MORE than 300 campaigners gathered near Speech House on Saturday (October 10) to protest against gas extraction in the area.

The protest march around was followed by a number of speeches by supporters of the newly formed Frack Off Our Forest (FOOF) group.

Among the speakers were County Councillor Barry Kirby, Lydney Town Councillor James Greenwood, and FOOF campaigners Owen Adams and Drew Pratton.

Berry Hill District Councillor Tim Gwilliam said that the local Labour Party would be putting forward a motion at full council for the Forest of Dean District Council to object to any planning proposals for fracking in the area.

He said: "I don’t think this is a party political issue and hopefully it will be received with unanimous support.

"We don’t think our geology is suited to this form of gas extraction technology and we all want what’s best for the Forest."

Drew Pratton said that FOOF had great feed back locally as well as support from West Dean Parish Council, Awre and Blakeney Parish Council who voted unanimously to oppose fracking.

The fracking debate kicked of in the Forest in August when it was revealed that, in a UK map highlighting suitable ‘blocks of land’ for hydraulic fracturing, one ‘block’ covers the Forest of Dean from Mitcheldean in the North to Alvington in the south and from Newnham in the east to Newland in the west.

Before any hydraulic fracturing can take place, a licence from central government and planning permission from Gloucestershire County Council are needed.

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