RESISTING THE CORPORATIONS

Mainshill Solidarity Camp under eviction

After seven months of occupying woodlands in South Lanarkshire, Scotland, the Mainshill Solidarity Camp was last week preparing for eviction. Mainshill Woods, near the village of Douglas, is where Scottish Coal has been given permission to mine 1.7million tonnes of coal in the woods. It is one of the most heavily mined areas in Europe, with three opencast mines nearby (Poniel, Glentaggart and Broken Cross), all operated by Scottish Coal. The landowner is Lord Home, chairman of Coutt's bank, the corporate wing of RBS, who is currently being investigated for fraud.

The camp started in June 2009 in solidarity with local residents, who have been fighting the mining plans for ten years, and against new coal worldwide. Around 650 letters of objection to the mine were sent and simply disregarded, many of which concerned the detrimental health impacts felt by the four existing mines. The plans for the new mine may also contravene the Scottish Government Planning Policy, which dictates that no community should suffer more than 10 years of continuous disruption due to this type of mining.

Corporations involved

Since June, a number of contractors have left due to direct action and appeals for solidarity from people doing the work. The following contractors have been seen, and often responded to, at Mainshill over the months.

Apex Drilling Services has had a presence since the start. They drill boreholes to assess the coal seams. Actions have taken place to stop their work and against their machinery, and a solidarity action targeted their head office in Wales. J&B Site Investigations has been around over the past few months. An action held their work up for a day and they are taking, along with Scottish Coal, one camper to court for £5,000 in damages.

Scottish Woodlands Ltd is contracted to remove the plantation forest. The company has told subcontractors that it will not give them further contracts until they finish at Mainshill. Raeburn Drilling and Geotechnical Ltd work on ground investigation, water wells, geothermal systems and exploration drilling. It is unknown if they are still paid contractors at Mainshill but, when they were there, they were definitely not welcome (see, for example, http://coalactionscotland.noflag.org.uk/?p=975).

Pirtek Fluid Transfer Solutions is the largest provider of fluid transfer solutions and on-site repairs, specialising in hydraulic hoses, pipe fittings and couplings, and has many on-site teams. Howie Forest Products is thought to be buying the felled timber. It has the largest single site saw mill in the UK, located in Dalbeattie. Kattrak International Ltd work with Apex Drilling and has machinery used along side the drilling rigs. They hire out tracked dumpers, excavators, people carriers and canycom machines.

Finally, focus Security Scotland Ltd has provided all of the private security guards used at Mainshill, that is, up to six on site at any one time.

Eviction ongoing

On Monday, 25th January, around 8.30am, the eviction of the camp began with around 25 private bailiffs, supported by police. The camp's residents, around 60 people, are resisting eviction, using tunnelling, barricades, fortified towers and tree houses. The site is very large (340 acres), which makes it easier to continue resisting the eviction, as police and bailiffs do not know where all the people resisting are. Over the weekend, people have arrived at the camp from all over the country to help.

The eviction could take weeks and cost the land owner millions, which has happened in the past. For example, the eviction of a protest camp at Dalkeith in 2006 cost £1.9 million and took 11 days. If something similar happens again, it is hoped this will deter anyone wanting to develop new coal projects in the UK.

Campers are asking for more people to join them. For more details, see:
Coal Action Scotland: http://coalactionscotland.noflag.org.uk
Mainshill Solidairty Camp: www.mainshill.noflag.org.uk