Voices from Gloucester: Brett's story
Brett Jacobs is appealing for help.
The 50 year-old father of seven is battling against gas giant AGL who wants to frack his precious valley and he feels outnumbered. Brett is worried about the health of his children, his water and his land.
If allowed to proceed AGL’s plan could see hundreds of coal seam gas wells pocking the Gloucester landscape.
In October last year Brett put his body on the frontline when he locked himself onto an access gate by the neck in a desperate bid to halt the march of the gas rigs. He was arrested for his non-violent action but is undeterred. Prior to locking on Brett had never been in trouble with the law and had not even had a speeding fine. He says he will have to move his children away from Gloucester if his actions to protect them from the impact of csg mining fail. But he is determined to do everything he can to save his community and safeguard his kids.
“I’m worried about the poisons they are going to put into the ground and more so what they are going to bring-up and the health effects on my kids, the water and the land,” Brett said. “The law is failing us.”
Fellow protector and well-known author Sharyn Munro moved to Gloucester to escape the problems of the Upper Hunter and its coal pits and is now watching the Gloucester Valley being handed over to the miners.
“It is unthinkable to be turning a scenic, purely watered beautiful place like Gloucester into an industrial zone,” she said.
“This is the last place on earth that ought to be being fracked.”
Sharyn sees the actions of the CSG miners as criminally negligent in their “suck it and see” approach to managing the problems and impacts of fracking.
Both Sharyn and Brett are calling for others outside their community to take a stand against AGL and join them on the picket line.
“It’s about just saving where we live,” Brett said.
“We cannot let them stuff our water supply up.”