Star date: 23rd December 2014

LINKS FROM BARTON MOSS TO LYNTON CROSBY, TORIES, MACQUARIE AND CITY WEST

Macquarie, a banking and finance corporation which is a major investor in fracking company IGas, is also the funder behind a plan to install solar panels in up to four thousand City West Housing homes near to the Barton Moss proposed fracking site.

Macquarie is a former client of `evil' Tory election strategist, Lynton Crosby, who was also linked to Dart Energy in Australia, subsequently bought by IGas. Come join up the dots in this special Salford Star links puzzle...

Full details here...

In October this year it was announced in the trade press that 1,800 and up to four thousand, City West Housing Trust homes in Salford were to be fitted with solar panels which could save tenants money on their energy bills.

The scheme was to be funded by Macquarie Lending which would pay for the fitting and make a profit by selling surplus power back to the national grid, for which it would receive the Government's Feed-In Tariff (FIT).

City West owns the social houses near to Barton Moss, scene of huge anti-fracking protests this year as energy company IGas carried out exploratory drilling, and Macquarie declares itself as a `major investor' in IGas, holding 754,272 shares. So the Australian bank seems to be backing two horses – fracking and solar – in one small area of Salford.

Macquarie is an ex-client of Australian lobbyist and `evil' political animal, Lynton Crosby, of Crosby Textor (C|T|F Partners), who is putting together the Tory's General Election strategy. In Australia, Crosby's firm represented the Australian Petroleum Exploration Association, which had facking company Dart Energy as one of its members. Dart was subsequently bought by IGas.

The links between Lynton Crosby and the fracking industry have been exposed by both the Labour Party and anti-fracking campaigners, as David Cameron's Government gives more and more incentives for the controversial shale gas exploitation.

"Crosby Textor and their clients are embedded at the heart of government" said a spokesperson for Frack Off "By smearing groups and communities that oppose shale oil and gas development they are simply trying to further their own financial interests and those of their clients."

So there are links between David Cameron's advisor, Lynton Crosby, and fracking companies, including (indirectly) IGas, and the Macquarie banking and finance corporation, which is also one of the major investors in IGas...

...IGas wants to frack in Barton Moss at a site close to social houses owned by City West Housing Trust – and one of the biggest investors in IGas, the Macquarie Group, is also investing in solar panels on those houses. What's it all about?

Are the solar panels a sweetener for the local community to win trust for Macquarie/IGas? Are they just hedging their bets both ways to make a profit? And why is it always Salford people stuck in the corner of the huge bigger picture of politics and profiteering?

The Salford Star asked City West Housing if it was aware of the solar/fracking contradiction and its Chief Executive Tim Doyle told us: "At City West we are striving to do all we can to support our customers, we are particularly proud of the work we have done to alleviate fuel poverty and make sure our homes are as energy efficient as possible. The installation of these 1800 solar panels will benefit our customers by improving affordable energy in their homes at no cost to them. 

"City West Housing Trust receives no benefit from this project and any agreements between Macquarie Lending and IGas are completely separate to the installation of solar panels which will help lower energy costs for our customers, long into the future."