PROTESTERS gathered at the Cyril Hart Arboretum, by Speech House, last Saturday, to make their views known about the potential for ‘fracking’ in the Forest area.

The protest was organised by Frack Off Our Forest (FOOF), a sister organisation to Hands Off Our Forest, which fights against the potential sell-off of the public forests in government ownership.

Almost 300 people came together for the event, and marched in a colourful procession around the popular site, accompanied by the cacophonous sounds of whistles, cymbals, gongs, drums and chanting, before gathering to hear speeches against the fracking process.

Organisers were ’delighted’ at the turnout, and said that it sent a strong message to government that the people of the Forest and Wye area would not support any idea of trying to extract gas from shale deposits in the area.

The Forest of Dean and the Wye Valley are both identified by the government as potential sites for the controversial fracking process, which involves forcing a mixture of chemicals deep into the ground in order to flush out deposits of gas.

The process has been linked to ground subsidence, extreme contamination of water supplies, and even earthquakes.