explicit or tangible, so we
set a 12 month time frame. We aimed to create them
as SMART targets (Specic, measurable, achievable,
realistic, timed).
What are goals & visions for the next 12 months
(by May 2013)?
- To have at least 5 active local groups in Scotland.
- To have over 20 local groups in England & Wales.
- To have 10 groups in Ireland.
These group would have established working groups,
websites, meet regularly and would be self organising.
- To have had at least two major days of simultaneous
nationwide action.
- To have a permanent base in Lancashire by end of
the Summer.
- To have a UK focused lm on unconventional gas.
- To have established a regular funding stream.
- To have undertaken another nationwide tour.
- To have led a selection of local group training.
What are your next achievable steps?
To have a permanent base in Lancashire by end of the
Summer:Have a group discussion ASAP. Talk to
people in Lancashire ASAP. Write grant application
To have had at least two major days of simultaneous
nationwide action:Research number of groups needed
to make day a success. Set a date (ideally before end
of September).
Local group training & support:Organise second tour
Email all local groups to offer support. Assign members
of Frack Off to each group & dene responsibilities of
this role. Process information from previous informal
survey. Liase with Frack free somerset with when you
are free to do presentation training
To have a UK focused lm on unconventional gas:
Establish as a group what is wanted from a lm.
Complete grant application. Source lmmakers
Following the design questionnaire, the interview
then returned to the rst question - what are your
aims? We then decided to use the Four Action
learning Questions to help clarify the strategy of
frack off & its relevance to local anti-fracking
campaigns.
Frack Free Somerset Campaign Design
DESIGN QUESTIONNAIRE
8/14/2019 FFS Survey
6/8
Task or Area Spiral of Erosion/ Energy drainer/ Task Potential points of intervention & other suggestions
Website *Takes a lot of time
*Main challenge is updating content e.g blog posts, planning applica-
tions, calendar of local events, resources
*Asking local groups to send news items
*Creating a facility where local groups could update the website themselves
*Assigning more people, including new people, to take role of web content support
Email management *Nearly all emails go to one address, large amount of time is spent pro-
cessing them, generally falling on shoulders of one person!
Ideal situation:
*To be able to forward/delegate all emails to different spokes taking responsibility for different areas
*Send research items to the brain, who ideally would have a support team to help process volume of material
*media@ address could go to a rotated media responder. Training could be developed for those less condent. A crib sheet could
also be developed.*Stock replies can be bookmarked & use when needed to reduce repitition/save energy.
*Separate address for speaker requests & someone responsible for managing this diary & liaison.
*A local groups address book could allow fast send out of materials e.g. responses to media articles, which local groups could
then utilise/put on their own website
*It would be useful for all members of the team to have condence and skills to manage info@ account. A crib sheet could be put
together.
*Different members of the core group could be responsible for a local group or region & these emails could then be delegated.
Local groups *FO feel they are not supporting local groups as effectively as they
would like to be, generally due to lack of people/ time & energy.
*Each member of the core group could be responsible for a local group or region to make workload more manageable & effective.
*A structure needs to be dened so that people are clear of roles & responsibilities.
*Potential support for local groups could include = Really basic how to guide of how to set up an online presences, pre-arranged
facilitation training for rst meetings, list of contacts for all existing local groups, list of sympathetic funding bodies, DA training,
basic photoshop/graphic design training & a how to guide for building a campaign.
Meetings *There are generally 3 per week.*One general meeting once a week with others focused on specic
things e.g. funding, planning
*Meetings go badly normally and some potential reasons for this that
have surfaced include:
- lack of professionalism, ack of agenda (an agenda is done for the gen-
eral meeting), blurry start & end times, minutes not always taken effec-
tively especially related to action points & who has taken responsibility
for actions.
*Every meeting needs to have: a clear start & end time, a commitment to focus & professionalism e.g. no PCs/distractions, anagenda or aims for the meeting (even if extremely short), minutes taken which list SMART action points & who is responsible.
*A potential chaser role could be introduced whose role is to make sure those who have committed have undertaken actions &
delegate them to someone else or offer support if not so. They will need to be tactful & liked by the group.
Research *One of the main group tasks is keeping up to date with planning appli-
cations & their statuses as well as l icenses & other research data being
released
- This is managed with intense human hours as well as a scraper which
is a computer developed tool to search online
- Most of this work currently falls on one person who is under a lot of
pressure
*Could any of this work be outsourced or shared with others?
