£1m fracking promised money should give

Diplomatic correspondent(wp/t)::: Prime Minister told an audience in Lancashire, where fracking is due to resume next year: "We are looking at trying to have a very simple system where every time a well is dug, immediately £1m goes to the local community. "And not just to the local council but actually to local people, so people can see a cash benefit in their local village, in their local town and even, potentially, in their local pocket as well." In fact, ministers in June backed a proposal from the shale gas industry to offer local communities £100,000 in an upfront payment for each exploration or appraisal well site where fracking takes place. Downing Street sources confirmed the Prime Minister had slipped up and the correct figure was £100,000. Fracking, which involves pumping water, sand and chemicals into the ground to extract gas trapped in the rocks, has faced fierce local opposition. Protestors have attempted to block fracking firm Cuadrilla from drilling for oil at Balcombe in Sussex Prime Minister said the government was working to dispel “myths” over fracking and pledged: “Nothing is going to happen in this country unless it’s environmentally safe. “There is no question of having earthquakes and fire coming out of taps,” he said. “There will be very clear environmental procedures and certificates you will have to get before you can frack." Mr Cameron said he did not want Britain to miss out on "cheaper energy" and wanted to emulate the shale gas boom in the US. He said that the promised community benefits - labelled 'bribes' by their critics - were key to winning over local communities. “I think if people can see a direct benefit from fracking and from shale gas they will be more willing to really look at the arguments about, ‘what will this mean for my community if it goes ahead’. I think in that way we can see wells dug and we can see the benefits of shale gas here in the country," he said. As well as the upfront payment when a well is drilled, Mr Cameron said that "if that well is successful, even more money should be ploughed back into the local community". This matched proposals by shale gas explorers who have promised they will also provide 1pc of the revenues if drilling succeeds and production begins, with this money split between the local community and the county. country Onshore Operators Group estimates this could be worth between £5m and £10m per production site over a period of 25-years. Total benefits across the country could be in excess of £1.1bn.

::::INSIDE TRAVEL::Olympic Park:::::how London's newest outdoor gig venue shaped up

travel reporter(wp/g)::: On a weekend when music-lovers' attentions were turned towards a Somerset farm, London's latest outdoor music venue opened for business. It is way out east, not in a fashionable hipster corner, but in the Lea Valley hinterland. Accessed via a shopping centre and a long, dreary walk from Stratford station, it is nowhere near the glittering, 80,000-capacity stadium that is the pride of the area. Instead, it sits on an eerie expanse of flat concrete, partially covered in AstroTurf, not luscious green grass. "Olympic Park?" railed critics after this weekend's Hard Rock Calling festival. "Olympic Car Park, more like." After going to last summer's glorious sporting celebrations in Stratford, it's fair to say that my first impressions of the Olympic Park reborn weren't particularly soul-stirring either. I attended the second day of the Hard Rock Calling festival, to see Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, on a patch where the basketball arena used to be. The walk in was long, and the walk out was even longer; even if we were born to run, we were forced, annoyingly, to trudge our ways in and out. But – here's the rub – I had a fantastic time. This was an experience helped in part by the glorious weather, and the shock of hearing the Born in the USA album performed, in order, under scorching blue skies. But the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park experience also offered other, better boons. First of all, the music was pleasingly loud, an advantage of the site – for the moment at least – being in the middle of nowhere, or as near as you can get to the middle of nowhere in London. Last year, Hard Rock Calling was in the much more central location of Hyde Park, where the sound was damped, and justifiably criticised; I was there, too. Listening to the Boss from halfway back in that crowd was like hearing great rock'n'roll through a tiny iPod earbud. At the Olympic Park, the sound is appropriately athletic. Not being in a green, grassy idyll also offers advantages. There are few dips in the ground, making sightlines to the main stage excellent from all angles (although the live screens at the sides were uselessly tiny). There's little chance of mud, too, which will please the organisers of Wireless, who come here in a few weeks (last year, their Hyde Park weekend was a boggy disaster, and conditions caused the cancellation of another show a few days later). What's more – least rock'n'roll review comment ever forthcoming – AstroTurf is quite easy on the arse, as I discovered having a post-Black Crowes loaf. The queues for toilets were fine, too, and it didn't take long to get a drink; I even loved the Mad Max vibes coming off the Olympic Village flats to the right of the main stage, an oddly fitting backdrop for Springsteen's sad, urban narratives. How Mumford & Sons will fare in this setting this weekend coming, however, is hard to say. Also, if the rain returns, there are few places to shelter. A soggy day on concrete watching four men in waistcoats with banjos? Even for their fans, it won't be the same as Glastonbury. Crucially, however, future gigs will not happen right here – although some part of the Olympic Park is intended to be a fixture on London's gig circuit. Instead, a new E20 neighbourhood, Chobham Manor, will occupy this spot, and will include two nursery schools, community centres and restaurants. In the future, therefore, the walk to hear live music might be shorter, but sound might once again be a perilous problem. For this summer, however, the music is allowed to be Olympian. • What was your experience of the Olympic Park? Better or worse than Hyde Park and the stadiums? Let us know.... courtesy:::The Guardian

Amazon takes on the art world with new section selling everything from prints

ict reporter:::Amazon has taken aim at the online art world with a new section selling everything from £130 prints to a £3.1m Norman Rockwell oil painting. The new Amazon Art service, which launches today, includes 40,000 pieces of art from 150 galleries and dealers, including London’s DegreeArt. Artists such as Damien Hirst, Salvador Dali and Andy Warhol are already being offered for sale. "We are excited to bring one of the largest selections of fine art direct from galleries to our customers," said Amazons’s Peter Faricy, vice president for the Amazon Marketplace. "Amazon Art gives galleries a way to bring their passion and expertise about the artists they represent to our millions of customers." Customers can buy photographs by Clifford Ross starting at £130, Andy Warhol’s ‘Sachiko’ for £29,000, Claude Monet’s ‘L’Enfant a la tasse, portrait de Jean Monet’ for £945,000, and Norman Rockwell’s “Willie Gillis: Package from Home” for £3.1m - all without having to leave their computer. "We’re excited to list our artwork on Amazon to make it more convenient for our existing clientele, and to help us reach new clientele," said Holden Luntz, owner and founder of Holden Luntz Gallery. "We operate a wonderful fine art gallery, yet realise that the models for dealing in contemporary arts have evolved in this digital age and ecommerce is a channel to reach more clientele." The move comes just a day after Amazon boss Jeff Bezos announced he was buying the Washington Post.

centuries ago Thousands of bodies found Liverpool st station investigate require for truth

crime reporter,London(wp/es)::: Thousands of bodies buried under the City of London centuries ago are being unearthed by Crossrail tunnelling work. The remains of several hundred people have been found a few feet beneath Liverpool Street station. The two-acre pit was dug in the mid-17th century by order of the mayor after parish graveyards became vastly overfilled. Plague victims were buried over two centuries next to the rich, poor, young, old, mental health patients and citizens whose corpses were never claimed by their families. newly investigation may out the real truth...