Managing protests at nuclear power plants
It is likely that we will see protests at the planned new nuclear power plants that have received Government go-ahead. This is an area in which we have a great deal of expertise.
David Asker was involved in the management and removal of protesters at Hinkley Point C in 2012.
Hinkley Point C protesters in medieval barn roof
David had just finished the removal of protesters from St Paul’s Cathedral, before finding himself the very next day at the construction site for Hinkley Point C because a number of protesters had occupied a medieval barn in a long abandoned farm nearby on land that had been acquired for the development.
Armed with a writ of possession, his team of agents and supporting officers from Avon & Somerset Police, David arrived at the barn to enforce the writ.
The Civil Nuclear Constabulary arrived on site, but both David and the senior officer from Avon & Somerset Police reassured them that their presence was not necessary and that everything was under control.
There were two protesters who had climbed up into the rafters of this extremely old barn, who were now feeling rather precarious. The climbing team went up and got them down safely.
Preventing protesters from coming back
David and his team were retained on site to prevent the protesters coming back. Of course they did come back, but by this time there was a stronger security team in place, made up of former Gurkha regiment soldiers.
There were two further incidents that stand out. On a dark evening with horizontal rain, David’s driver saw someone in a hedge – it looked as though protesters were trying to get on site via the back fencing. David didn’t let them know they’d been seen and came back with some of the security team and their dog patrol – the protesters quickly ran off!
The second incident happened the following week during a planning meeting with the Police at Hinkley Point. The senior officer on site got a call from one of his officers because protesters, who had set up a trestle table in the nearby village, were being assaulted by the local villagers.
Supporting large-scale infrastructure projects
Projects such as Hinkley Point C and HS2 do attract protesters and specialist support is required. We support our clients with planning, risk assessment and risk management, community engagement in the early stages of a project and eviction, where required, including at height, tunnelling and lock-on removal specialist teams.
Do get in touch if you would like to discuss a project where you might need our expertise.
