Traffic in vicinity likely to be affected from Monday
Fri, 03 Jun 2016
Reporter:
Jane Meredith
Email:
jane.meredith@newburynews.co.uk
Contact:
01635 886637
AWE Burghfield faces a month of disruption – likely to impact on traffic in roads around the vicinity – starting on Monday (June 6), due to anti-nuclear demonstrations.
The anti-nuclear group, Trident Ploughshares, has organised a month of peaceful demonstrations just outside the ‘wire’ (fence) surrounding AWE, Burghfield, which manufactures and maintains the country’s nuclear deterrent, Trident.
Thames Valley Police (TVP) have stated they aimed to work with protest organisers to ensure the demonstrations were peaceful and lawful, with the aim of ensuring minimal impact on local people.
Supt Jim Weems Local Police Area Commander for West Berkshire said:
“Thames Valley Police will be working closely with its partners at West Berkshire Council, Hampshire Constabulary, the Atomic Weapons Establishment and Ministry of Defence Police to minimise the impact of the protest on the local communities and fulfil our legal responsibility to facilitate peaceful protest.
“We respect everyone’s right to protest in this way. However, should activity go beyond peaceful, those breaking the law will be dealt with proportionately.”
The demonstrations will involve people from across the country, campaigning for nuclear disarmament, with £205 billion the latest estimated cost to the taxpayer of replacing the country’s Trident nuclear submarines.
An (unnamed) spokesperson for the protest group said the movement for a global ban on nuclear weapons, along with landmines and chemical weapons, was now backed by 127 nations:
“Increasingly the nuclear weapon states are seen as a minority entirely out of step with a majority world which knows that we will all suffer hideously should there be any nuclear weapon exchange.
More locally, Scotland now has a people, a parliament and a government that reject nuclear weapons.”
Our intervention will be entirely peaceful and non-violent, but it will be determined, imaginative and persistent.”
Trident Ploughshares say they aim to make ongoing work as difficult as possible for the nuclear bomb factory, where atomic warheads for Britain’s submarine-launched, intercontinental ballistic missiles are assembled, refurbished and upgraded.
A total thirteen groups so far have committed to the demonstrations, from a wide area including Bristol, Scotland and mainland Europe, plus others who have an individual, or specific interest, such as academics, and women’s groups.
For more information about impacts of the protests visit @WBprotestinfo and @TVP_West Berks