Wensley & Ors v Persons Unknown & Ors

Judgment

A hearing was fixed to take place today (Thursday 28 August) in Manchester. I fixed a time of 11.00 am to allow a little more time for people to travel from the Kirkham area of Lancashire. The proceedings were served on the land in question on the evening of the day of issue, Thursday 21 August, beginning at about 6.25pm. The claimants are represented by Mr Tom Roscoe (of counsel) who has produced a detailed written skeleton argument dated 27 August 2014. There are a number of people who have attended court today, specifically a solicitor, Mr Simon Pook, of Robert Lizars (as agent for a firm of solicitors in London, Harrison Grant), who appears for a Ms Tina Rothery, who is to be joined as the third defendant. Mr Pook complained that he had had insufficient time to consider and assimilate all of the court documents. I therefore allowed him some time before lunch to do so; and after lunch he indicated that, nevertheless, he would be applying for an adjournment because he wished to put in evidence in answer to the claim.

The evidence from the claimants is contained within, first, the extended Particulars of Claim, which have attached a number of documents. There are also two witness statements: one is from the first-named claimant, Mr Thomas Andrew Wensley, who is the brother of the second claimant, and the son of the third claimant. His witness statement is dated 20 August 2014 and has two exhibits, TAW1 and 2. There is also a witness statement from Mr William Armstrong, also dated 20 August 2014, together with exhibits WA1 through to WA7. Mr Armstrong is the Business Resilience Manager employed by Cuadrilla Resources Limited, which is the parent company of the fourth and twelfth claimant companies. There is as yet no evidence from any person on the land, or from the third defendant.

I can take the background to this claim from Mr Roscoe’s skeleton argument. These proceedings concern the occupation of a field near Blackpool and forming part of Plumpton Hall Farm, off the Preston New Road (which is the A583). That field was first occupied in the early hours of the morning of Thursday 7 August 2014. The occupation was by a number of protestors, or campaigners, who opposed the potential use of land in that area of Lancashire for the purposes of “fracking”. The proceedings also concern adjoining and neighbouring land as to which there is a concern that it may be targeted for similar purposes in connection with anti-fracking, environmental, or simila