*Could more development time be set to develop tool to monitor application process automatically
Public speaking/
Giving presentations
*Feel like bare minimum of events are being supported due to lack of
people/travel times/workload
*Not everybody is condent doing presentations because of technical
queries & public speaking condence
*A teach-in is planned to support new people to give presentations.
*Local groups could be trained & supported to do their own presentations, reducing Frack Offs workload & being more effective
locally
Graphic design &
publications
*Graphic design for leaets of events is generally on an event by event
basis, and often re-done each time because original templates cannot
be found.
*Time could be dedicated to creating an easily accessible gallery of leaets & designs that can be tweaked simply and usedagain, reducing the workload
*More work can be delegated to graphic design volunteer
Events Are one of the healthiest areas of organising. This is attributed to thembeing more interesting, physically interactive and they also have a
deadline imposed.
*Deadlines could be applied to other areas of the campaign.
*Some of the above interventions could be undertaken for an event e.g. local groups training which would motivate those involved
to do the background work for the event. There would then be more of a yield and the work would be more likely to be followed
through.
This part of the design questionnaire focused on spirals erosion in the campaign and potential interventions
which could be elements transferred & applied to other groups.
DESIGN QUESTIONNAIRE
Frack Free Somerset Campaign Design
8/14/2019 FFS Survey
7/8
REAFTransition Keynsham
The Vale Says No!
As part of the survey stage of designing the campaign, I created a local groups
survey that was emailed to local groups. Three groups answered and their comments are
below. These helped to shape Frack Free Somerset by helping us to identify
common patterns in local group organising and what could potentially support us to be
more effective.
LOCAL GROUPS SURVEY
Frack Free Somerset Campaign Design
8/14/2019 FFS Survey
8/8
Group Name Location Website Tools & Resources Approaches & Tactics
Ribble Estuary AgainstFracking
West Lancashire http://reaf.org.uk Website. Local support(diverse groups). Meetings
every 2 weeks.
Our main aim is to raise awareness andfacilitate access to
information as well as encouraging people to
lobby their councillors and MPs. Petitions,
object to planning application, contact MP, FOI
request, phone calls, leaets, WOM, mailing list,
electricity suppliers, donate.
Vale Says No Vale of Glamorgan,
South Wales
http://thevalesaysno.com/ Website. Twitter. Mailing list.
Donations section.
Lobbying against planning application (was
successful, but could be overturned)
No fracking in East Kent East Kent h ttp:/ /www.facebook.com/
EastKentAgainstFracking
Facebook. Facebook. Public meetings / lm showings.
Frack Free Sussex Sussex Frack-Free-Sussex facebook
http://gasdrillinginbalcombe.wordpress.com/
Facebook. Website. Email
newsletter. Pictures withdetailed stats e.g. 16,000
gallons of hydrochloric acid
scheduled for Balcombe
Write to MPs, objection letters. Flyers to
spread.
Lingeld Anti fracking Surrey http://nofrackinginlingeld
.webs.com/
Website, facebook Letters of object ion, FOI, direct act ion, pet it ions
N.E Wales Anti Fracking
Network
Wrexham, Wales http://www.facebook.com/
NEWAFAN
Facebook. Film showings, letters, Letters of objection
Fracked Swansea South Wales https://www.facebook.com/
FrackedSwansea
Facebook. Meetings. Pet it ions. Let ters.
No Fracking Ireland Ireland http://www.facebook.com/Tran-
sitionRegions
Facebook. Different Irish
groups.
Petitions. Letters.
Residents Action on
Fylde Fracking
Lancashire http: //stopfyldefracking.org.uk Website (V. professional).
Twitter. Mailing list.
Is a post-fracking campaign (fracking started
without community knowledge) hence residents
reports. Actions: write to DECC,
petition, councilors, MPs, meetings, press work.
Not for Shale I re land http: //www.notforshale.com Website. Write to council lors & polit icians. Film showings,
media work.
Byline We stand to loose more than we could
ever gain.
Overview
Another aspect of the survey process in the campaign design has been to observe other groups and the strategies they employ,
especially if successful. Below is a table of local groups campaigning against fracking (observed during May 2012) with notes on
their tools and resources that are visible e.g. websites, email lists as well as notes on their approaches and tactics, in so far as
the ones they promote on their websites or literature. This has been a particularly inspiring part of the survey process, witnessing
community resistance across the country.
LOCAL GROUPS SURVEY
Frack Free Somerset Campaign Design