The Bentley Effect - An Inspiring Call to Action
The Bentley Effect is a documentary of resistance currently touring the UK with two of its main protagonists. On Thursday the lucky audience was in Edinburgh. The film charts the story of three communities over five years on the front line against Unconventional Gas extraction (UCG) in New South Wales, Australia. When the regional government granted several licenses to Arrow Energy to begin drilling for gas in the Northern Rivers shire, people were rightly angry that there had been no public consultation about the issue given the widely uncertain environmental and health implications. In the first two communities, we witness a build-up of local resistance to UCG activity, and when the issue is finally put to the polls in the regional centre of Lismore, 87% vote against it. Yet the government continue with their plans regardless, and so the people are forced to stop UCG in its tracks. The creativity of the communities in slowing down the industry vehicles on their way to dril